2022: A Recap
525,600 minutes, 37 anecdotes
Brand-new newlyweds.
The year starts with a bang. Anna and I go to icy Beacon for a long weekend. Mount Beacon is too frozen to climb, so I propose to Anna at the base instead. She says yes, and we’re so giddy and tearful that we put the ring on the wrong finger of the wrong hand. Then we go for Mexican food.
Wedding-planning. We find an absolute steal of a wedding dress: beautiful, inexpensive, a perfect fit. Congratulating ourselves on our savings, I accidentally blow my entire suit budget on a tie.
Wedding bells in New Haven. Far and away the most emotional day of my life. I more or less hold it together until Nell sings “The Luckiest”, accompanied by Noah on the piano. That wrecks everyone, including the splendid Justice Gerald. But somehow we make it through our wedding vows, and then we’re married and sipping champagne in a rooftop bar.
Immediately off to the Leeds Conservatoire with Eliza for a workshop of THE DEBUTANTES. I’m so hyped-up (and jet-lagged) that I don’t get a wink of sleep the night before we start. Breakfast with the wonderful Matt Bugg. The students are incredible: generous, funny, warm, crazy talented. We write a new song over the week and dedicate it to them.
Back in NYC, I get COVID. Very mild (this time). Still tutoring online.
On the third floor of the Venetian hotel, indoors, in the middle of the night.
Eliza: truly the pianist to my page-turner.
Anna’s off for Spring Break and we go on our honeymoon.
Santa Fe, NM, on Mikey’s suggestion. Unbelievably pretty: adobe architecture, piñon in the air, everywhere walkable. We go hiking. Anna pets a cactus and prongs herself. I learn about Native American art: John Nieto, R.C. Gorman. We go to saloons and drink margaritas. I write lots of postcards. Meow Wolf. I leave my bag on the bus (computer, passport, keys, everything) – total disaster. Anna phones public transit office: they intercept the bus and courier my bag back. On a Saturday! Won’t accept any money, so I write a 3000-word thank-you email to their boss to try and trigger a performance-related bonus.
Flagstaff, AZ. Seven-hour road trip; we love it. America is huge and the landscapes are magical. Daniel Zaitchik’s “When the Deer Come” becomes the music of our honeymoon. Flagstaff is a great studenty town: mountainous, snowy, a blend of old and new. Our AirBnB comes with a hot tub. We gorge on Indian food and I collapse from exhaustion. Next day: Grand Canyon. I literally gasp at the view. It’s like being on Mars. Hiking, eagles, elk, trailmix for lunch, lots of signs saying “KNOW YOUR LIMITS”. More astonishing landscapes on the drive home. Fish tacos for dinner, then puzzles and P.G. Wodehouse. Finally, Sedona. Rust-red earth, vortexes aplenty. Anna pets another cactus and prongs herself again.
Las Vegas, NV. The Hoover Dam is terrifying: a thin walkway over the chasm, alongside a highway. Baking heat, blasting noise. But the city itself is extraordinary. Fake Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Venetian canals on the third floor of a hotel! It’s so hot that we get a huge refillable frozen margarita to share (manna from heaven). We make plans to go to the last dollar-a-hand blackjack table on the strip; I spend the whole morning poring over apps, memorising tables (i.e. “should you split 9s when the dealer shows a 10?”). Anna sips a frozen margarita by the pool. When we actually gamble, she does miles better than me. Together, we lose a net $15 over two hours, making it by far the cheapest thing we do. Then the red-eye back to New York.
THE YELLOW WALLPAPER has a run in New Mexico. Eliza and I don’t get to see it, but it seems to go brilliantly.
Lots of visits, lots of theatre. Sarah and Lucy come on a mum-and-daughter whistle-stop tour, then Nell and Susie on a gals trip. We see the spectacular HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE. (I recognise Paula Vogel in the lobby and breathlessly say hello.) Easter with the McCooeys, with dares hidden in Easter eggs. Anna and I see A STRANGE LOOP and ISLANDER (both terrific; ISLANDER makes me optimistic about British musical theatre). We doll up for the Prospect Theater gala.
I go on my first marches, including the Queer Liberation March. My friends are dressed in gorgeous glitter and leather. I’m hurrying from tutoring, so I turn up in a collared shirt. Never been so simultaneously over- and underdressed in my life.
THREE PENELOPES has a run in London. I’d written the libretto in January, then more or less forgotten about it. But the production values are amazing: a 14-person mini-orchestra, incredible singers from the Royal College of Music, a set to die for. I’m proud of it! The experience reminds me how much money there is sloshing around in opera, and how little in musical theatre.
