the run (reprise)
Well, it's done. The running and weight training have transformed from hobby into character preparation.
Maureen, Tom, Heidi: Thank you all so much for your good advice and words of encouragement to me over this issue. Your responses to my entry really touched me with their kindness, insightfulness, and intelligence. Plus, it was nice just to hear your "voices" once again. I really could recognize each and every one of you in the words you set down, so much so that I wouldn't need an avatar to see your pretty little faces. Sam and Heidi, I'll miss you guys this summer. Take care of Mark for me. Anyway, enough rambling. I just wanted to take the time to thank you.
This is the letter I sent to Dan:
Dear Mr. Sullivan,
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you once again for a wonderful experience at the NCI this year. It truly was one of the most fulfilling weeks of my academic career. I was honored to be working with such talented and intelligent peers and I felt that I grew a great deal as a writer from the experience.
I'd greatly wished to continue that growth at the O'Neill and had been looking forward to the trip, but I've written to let you know that I will not attend the institute in July. I realize that it is an honor to be working with the caliber of writers who attend the O'Neill and I am disappointed that I will miss that priviledge.
Returning from Washington, the Unicorn Theatre of Kansas City offered me a role as Takeshi Kawabata, a Japanese pitcher, in their production of Richard Greenberg's baseball drama, TAKE ME OUT. Because it is the first regional production of the show since it closed on Broadway earlier this year, the buzz about the play in our area is exciting. The Unicorn has already extended the performance run from mid to late July and are considering closing in mid-August.
Taking the job with the Unicorn would cost me the opportunity you have offered me at the O'Neill, but the production in Kansas City would expose me to a professional market that I would like to explore once I have completed my academic career. It also offers a three month salary and generates equity points, helping me both financially and professionally. I also am hesitant to think that at this stage in my career and with my smaller physical body type, that the odds would be in my favor for me to be cast in this particular play in larger, more diverse markets, so I'd like to seize this opportunity while I have the chance.
While I am pleased to be taking a stride in my professional acting career, I regret that I will miss my chance to take the same strides in my writing career through the O'Neill. I deeply appreciate your kindness and support by granting me a fellowship to attend this year's institute and I apologize for not being able to fulfill it. I would like to thank you and Mark once again for your mentorship and guidance through the NCI these past two years. I've enjoyed "toiling" through the rigorous critics' competition and learning through our workshops together. I am sorry that I will not be able to be able to share in the last leg of the NCI journey at the "bootcamp for critics" this summer.
Thank you once again for your valuable instruction and your faith in me. I do hope that I will have the opportunity to learn from you again in the future.
Warm regards,
Vi Nhan H. Tran
Graduate Student in Theatre Directing
Kansas State University
Maureen, Tom, Heidi: Thank you all so much for your good advice and words of encouragement to me over this issue. Your responses to my entry really touched me with their kindness, insightfulness, and intelligence. Plus, it was nice just to hear your "voices" once again. I really could recognize each and every one of you in the words you set down, so much so that I wouldn't need an avatar to see your pretty little faces. Sam and Heidi, I'll miss you guys this summer. Take care of Mark for me. Anyway, enough rambling. I just wanted to take the time to thank you.
This is the letter I sent to Dan:
Dear Mr. Sullivan,
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you once again for a wonderful experience at the NCI this year. It truly was one of the most fulfilling weeks of my academic career. I was honored to be working with such talented and intelligent peers and I felt that I grew a great deal as a writer from the experience.
I'd greatly wished to continue that growth at the O'Neill and had been looking forward to the trip, but I've written to let you know that I will not attend the institute in July. I realize that it is an honor to be working with the caliber of writers who attend the O'Neill and I am disappointed that I will miss that priviledge.
Returning from Washington, the Unicorn Theatre of Kansas City offered me a role as Takeshi Kawabata, a Japanese pitcher, in their production of Richard Greenberg's baseball drama, TAKE ME OUT. Because it is the first regional production of the show since it closed on Broadway earlier this year, the buzz about the play in our area is exciting. The Unicorn has already extended the performance run from mid to late July and are considering closing in mid-August.
Taking the job with the Unicorn would cost me the opportunity you have offered me at the O'Neill, but the production in Kansas City would expose me to a professional market that I would like to explore once I have completed my academic career. It also offers a three month salary and generates equity points, helping me both financially and professionally. I also am hesitant to think that at this stage in my career and with my smaller physical body type, that the odds would be in my favor for me to be cast in this particular play in larger, more diverse markets, so I'd like to seize this opportunity while I have the chance.
While I am pleased to be taking a stride in my professional acting career, I regret that I will miss my chance to take the same strides in my writing career through the O'Neill. I deeply appreciate your kindness and support by granting me a fellowship to attend this year's institute and I apologize for not being able to fulfill it. I would like to thank you and Mark once again for your mentorship and guidance through the NCI these past two years. I've enjoyed "toiling" through the rigorous critics' competition and learning through our workshops together. I am sorry that I will not be able to be able to share in the last leg of the NCI journey at the "bootcamp for critics" this summer.
Thank you once again for your valuable instruction and your faith in me. I do hope that I will have the opportunity to learn from you again in the future.
Warm regards,
Vi Nhan H. Tran
Graduate Student in Theatre Directing
Kansas State University