in mid-run.
The Denver Center was stunned and very apologetic.
They felt terrible about the damage my play would sustain
by the abrupt departure. “In a perfect world, who would you
cast?” they asked me. I told them, “Julianna McCarthy.”
Julianna was hired and flown in from Los Angeles. No
sooner did the center’s directors lay eyes on her work than
they asked her not only to do my play but also to take over
the run of Painting Churches—for which she was brilliantly
cast.
“God is showing off,” I laughed to Julianna, very happy
that she had the chance to do “her” play after all.
In my experience, the universe falls in with worthy plans
and most especially with festive and expansive ones. I have
seldom conceived a delicious plan without being given the
means to accomplish it. Understand that the what must come
before the how. First choose what you would do. The how
usually falls into place of itself.
Desire, ask, believe, receive.
STELLA TERRILL MANNAll too often, when people talk about creative work, they
emphasize strategy. Neophytes are advised of the
Machiavellian devices they must employ to break into the
field. I think this is a lot of rubbish. If you ask an artist how