Second Quarter 2008

Something my little niece, Morgan (or as I like to call her – Morganna) has said in the past: “What are you do-ning?” or “Where are you go-ning?” makes me smile every time I remember hearing her say it. So I’ll start with the first one:

WHAT I’M DO-NING

I started writing a whole long, drawn out version of this story and decided it wasn’t worth it. Here are the bullet points:

• I’m invited to join the cast of a show already in progress
• I tell them I have schedule conflicts – the production team (director, choreographer & producer) agrees to the time I need to be absent
• We start rehearsals and I start getting a bit of a hard time for not being there at the times I said I wasn’t going to be there
• It comes to a head during tech week when the choreographer decides he’s going to lay into me and I decide that I’d had enough

The exchanges between me and the choreographer went something like this:

Him - what's the problem up there (on stage)

Me - I don't know my traffic pattern (as I bumped into someone)

Him - well you would if you were here

Pause (silence followed by a dirty look from me as seen in one of my many gameshow appearances, slow turn to get in place for next dancer number.) The next number ends and he starts with:

Him - Don, you're messing up

Me - where?

Him - everywhere

Me - ok, you need to be more specific

Him - everywhere

Me - this isn't helpful, you need to tell me where

Him - ok, here (shows one of his convoluted dance moves) for starters, is that specific enough for you?

Me - really?

Him - really (as we're all dancing)

Me - really? (as I stop dancing, put hands on hips meanwhile everyone continues dancing around me)

Then they all stop dancing

Him - Don, you're acting like this is my fault

Me - and YOU’RE acting like this is my fault

Him - well it is, you weren't here

Me – you know what? we're not going to talk about this here and now, we'll talk about this later

I left after rehearsal because I knew a conversation with the choreographer that night would not be very successful. I called the director on the way home who, by the way, was in the theatre along with the producer and the rest of the cast watching/witnessing this whole thing. The director and I spoke the next day. He’s a very sweet man and did his best to be supportive of both of us. I started the conversation thinking I would either be asked to leave or want to leave because of the way I would feel but neither ended up being true. I decided to stay with the production. It was important for me to know that the choreographer knew where I was coming from so I wrote him an email gently reminding him (insert whatever reaction you’d like there) about my conflicts and the communication I’d made with the production team upon being cast. Below is the way I closed my email to him:

“The reason for this email today is to simply remind you of information you've had all along with regard to my rehearsal availability and conflicts. They were ok'd from the beginning and I've held up my part.

I look forward to performing in this run.

My best regards,

Don Pietranczyk”

I’m sure I only MERELY wanted to gently remind him…of where he went wrong and THAT he was wrong. Nothing more, nothing less. Needless to say we did not say a word to each other in the dressing room last weekend during our opening weekend run and I’ll suppose the same to remain true through the rest of the run.

I’m glad I spoke out. Despite what some of you may think, it’s not my goal to cause or stir trouble…well, at least not these days, but I’ll be damned if someone is going to try to make me out to be a bad guy when I know I’ve done nothing wrong. To quote a quotable a few select readers know: “It’s just not going to happen.” This production closes on my birthday and will be cause a grand celebration with a few friends that night.

What else have I been do-ning? Well some of you have already seen a project I worked on a few months ago but for those of you who haven’t logon to: www.abc.com and go to the gameshow Wipeout, episode 2. I’m a contestant. You can watch the whole thing on line. It was a CRAZY experience and I’m SO glad I was able to do it. As you know I LOVE games and competing on game shows is my idea of a great time. FYI: I nor anyone else on my shoot day was injured while competing though it looks like it, doesn’t it? I walked away with a few scrapes a bruise or two but nothing serious. And, yes, those “big balls” are VERY difficult to manage. (For those of you who haven’t seen the show yet, the “big balls” are a portion of the qualifying round, not an inappropriate comment on the male anatomy.) They feel like a dodgeball so you can imagine jumping on it and then sliding down it…it makes for knee & leg burns. I wish I would have walked away with $50,000 but the experience was worth it nonetheless.

WHERE I’M GO-NING

As some of you know I’ll be in Chicago for the following dates:

July 31 through August 3 – in the city

August 4 through August 8 – in the burbs with my little sister

August 8 through August 11 – back in the city

I reported on what I’ll be do-ning during my trip in my last update so I won’t bore you with that info again here. I’m very much looking forward to time away from Los Angeles and reconnecting with my family and friends. Other than that I should be home for the rest of Q3 08 so if anyone is in the West Hollywood neighborhood, come on by.

