An Offer I Can't Refuse

We had dinner with the director of my last show and his wife. We're becoming a cozy couple. He's also the head of the script committee, and, yes, he gave me another script to read as we sat down. We talked theatre and Tonys and personal histories and the problems with the new performance space. And then he asked me, after a warning not to panic, if I'd be interested in joining Board of Directors.

Of course I would. I told him my opinion wouldn't be as informed becuase I'm new to the company. He said the board has so little representation of theatre people -- backstage or onstage -- that he thought the board was making bad decisions. Of course the board can use lawyers and accountants and realtors, but they need people who have worked an audience. He said the chairman of the theatre won't even step onstage, and I remembered that I hadn't in fact seen that guy speak publicly at any of their shows.

The company needs help, and it needs new ideas. The director was apparently taken with my notions during the committee meetings and the comments I made about the scripts. He thinks I have the right level of informed consideration for the board. Sure, yes, I'll give it a shot. I wonder if this will skew my chances to playing roles. I don't know if I have to be elected or simply tapped on the shoulder like a Harvard fraternity.

We're leaving today for Durham to visit Your Aunt. We'll also hit the Chapel Hill campus for a one-day class on American satire. I think Your Sis gets credit for taking the class; I'm just tagging along. On the way back, we're hitting the Charlotte comic convention. I might meet up with my ECU buddy there.

Picture of the Day
The mars Phoenix probe is finding ice just under the soil. It makes little trenches and bakes soil samples to analyze the content.