Monday, August 6, 2007

August 06, 2007 - Taking things in stride

Amazing... sometimes, you just happen to hear about things when you need to. That's right... right when you need to.

I was in the car with Les Miz's chief publicist on the way to a telethon taping when he told me about one of our mutual friends, an actor that I had worked with on numerous occasions. Apparently, said actor took the closing of his last Broadway show very hard, in the wake of lukewarm reviews and poor ticket sales. He slammed the critics on his blog blaming their reception of the show for its failure, and this of course reached enough public media that he was perceived as a sore loser and a crybaby.

I can't honestly blame him for taking it personally... I was in the lead of a Broadway show that could be seen as a flop (it ran for 5 1/2 months to small audiences, and other shows made fun of us for having no one in our audience). My name was above the title, so I felt I had to the fall. I tried not to take it too personally, as there were things beyond my control that could have contributed to the show closing early. Besides, I had far more important things to take care of... my fiancé (now my husband) needed me in Los Angeles.

Sure, I could look at the show and find everything wrong with it, but I choose not to. I made some incredible friends there, many of whom I've kept in touch with since it closed. I learned about not taking things too personally, how not to let my pride get hit by a failure and how to find the positive in less than ideal situations.

To paraphrase one friend on a mailing list I subscribe to, "You learn more from losing." He's right. What's the point in crying over spilt milk? Just wipe it up, move on and be ready with more paper towels, as there will be more milk (or juice, or beer) to wipe later on.

7 comments:

james belleza said...

Lea... are you psychic? I totally agree. I roll along with the punches. And this entry is a day before my birthday. And I forget to tell you always... I am one of your biggest fans.
You make me proud. And whenever a show or exhibit of mine ..ah how do I say it? Flops.. I just have a big bottle og Jaegermeilter and have a big laugh ( after crying 0 and paint the next day.
How I wish I could have a cup of coffee, or tea and sympathy with you.
Regards to Tita Ligaya and Gerard.
I adore you.

Reb

james belleza said...

Lea... ' You learn more from losing.'
Yep. I learned that too.
Painting and exhibiting are two different things for me.
And the pressure to have 'sales' from a gallery...
Whew!
Buti na lang I always have a big bottle of Jaeger around and laugh and cry for one or two days or nights then I am already thinking of the next show
(if i am given space or allowed to show again!)
I have to put this here: i am one of your biggest fans.
And we worked on a margarine 'penge naman oh' commercial up in Baguio eons ago.
I'll upload a picture that I kept of that shoot.
Perhaps one day we can have a cup of something and talk about old times and new ones!
I miss you
Reb

Jojo Terencio said...

thanks for this inspiring blog :-)

adelyn more said...

thank you for uplifting my spirits... : )

Alvin Trono said...

Yup. The only way to know up is to go down. That makes us appreciate what we have in life. I love this story.

Melanie Dujunco said...

This is soooo true! :-D
And just as "you learn more from losing", you also learn when you are ready to accept the lesson
.
Ah.. buhay.. parang life ba! ;-)

Merry Christmas! Mwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Topper Fabregas said...

Thanks for sharing this. It's so honest... and it's exactly what I needed to hear at the moment. :)

I'm glad I'm armed with paper towels.