It's the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs as the hitter approaches the batter's box. Strike one. Strike two. And in another second, strike three. Just like that, the game ends. Sometimes you celebrate as your team wins and other times, it's a loss. It might have been a close game or one in which the losing team never had a chance to catch up. Either way, you've enthusiastically watched the great American pastime. You've watched hitters do what seems to be the impossible: hit a 90+ mile-an-hour ball thrown just over 60 feet in less than a second.
Baseball is watching the impossible become possible. The game is not only the talent and passion of the players and coaches, but the strategy and timing. Like baseball, life is also often watching the impossible become possible.
The new musical Possibility Junkie by David Ippolito had its final performance on Sunday night in New York City. This limited three-week run, directed by Gretchen Cryer, was a testament to putting together talent and passion to make something possible.
Ippolito, a New York City-based singer-songwriter, is the consummate possibility junkie. His life's story gives this musical its roots as Ippolito's character, That Guitar Man, uses music as a tool to make his fans, and the theater-going audience, have faith and hope... and to believe. There is no doubt that Ippolito believes music has the power to change individuals. His lyrics often inspire listeners to be that possibility junkie by making the impossible become possible.
For Ippolito, Possibility Junkie is about making something out of an idea or dream. To spread his music and share his story which allows his listeners to believe that they are not alone in their feelings, dreams or thoughts, whether he is writing songs about life, politics, friendship, love or loss. He is a staunch advocate of living your life by pursuing your passion.
Possibility Junkie started with Ippolito's songs and his goal to bring that music to a wider audience. With this idea, he began the process of linking his songs through a story, which after many discussions and re-writes became Possibility Junkie.
The goal of the limited run was to showcase Possibility Junkie for potential producers and investors. As Ippolito indicated at the start of performances, he believed he had a musical which was not only fun but had something good to say. Now that it's over, Ippolito knows he has a great musical that audiences positively reacted to with enthusiasm and energy, singing along with the musical as the character "the people on the Hill," named after Ippolito's fans in Central Park, where he has performed for over 20 years.
The time, effort and monetary investment needed to showcase Possibility Junkie were no easy feat for Ippolito. However, he never doubted he would be able to bring his vision to its current stage. He may not have always known exactly how it would happen or whether he would raise the funds needed, but he lives his life in each moment as an unapologetic possibility junkie, calling himself "the luckiest man alive."
For Ippolito, a lifelong baseball fan, he understands that hitting a home run may happen on your first at-bat, or you may continually have a single hit that gives you the opportunity to run the bases over and over. Either way, you are in the game. And every time you step up to that plate, there is a possibility of hitting the ball, and maybe even hitting a home run. While baseball players with great records may only be batting in the .300s, each time they approach the plate they are true possibility junkies with a passion for playing the game.
The positive feedback from audiences and potential investors gives Ippolito and Cryer a reminder to keep hope alive and continue to believe that audiences will have another opportunity to see the show as it moves along the path to an off-Broadway or Broadway theater. Ippolito's latest at-bat may have indeed been a home run.