Harry’s beautiful wedding in California. Old friends aplenty. I visit San Francisco for the first time.
COVID again. This time it knocks me flat.
I get a new commission! The most money I’ve ever been offered up-front as a writer.
Vongai and I lead a workshop at Rattlestick Theater – podcasts, audiodrama, life as an immigrant theatre-maker.
A quick trip to Mystic, CT, where Anna and I read her childhood novel (also set in Mystic) and watch Noah break rowing records.
Ten days dog-sitting at a beautiful lake house. Anna – not previously a dog person – falls utterly in love. I feel mildly jealous. Sun, swimming. Aaron and I finish the first draft of our new musical.
Off to DC for July 4th. Anna gets out for summer vacation, and we fly southwest again. The Rockies are magnificent. Pizza, pick-up soccer, long hikes, bluegrass, dancing. I try El Salvadorean food for the first time. Anna’s family arrives. Horse-riding, Georgia O’Keeffe, a near-death experience while canoeing, seeing Lucy sing at the Santa Fe Opera House, back to Meow Wolf. Max and Christina’s stunning wedding.
Miranda and I find a producer for our short film, Sperm.
My birthday! Noah and Lindsey take me and Anna to Duelling Pianos the night before. Jack comes down from Yale with a hand-drawn postcard-portrait of me and Anna. Later, laser tag followed by a rooftop bar. My inner child is thrilled.
Bill visits from Amsterdam. We go to Coney Island only to find it closed, so instead we eat veggie burgers and wander up and down the pier, talking for hours. Later, we see Everything Everywhere All at Once with Erika, and the two of them really hit it off.
Sinan and Spencer have a gorgeous, colourful wedding celebration. They radiate happiness. I catch up with D over hors d’oeuvres.
Jack is also a fabulous illustrator.
Henry visits from the UK. His face lights up when we walk into Trader Joe’s. Mini-golf, the 9/11 museum, McSorley’s, comedy, sushi, tons of walking, TOPDOG/UNDERDOG (electrifying), a film night at Erika and Zane’s – then off to Boston. I’m lucky to have such amazing godparents. At the end of his trip, Henry insists on going to Trader Joe’s and buying two memorial tote bags.
I read “A Little Life” in advance of seeing the show with Anne. It’s an astonishing book. Reading it is like letting blood: painful, cleansing, exhausting, worthwhile. I just love it (although I don’t see the double meaning of the title until Anne points it out).
Erika, Mikey, Alex and Brandy host LUNÉVAL, an evening of rituals honouring the moon.
Aaron and I get some very good news about our new musical.
Carrie, Brooke, Emma, Anna and I go apple-picking at Harvest Moon. I feel very American, especially when operating the apple cannon.
Anna and I host a murder mystery party for Halloween, including full costumes and fight choreo.
Eliza and I speed-write a 10-minute musical, BLACK HOLES LIKE DONUTS, as part of the Prospect Theater Lab. It’s a joyous experience with a phenomenal group of people. The performance at Symphony Space gives me a weeklong adrenaline high. One of the highlights of my year.
I’m lucky enough to witness a developmental performance of YOKO’S HUSBAND’S KILLER’S JAPANESE WIFE GLORIA, written by Erika, Clare and Brandy. They’re the real deal.
See ya later, Grandmaster Carl.
Thankgiving in Virginia, with millions of Anna’s relatives. Big-hearted and brilliantly bonkers.
Lincoln Center debut. Eliza and I write a song for a BROADWAY FUTURE SONGBOOK concert, and it’s performed by the amazing Alyssa and Caitlin.
Chase hosts an Oxmas party, and somehow cooks a thousand lavish dishes in one regular-sized kitchen.
Nell and Mum come to America for Mum’s book launch. Helluva party, and a lovely long catch-up with Nell the day after. We go to the Union Square market for Christmas shopping. I play a chess hustler. Win two, lose two.
Anna and I watch England crash out of the World Cup with Tamanna and Anthony. We make consolatory mince pies.
December 18th is a good day. An epic World Cup Final in the morning with Noah, Lindsey and friends (Argentina win, thank goodness). A lovely long coffee with Carrie. Ice skating in Bryant Park with Bela, followed by veggie hot dogs and fries. Finally, Avatar in 3-D. The inner child is delighted.
Finger-lickin’ latkes at Maya’s!
My first Christmas in NYC, my first Christmas away from my family.
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