10:16 PM - FRI 4.22.16
Prince

After a month-and-a-half of nothing happening acting-wise, I had two auditions yesterday, one commercial and one theatrical.

Minutes before I was set to leave for the commercial audition in Santa Monica (That audition was a little after noon, while the TV one was back in LA at 1:30), I found out Prince had died.

The auditions went...poorly (The commercial one worse than the theatrical, but there didn't feel like a chance in hell I was gonna book either one).

And I wouldn't say I blame Prince's death for the lackluster performances (Did I mention it's been a month-and-a-half since I last went out for something? And I've been anxious and depressed and in the throes of an existential crisis for quite awhile now?), but it certainly didn't help matters.

When I got home from the TV audition - for a sweet guest-star role on a show called Unreal - I started watching Prince videos on YouTube, and actually shed some tears while watching his Superbowl halftime performance of "Purple Rain" (Where he performed the song in the middle of an actual rainstorm, and made it seem, as one writer said, "Not like an imposition, but like a special effect, as if he were saying, 'Of course it's raining. I wanted it to rain'".

I saw him here in LA some years back when he did a month's worth of shows at The Forum.

Now, I don't go to concerts. And not because I don't enjoy music - I love music - but because I've never had a lot of "disposable income" as an adult, so they've always felt cost-prohibitive.

And I think there was also a part of me that felt like going to concerts by myself would just make me feel lonely and sad.

But Prince was on a very short list of musicians I'd always wanted to see live, because I really liked him and I'd heard he was amazing "in concert".

Then the clincher - I found out he was offering some seats for just $25 a pop.

So I bought a ticket, and I went, and I had a great time. And I didn't feel "lonely and sad" - Or if I did, I quickly got over it, because I was there with thousands of fellow Prince fans.

And I got to have an experience I never felt like I could justify, all because of those cheap tickets (As I always say when recounting the story, "Short of Prince coming to my house and performing for free, I knew this was the best chance I was ever gonna get to see him").

And now it's an experience I'll never have again.

And I know you could say there were cynical/pragmatic reasons for him to offer such cheap tickets - to try and insure sold-out houses throughout the run, perhaps - but I choose to believe he just wanted as many people as possible to get a chance to hear him live.

Like me.

And I'm grateful for that.

Thank you Prince...

previous - next