At the end of last year, I told you that I might be making some changes in the publication schedule of this blog. Well, with a mixture of resignation, satisfaction, and hope for the future, I have decided to do exactly that.
Effective with the publication of this post, THR is going on hiatus for the next six months.
And, quite possibly, for more than that.
I alluded to this in my last 2022 post, and referred to the fact that I have launched a production company, one that has optioned a new play, which in turn had a reading this past February at Theatre West in Los Angeles. The reading was a big success, and I am now working with my playwright and director on the first steps toward mounting a full-scale production, currently planned to take place in Los Angeles as well.
As I do so, however, I have developed an increasing amount of respect for the amount of work involved in mounting a production of even a small show like this one. And, if I'm going to do this right--in other words, if I am going to do it the way I've tried to do everything in my life--I'm going to have to find more time in which to do it. Something has had to go.
And that something, for now, is THR.
The thought of doing this has in fact been very painful for me. A part of me has always wanted to be a columnist, and the advent of the Internet and blogging has give me along with countless others a way to do it. I used to feel, politically, like a voice in the wilderness during the '80s and '90s, as well as the first few years of this century. But, in the past two decades, I have seen the explosive growth of progressive politics, as well as the ways by which the Web has made that growth possible. I know that I leave behind a world of electronic commentary filled with views much like my own, and far often more eloquent and more informed than my own. It feels good to have been a tiny part of that for the past 14-plus years, and, while part of me wishes I could continue to be a part of it, I know that I am, for now, making the right decision.
Might I come back? Who knows? Part of what will determine that is the future of my producing ambitions. Part of it may be the shape of politics. We live in highly uncertain times, and circumstances may lead me to drop in here from time to time and speak my mind. My Twitter account, to which my blog is linked, is not going away in any case, no matter what Musk does to Twitter, so I can promise I will not be completely silent. And too, in connection with my producing work, I will be launching a newsletter at some point, and as many of you who want to be on the mailing list for that will be more than welcome. There won't, of course, be any political commentary in it, and, in fact, my only regret with THR is that it didn't always have the diversity of subjects I'd originally planned for it. Perhaps the newsletter will help make up for it.
To anyone and everyone who has read my posts, there are truly no words that adequately express my appreciation for you. Thanks for being part of this experience. It has meant more to me than you can know.
Whatever else you take away from reading my words, please remember that democracy is very much of a participatory sport. The rewards go to those who get involved and stay involved. We live in times that demand maximum involvement, for the sake of the present and the future. Look for ways to stay involved. And above all, STAY INVOLVED, no matter what the present looks like. The world belongs to those who are strong enough to take and rise above whatever it dishes out.
I hope and pray, with all my heart, that all you have and will keep that strength.
G-d bless you.
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