ON THE JOURNEY: 26 Miles is coming to a close...

If feels like the show just opened and here we are going into closing weekend! The excitement of Opening Night was incredible! We were ready & the response from the audience was thrilling. It's what we, as actors, work towards during rehearsals. We enjoy creating characters with a message & visual experience that will speak to the people sitting in the seats of the theatre, "sharing the human experience."

I sound very idealistic, but I am! I want people in those seats to enjoy a night of "live" acting & theatre, to forget for a brief moment, our daily worries & "see" first hand how others relate in similar ways to similar situations & revel in the fact that we are all connected in the same way we live, love, hurt, joy &... Fill in any word here about what it means to be a person with natural emotions. - To express another human's (the playwright, director & designer's) experience in this life on this place we call home!

That is why I can say the next two nights after Opening Night - I was sad! Our audiences were small in number. Yes, I can be grateful that people came & that should satisfy me, at least our message was heard, BUT it didn't. I selfishly wanted full houses for the following performances! I needed that energy to feed off. I needed people to hear me!

That is sometimes our dilemma, filling those seats, most especially when we have busy schedules with our family & friends & on top of that the Holiday season! It takes planning & effort to peel away from what we need to do & then there are the other elements we have to compete with like TV & the movies. Big spectacles that we most likely can't reproduce on stage unless you saw the 70 million dollar Spiderman on Broadway, which I did, but that's another story.

I think to myself what do I need to do to help bring in bodies to those seats? I invite my Friends & Family & most come, but what can I say to YOU, friendly Stranger, to encourage you to be here the next few performances/weekends or even for the next show at Rose Marine Theatre/Artes de la Rosa?

I was in New York when September 11th happened. And, in fact, in the middle of rehearsals for a show & when Opening Night came, we worried if we would have an audience. We were all in mourning. And who could ask people to come see a show at that time. But we did and we had an Audience! People came in droves to each performance! They needed to escape their sadness and reconnect to what we almost lost and did lose. They came to see theatre!

I encourage you to come see US, come see Theatre at its best! Come escape!

What else do I need to tell you to encourage you? Do I need to get on my knees?! Do I need to tell you a little more about myself so you can “see” why I do this? I am a recent Breast Cancer survivor; I have not been on the stage for a while because I was recovering AND going through a lot of other things, like a divorce, loss of a home, leaving New York, loss of my life as I knew it… and the only thing I wanted to do was to get back on stage, get back to my passion of sharing LIFE! That is what it means TO ACT for me… SHARING LIFE!

So here is my challenge to you… For those of you who may not want to spend the money during these times, I will gladly take some of my Christmas money and spend it on YOU as a MY GIFT TO YOU! Buy your tickets online at www.artesdelarosa.org and use the discount code DEANNA and I will pay $4 dollars of your ticket! THERE IS NO LIMIT to this if 150 of you want to come, I'll be paying $4 off each of your tickets!

That's my gift to you! Everyone deserves to see this amazing show at Rose Marine Theatre... I DARE YOU! Please come! We need YOU there! Come escape with us! it's a wonderful drive!

DeAnna Gonzales*
Actress
26 Miles
Artes de la Rosa