Why gratitude matters.

I often mention that I didn’t grow up with sisters. There is something within me that seeks the safety of sisterly bonding and it usually manifests in how I collaborate creatively and within my friendships. If you have a sister, you may understand what I mean.

This past week, my ‘sister’ Tanya arrived in Arizona. She didn’t come bearing gifts; she came with a whip ready to crack over our rehearsals for our project, “From Where to Here: A One Woman Show about the 1930s Migration.”

Tanya is my director and also helped workshop the script to get it into tight shape (I have a tendency to write my plays like my novels: lots ‘a detail). This is not our first time working together and the reason I hired her. Our sisterly collaborative partnership began around 2005-ish.

We’ve had a great week which resulted in the debut of this immersive one-woman show at the Chandler Museum (it closes August 4th).

What I want to impart to you guys is that I hope you have someone in your life –be ye a creative or not — who not only sees you for what you are, but sees you for who you can become. And because they see your potential, they spend their time on you and with you. That’s Tanya. She is an award-winning actor, voice-over actor, choreographer and director … and she came to Chandler, Arizona to make history with me.

Our show is a composite of many people who migrated to Chandler, AZ in the 1930s during the Dust Bowl Migration. Using oral histories of Chandler residents, I developed a story about a woman, Margaret Renee Catherty, who arrives in Chandler from Oklahoma (inspired by another set of oral histories found in Geta LaSeur’s book, Not All Okies Are White: The Lives of Black Cotton Pickers in Arizona). Margaret Renee’s brother — her reason for coming to Chandler — is missing, and like so many others who have migrated, she must make her way amidst fear and uncertainty. In this story, she does so thanks to a helpful community made of many different individuals. The show travels throughout the exhibit and the audience follows.

Matt and I moved to Chandler because my brother and his family had already forged a path (after following mom who came in the 90s to settle in Tucson). My dad soon followed. That’s how we migrated here. After each show, we ask the audience to share their migration story — that part has been fascinating and a beautiful shared moment.

To say that this experience has been magical would be an understatement. My sister has been there each step of the way to provide what was needed: structure, safety, understanding, expertise and laughter.

If you’d like to learn more about her, do so with two videos below; one is our recent appearance on Rodney Perry Live talking about the show. You may also follow her on IG (@tanyisms) where she offers mind-blowing inspiration and if you are casting theatre, film or voice overs she is a B E A S T and will make your project soar!