11/13/2025
THERE IS HOPE - 2 Days and Counting!
This post is going to be long, so I figured I would put the information on how to get tickets up front, in case the ADHD virus prevents you from getting to the end.
If this content or the synopsis (see below the asterisks) intrigue you enough to want to see the show, then please follow one of these links to BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR EITHER PERFORMANCE. The prices are:
ONLINE: $20 online
AT THE DOOR: $25
SAT, 11/15 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1626439126209?aff=oddtdtcreator
SUN, 11/16 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1626439788189?aff=oddtdtcreator
NOTE - If you have a problem getting tickets online, then (1) ask a young person to help you out, or (2) contact me, and we will see what we can do so you can make it.
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In this play, the relationship between main character Kevin Seward and his last girlfriend Lucy Grossman is what forms the backbone of this story so, for the final three days until the show debuts, I wanted to share pictures of them with you.
These photographs don't necessarily depict scenes from the show. Instead, they portray things that you can imagine them doing as a couple, based on what you WILL see during the performance.
Since we know Kevin and Lucy are apart before the play begins, this means all of his flashbacks to happier times are shot through with an aching sense of sadness. Even their most touching moments together have that taste of bitter-sweetness.
Honestly, that is how I felt when we went out for this photo shoot. There is one picture I did not include here where Silvana and I are standing above those RPI steps on 8th Street, leaning on a wall, my arm around her shoulders, looking out over the city.
I grew up in Troy and have lived here most of my life. That means there are a lot of memories tied to nearly every part of it. I look out over downtown, and I can practically see my younger self walking up and down the one-way streets, headphones on, Walkman cranked, a bunch of cassette tapes and spare AA batteries in my book bag, along with several pens and a notebook or two that I was gradually filling up with poetry.
I think of that young man, and I think of how, in some ways, I still have things in common with him from time to time. Oddly enough, it was a comment from someone who did not know me in those days that struck me as one of the most fitting observations I think anyone has ever had about me.
It was said by one Mr. Matt Desrochers, a fellow musician who has become quite a fan of mine within the last year or so, as I have of him. I was talking with him about the impact that he told me one of my songs had on him.
I said, "I don't picture people talking about me after I have left the room. I don't perceive myself as anything special. Then I hear people like you say, 'Hey, man, that song of yours really struck a chord with me. I've been thinking about it ever since you played it.' That just blows my mind because the only impression I see myself having on anyone is that of a rambling, meandering dork."
To which Matt added, "And a real talent who feels lost in his time and place."
He did not mean this as an insult; he meant it as an observation, and he is right. Sometimes I DO feel lost. When I have a day off and go for a drive or walk around this area (not just Troy, but even over near good old SUNY Albany), I can vividly see where I have been, remember how I felt. I recall a young man who had next to no self-esteem, who relied far too much on external validation (mainly in the form of approval from others) to feel good about himself.
These days I have turned those things around, and I am proud of those achievements. Still, there will always be a small part of me (and you, if you have ever felt this way) that will wonder, "Damn. I wonder what my life COULD have been like if I had turned the tables on that sh*t earlier in life!"
Of my younger days, I do my best to not look back upon them with too much nostalgia OR too much regret. It is so easy to go down either side of that slippery slope. What lies there? Well, let's see...
NOSTALGIA SIDE - I think about how my biggest responsibility was homework, and how I only WISH that was the biggest thing I had on my plate these days. I think about how I saw my friends every day, guaranteed. (Well, every WEEKDAY, at least.) But the caveat there is that, due to the state of mind I was in, those days weren't necessarily enjoyable for me.
REGRET - This one is so obvious it is a cliche: the good old "if I knew then what I know now" shtick. Actually, in my case, it's not so much a case of not knowing something; it's a case of having a poor mindset. I try to remind myself that I didn't necessarily have control over how it was shaped up until that point.
After all, when we are younger, our brains are more malleable; we are far more susceptible to having our sense of self-esteem shaped by those around us...and if those folks mold us so that we are scared of our own shadows, that we are such failures that we will get hit by a car if we try to cross the street...what are we to do? What can you do when those you would look to for answers guide you to the WRONG answers?
The answer is simple but frustrating: you have to play the long game. You have to wait until you are older, get your feet under you, get out in the world, and realize that the lessons you were taught when you were younger...weren't always the BEST lessons, nor would they even necessarily TRUE.
In other words, what I am saying is, you need to believe...
..there is hope tomorrow can be better than today.
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SYNOPSIS: Kevin Seward is still miserable over the break-up with his last girlfriend Lucy Grossman. Wanting to help him out of this slump, his friend Erwin invites Kevin to a party at a club in Albany. Not long after Kevin arrives, Erwin tells him Lucy is there, so Kevin decides to leave. On his way out, we experience two stories: one is of his encounters with the partygoers, the other consists of flashbacks to their time together. Soon the tension is so thick that the only way to break it would be if he ran into her, but what would be the outcome of such an encounter?
We hope to see you there!
~~~Sincerely,
The cast and crew of THERE IS HOPE
