I am doing a marathon for charity!

Not a running one (don’t be crazy) a theater one.

The annual Boston Theater Marathon is May 19-20 (http://www.bu.edu/bpt/), the highlight of which is TEN HOURS of ten minute plays on the 20^th.

Now, I have attended or participated in (or both) 12 of the previous 13 years. But I’ve always, you know, taken a couple of hours off or got there late or left early.

But this year I am going to see ALL 50 plays. All ten hours. Of theater. In a row.

Why would I do such a thing, you ask?

For the same reason all people do marathons, I guess. To challenge myself. To see if I am equal to the task. To feel superior to others and be able to demonstrate my superiority with those coy little oval bumper stickers on my minivan.

But mostly to raise money.

I am a passionate member of StageSource, an arts service organization that makes theater possible in Boston. For more about my love of this organization, read my utterly sincere next blog post, which I will post tomorrow. Or the day after. I do have a job, you know.

I am going to ask my friends and family for money (and I am from Connecticut, so this is really hard for me to do) to support this organization that has meant so much to me and to my career.

And as a demonstration of my love and commitment to StageSource, and as an attempt to make you feel obligated to give (Look at me -- I’m doing THIS VERY HARD THING.) I will be watching TEN HOURS OF THEATER. In a ROW. And for me that’s a pretty big commitment, because I don’t like most theater very much.

If you want to give, click the donate button on this page. It'll take you to PayPal (if you have an account, bully. If not you can just use a credit card.) And I'll get you a nice letter for the IRS saying you donated to a 501(c)3.