GRILLED ON THE 4^TH OF JULY

So I decided to make the trip out to slightly before the Orange Curtain (otherwise known as Orange County) and attend a 4^th of July cookout in Long Beach. Because it was at my friend Barry’s that usually means one thing: I’m on staff for the event. It doesn’t matter what house he and boyfriend live in: the one in West Hollywood, the one in the Hollywood Hills or now the one in Long Beach, whenever THEY host, I host. Sure I could come in and just be a guest but who is going to:

• Cut watermelon
• Cut the limes
• Move the peanuts
• Plate the snacks (on the correct plates)
• Pass the snacks amongst chatting guests
• And most importantly – wear the apron while doing it all

I’m just saying. But really, I don’t mind, really. In fact, I’d be insulted if I wasn’t expected to do it. But that’s not the story from the 4^th, THIS is…

As some of my fellow gays know once a friend or a friend of a friend starts a conversation with “Oh, so and so has this best gay friend that I met and you two totally have to meet” you just KNOW things are not going to turn out well. This 4^th of July provided such an experience. Here’s how our first exchange went as everyone else walked away to go into the water (AKA: oversized pee-pond. It’s the marina where everyone docks their boats to go into the ocean. It has a little beach around it but it’s still just an oversized pee-pond to me):

Him – So, I hear I’m not the only Catholic here.

Me - Yep. So you’re Catholic, too?

Him – Uh huh…so who’s your favorite saint?

Me (thinking: Really? That’s your opener?...Who’s your favorite…okaaaay…”) – St. Francis.

Him – Really? Don’t you think that’s kind of an obvious answer.

Me (thinking: I think I felt my face drop. Wait, WHAT? Really?) – Um, no, since it’s my middle name. (sigh) What’s yours?

Him – St. (somebody or other…I must have tuned out because the next thing I remember when I rejoined our conversation was him saying something like:) … blah blah blah I visited his house when I was in Rome along with (insert name) Cathedral.

Me – Really? That sounds nice.

Him – So where did you go to undergrad.

Me (thinking: uh uh, he didn’t just with the ‘undergrad’) – Oh, a great little state school in Illinois. You?

Him – (some blah blah school NOT in Texas. That much I remember because I asked)

Me – Oh, is that where you’re from?

Him – No, I’m from Texas. (and then it went something like) …I can’t remember if I was Republican first or Catholic…blah blah blah. (I know – what the heck does that mean? It means he wanted to make a point of letting me know he’s gay, Republican and annoying. Ok, the last part was the product of his communication style…and him in general.)

Me – Oh, that’s nice. I’m going down to the water. (and promptly left though he followed.)

I know I’m sure I sound like SnottySpice but this was my take on it. I assure I was not mean to him in any way so no one get anything in a uproar out there. I’m sure he has his own quarterly he’s writing about me and I’m quite sure I’m fine with that.

WORKING

This section has been removed to protect the innocent, sorry folks. dp

SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW

Ever have that feeling of restlessness? I’m kinda feeling that these days…but what to do about it. My birthday (which has historically been a reflective time for me) has given me pause to think: what am I doing? Where am I going? What are my goals, etc. I’ve got some things cooking in my mind but I don’t want to discuss them until I’m sure of them and I’ve put them into motion. Will they be in motion by the next update? I’m not sure. I don’t give myself too much of a specific timeline since that might be detrimental to the thought process altogether but I know me; once I start thinking about something I’ll have it figured out one way or another in a shorter rather than longer amount of time.

…Stay tuned…

I hope this update finds everyone well and enjoying the beauty that only summer can bring. My thoughts of summer, as I’m sure many of yours do as well, always go back to my childhood (well YOUR childhood for you and MY childhood for me but you get where I’m going with this) and all that was carefree about that life. Where the only thing to worry about was what would I do today: ride my bike, play fake tennis or go swimming at Memorial Park. And/or in what order would I/should I do those things. (Did I already write something like this? It seems familiar to me…) Ah yes, the lazy warm days of summer spent…

• Listening to WLS AM on the raido and swinging on my neighbor’s swingset.
• Hoping to hear the icecream truck and then DOUBLE hoping I could actually get something from it.
• Staying outside until it got dark and then just a few minutes after that thinking I was so going against the rules for doing that.
• And then afterwards going inside and continuing to talk to my neighbor Kathleen across driveway; me talking out of my bedroom window and her talking out of her bathroom window.
• I know this might sound strange to you but it’s true – playing a pick up game of baseball with my brother and his friends…and sometimes my playing was even MY idea and not the result of someone not showing up and their need to fill a space. I KNOW!!

Simple times. They make me smile and hope that my nieces and nephews can has as much fun with as little as I did.

Xoxo

Don