eSe Amor

With the 16 minutes left in Valentine's Day, I just have to gush for awhile about the fundraiser I was part of this evening with eSe Teatro: eSe Amor: Great Works of Love. 

For starters, I wore ALL RED. I usually wear black on Valentine's Day, but I went for red this year. It's my 2nd Valentine with a Valentine, and my Valentine came to the fundraiser to celebrate with me as I did double-duty as a performer for the event. 

They went ALL OUT, it was a smashing success - congrats to all involved - it really was an extravaganza. As someone who's gotten used to the "toothpicks  and duct-tape" approach of Stone Soup, it was nice to be part of something that pulled out all the stops to begin with, and exceeded its own expectations because of it. The Bullitt Cabaret at ACT was transformed into a sultry speakeasy with food art on naked bodies, seductive South American dance numbers, singing sirens and erotic literature and poetry. We were all dressed to the nines in floor-length gowns and glittery jewels.  (and I MUST give a shout-out here to Kaitie for loaning me that Curly Girl book - I did the whole "leaving my hair in the gel cast" thing all day, and when I shook it out as I was getting into costume for the performance, it behaved EXACTLY as I was hoping it would!)

It was SO much fun! And it was inclusive. That's something I've loved about eSe from the beginning - they've never felt cliquey or exclusive to me - I've always felt very welcomed, which is not a natural state for me, as the weird kid not many people liked during school years, and I still feel a measure of that in Seattle's uber-icy and too-cool-for-school theatre scene. But not when I'm working with eSe. Which makes me want to work with them more, not to mention the interesting projects they're continuing to do. I guess I am a Seattle Latina taking stage tonight. 

Also, to mi amor, hell has frozen over with this serial spinster celebrating a SECOND non-single Valentine's Day. Thanks for the duck eggs and everything else. <3<3<3