Susan Hwang

Theater is a kind of practice in orchestrated chaos and an obstacle course of stress and potentially clashing coping mechanisms for stress.

I don’t have kids, so I have no idea what that kind of stress is like apart from what I saw it do to my parents and what I see it do to my friends.  My mother turned to religion and became a Jehovah’s Witness; my father’s latent Hepatitis C expressed itself when I was 16.  For my friends who are parents, what I notice mostly is excessive guilt, sleep deprivation and sometimes a return to cigarette smoking.  Since I don’t have children, I get to worry about other things like whether we can set up 2 backdrops, a table full of magic props, a shadow puppet show and my feather headpiece, corset and high heels without ruining my make up in the 15 minutes allotted by the Fringe Festival for set up and break down of our show.  All this while wondering what’s wrong with me that I don’t have kids yet.  If I did have kids, do you think I’d worry less about whether people will laugh at my jokes and more about the state of our educational system?  What if kids come to the show and they don’t think it’s funny?  I’m worried about that…

Here’s a video from our Kickstarter campain that gives you an idea of what the show is like.  It’s directed by Julie DeLano and music by Dan Gower (both so incredibly talented and generous)

We had our tech rehearsal the other day.  Herb was energized by being on the stage, like it’s where he belongs.  I do not have this relationship with the theater.  When I got on that stage, mostly I found it daunting.  It was intimidating to me to have to fill that stage and that room with myself without singing or playing music.  Just with myself?  Surely, you need more than that to fill a room.  Anyhow, I’m practicing, and I’m glad that Herb really pulls out the stops for a live audience, and I’m glad that we have some incredible musicians working with us to create real moments during this thing — Marc Steve on drums and Peter Dizzoza on piano.  And Ben Folstein with our incredible backdrops and all the lighting and all the reassurance (he’s good under pressure).  Julie DeLano is designing and building a beautiful puppet theater prop (it’s incredible).  Thomas Bayne designed our postcards, programs and advertisements.  Matt Kessler designed my costume’s cape and head dress.  Bob Fitch has been directing us, and he is some kind of stage/magician/tap dancing angel (my favorite kind!).  All these people have done and are doing incredible jobs with this.  I will continue to worry that no one will laugh at the jokes, but most of all, I will continue.  It’s nice to know the show will happen whether I’m tweaked all to hell or not. 

We’re at The Players Theater
115 MacDougal Street
New York, NY

August 11th, 12th, 15th, 21st and 26th.

Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1659862180/myronic-starring-myron-the-magnificent-and-the-lov

TICKETS: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&pl=fringenyc&eventId=4744635

Website:  myronthemagnificent.com