Hugging jello...dilemmas of a theatre addict

I sometimes say that if I lived in NYC, I would be faced with fewer difficult choices as to what theatre experiences I am able to have.  But I'm not sure that's really true.  For someone with the high degree of eclecticism in her theatre tastes, short of figuring out how to get my hands on one of Dumbledore's time turners, I have to face the fact that I simply cannot see everything [cue single tear squeezing out of one eye].  

So what's a non-NYC denizen with wildly eclectic theatre tastes and a slightly-more-than-mild obsession with the theatre to do?  Each time I feel as if I've got my arms around a series of shows I want to see, and have booked the travel and gotten the tickets, I am suddenly inundated with emails and tweets and announcements of this show and that show and the other show that somehow I didn't know about when I was planning my latest theatre run.  And it's made worse when I begin to find out about the out-of-town tryouts in places like San Diego (Old Globe and La Jolla Playhouse) and Chicago.  Yep, my analogy is that it feels as if I'm trying to hug Jello, and it keeps squigging out each side the more I try to embrace it.

Local theatre must also be worked into the schedule and DC presents a panoply of options to balance.  You never know when you're going to see the show that will move on to broader exposure; and it's so exciting when that happens.  For example, the wonderful, Tony-award-winning theatre in Arlington, VA, Signature Theater, introduced me to a stunning play, "Really, Really" that appears to be moving to Broadway.  And Arena Stage's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" is also opening on Broadway this season.  

My primary strategy is to trust my instincts when I read about a show that's coming up and not to over-think it; especially if a ticket is available at a discount.  And taking advantage of all the different opportunities to take in a show...while visiting out-of-town friends, combining an errand or appointment downtown with a show that evening, taking a day trip to NYC for a matinee and taking advantage of two-show days to fit in an extra show.  

But it's also about balance and wanting to see a mixture of genres and have a variety of experiences~because that's what I love about theatre~it's a new adventure every time those house lights dim.

By the way, as I was typing this post, I was interrupted twice by my trusty iCal popup reminders for on-sale dates for two different shows in the fall for which I'm hoping to get tickets...it never ends...and I don't want it to end.  I just need for the universe to add more days to the week and to make me independently wealthy.  It could happen, right?