Reunion

Well, the Vampire Cowboys “Revamped” fundraiser has come and gone, and I have to say, what a blast. The 10-minute bit I wrote, which Christopher Yustin entitled “The Symposium,” opened the show, and it seemed to go over quite well (hey, people laughed). I had fun watching the other short bits done by the other writers/performers (as well as Vampire Cowboys’ fight scenes). I also had fun to perform a silly “Talking Pizza-Box” sketch to a new audience.

Since I wasn’t producing or hosting, it was a great relief to just do our bit, get off the stage and just relax, mingle, enjoy other people’s shows and (most importantly) drink.*

Many thanks to Andrea Marie Smith and Christi Waldon, the “hot chicks” from Vampire Cowboys who helped us out with our sketch and to Qui, Abby and Robert for inviting us to participate in this. I really can’t thank you guys enough.

So, with the Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company over, it’s on to A Very Nosedive Christmas Carol, which opens in less than two weeks as I write this. We had our first rehearsal on Monday and it was interesting to see how quickly everyone got back into the swing of things. It felt like putting on an old pair of slippers that have been in the closet for a year. I love what the new cast members are doing, am proud of the new rewrites and love how Pete and the recurring cast members are having fun getting back into their roles.

Just to remind everyone, A Very Nosedive Christmas Carol goes up Dec. 8-10, 15-17 (Thursday through Saturday) at the Kraine Theatre on 85 E. 4th Street in NYC. Tickets are $15 and all shows are at 8 p.m. It’s a bigger venue and an earlier time than last year, so I’m looking forward to this.

And did I mention we’ll be serving (spiked) eggnog? Well, we are. It’s sure to be a fun time and I’m hoping we get a good turnout to this.

* * *

In a couple days, Pete and I are off to our hometowns in New Hampshire not only for Thanksgiving, but for our high school ten year reunion. Yes, that’s happening. Yes, we’re going.

And yes, we’re really excited about it.

One person from our high school class, Sonia Chopra, has set up an excellent “Where Are They Now?” site, which has been a really fun way to waste time while at work. Miss Chopra, with the help of fellow alum and Nosedive’s onetime Web host Jeremy Yuenger, has also set up an online chat forum (another fun way to waste a LOT of time while at work).

It appears as though I am one of the few people from my class who is not either married, divorced, with kids, with a significant other, with pets or with real estate.

I live in New York and I write and produce plays.

I genuinely don’t know if this seems really cool to my alum or really pathetic. It’s best not to worry about this shit too much, I guess.

Overall, because of this site and this online forum, I have noticed that most of my former classmates seem very nice, very funny and very friendly. I have and had no animosity towards nearly anyone from my graduating class. True, there was a dickhead here and there I could have done without, but it doesn’t seem like any of them are coming to the reunion.

Unlike the many people who really had nothing but bitterness towards their high school classmates, I realize that, at the time, I gave them very little thought. I was too busy wallowing in my own self-loathing, having fun acting, reading comic books, having crushes on girls from other schools and grades. Now, I sort of wish I spent more time talking to my former classmates.

What really made me start thinking this way was getting in touch with Sonia Chopra, the person in charge with “getting the word out” about the reunion. I mean, this was a girl I exchanged no words with in high school. Not a one. I gave her little to no thought (and am under the impression the feeling was mutual). During our electronic communication (she lives in Canada now) through preparing for this reunion has made me realize what a fun and funny person she was, an impression I did not get while in high school.

During some chatting on the alumni forum, a conversation about To Kill a Mockingbird came up and I admitted that I had neither read the book nor seen the movie. So what did Sonia do? She mailed me her copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. From Canada! Seriously, getting that in the mail just made my day.

(Incidentally, I have read the book. I’m glad I finally did. Great book. Now I owe her a two-page book report.)

So, I’m now just excited to talk to a number of other people from my class I exchanged no words with and gave no thought to at the time.

True, a part of me wonders/worries about who at the reunion is going to snap (I’ve heard from older friends who have gone to their reunions that there’s often at least one person who gets drunk and has some sort of meltdown and freaks out at all the people who were mean to them ten years ago), if I’m going to be “The Drunken Jerk” at the reunion and if my single and childless status is going to be seen as weird. But, when push comes to shove, these worries are quite fleeting and minor.

Ultimately, I just want to party with these people.

Jeez, I realize I’ve been talking about how much I’m looking forward to shit. I gotta snap out of this.

So, that’s it for now until after the weekend. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

Hoping to hit on all the
single moms at the reunion,

James “Class Act” Comtois

*Okay, yes, I do drink at our Nosedive fundraisers, but there’s always a part of my brain that keeps me in “host” mode.

November 19, 2005