Doors Close and Doors Open

Welcome the closing of an old door, for it is then that a new door shall open.  Scottie Somers. 

I had the most amazing weekend.  It was the 40th anniversary of the High School of Performing Arts, class of 1975.  Though I graduated in '76, so many of the '75 class were close friends.  So I went to the reunion.

Ned Eisenberg and me in front of our former school.

If you've never heard of Performing Arts, or "P.A." as we called it, it is the magical place beautifully memorialized in the original "Fame" movie.  In fact, the character of Doris was an amalgam of various students in the school, one of which was me!  Like Doris, I sang at my audition even though the school did not have a singing department at the time.  (Unlike Doris, my mother was not present!)

Like Doris, I was a sheltered girl whose life and perspective were cracked open by this amazing place.  I had grown up relatively sheltered and affluent in a brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  At P.A., I made friends with people from every single background and neighborhood that NYC had to offer.  My best friends were a girl from a railroad apartment in Astoria, Queens, and a boy from East Harlem.  

  with Daryl Edwards, my brother from another mother.

My girl-friend's fire escape looked out over Ditmars Boulevard, where her friends hung out at at night at the Carvel across the street, and where there was a Woolworth Store - which was more exciting for me than a candy store!  Starting in my junior year (and continuing part way through college), I dated someone from the South Bronx, whose mother was a former Black Panther member and wouldn't let me in their apartment.  No matter - we were all united by our art.

P.A. has lots of famous graduates, including Ben Vereen and Priscilla Lopez, who were both there.

You can see my friends Daryl Edwards in Daredevil, among many other movies and commercials, and Ned Eisenberg on Law & Order, NCIS and on Broadway.  Scarlett De Bease is a successful image stylist; following stints on Broadway and film, Denise Woods is a vocal coach to the stars; Kenya Cagle is a film producer, and more.  The best thing about this get together was seeing the love that has lasted all these years.   Whether continuing in the performing arts or not, everyone is leading interesting lives, still full of creativity and sparkle.  I am 100% certain these people and my experience at this school completely changed my life.

I came home full of inspiration and energy, and completed an art journal page.  Here's how it started and the stages it went through.

Until it ended up like this.

Welcome the closing of an old door, for it is then that a new door shall open.  Scottie Somers.

Thank you Performing Arts and all of the wonderful people who crossed my path.  You opened more doors for me than you will ever know.

(Supplies used include Golden Fluid Acrylic Paints, and the Doors and Windows & Ganesh Stencils from Stencil Girl Products. )"

What experiences transformed your life?  

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