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• sticky floor

  Thursday, Sep 20, 2007 7:22AM / Standard Entry

  Tuesday was probably the worst show we have had so far!  Over the weekend, the backstage crew had to re paint the surface of the stage...they did this on Sunday night after our show...and our next show was Tuesday night.  Unfortunately, because of the weather....the stage did not completely dry.  Only an hour before curtain call, and our stage manager was calling our dance captains to the stage...something was definitely wrong....in just a few min...we had to go over some of the numbers of the show...changing things...making sure that we tried not to lay on  the stage as much as possible.  Everyone was marking (not dancing full out) the dances because they were scared to slip (even though it was sticky....in some places it was slippery too) or get stuck on the sticky surace of the stage.  In the first number, one of the boys got his shoe stuck to the floor and his foot came out of the shoe!  There were new sounds added to our tap numbers because every time our shoes left the surface of the stage, there would be a sticky sound.....anytime someone was walking on the stage....there was that sounds....it was kind of funny..but, at the same time the energy wasn't as good for most of the dancing...it was an experience to remember though....

  
  

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• first week

  Friday, Sep 14, 2007 1:49PM / Standard Entry

  Ok...so....the first week of our performances went extremely well.  The audiences are enjoying the show and the ticket sales are going very well.  It has been such a great first week!  We had 2 days off on Monday and Tuesday...those days were VERY busy because Monday was our big Shanghri-la buffet day.  There were 6 of us who went and we spent a whole 3 hrs there!  It was such a wonderful lunch!  Everyone was so happy!  I have never seen so many smiles before!  Just going to get food I could see everyone's eyes sparkle with joy!  This is what I love about food....when there is no guilt and you are there to have a great meal and enjoy great company.  We ended with many runs of dessert....everyone placing their purchases in the center of the table to let everyone else have a bite...it was the like heaven!  We are planning on doing it again this coming Monday..hahahaha...

      And, we also ended up taking a ferry back to Pu Xi...which I would never have done before....thanks to the other cast members....I was able to!  And we even went to Old City to shop for cheap fake purses!  Again..something I would never do!  It was a great day!!!!

      So, Tues was basketball day followed by suit day!  I took 4 of the boys to this costum make tailor place to get suits made.  I was extremely happy when they all made purchases!!! It made me feel like I was actually helping them! hahaha....yup...great times...and sad to think that my friends will be leaving in less than 2 weeks....I'm going to miss them.....

     Ok, just something weird that happened....today, I was waiting for a taxi for 20 min...and finally found one....I get in...and right under my feet I see a really cute white rabbit in a cage!  I can't believe someone forgot the little guy!!!!  (but, I can believe that I lost my whole suitcase in the trunk of a taxi) I was so sad because I really wanted to take him..but, I know that seth (my dog) would get jealous..hahaha....strange things.....

  
  

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• Opening Night

  Thursday, Sep 6, 2007 1:41PM / Standard Entry

  Last night, 9 of my friends from MY SHOW came to watch my performance of 42nd St.  It was so nice to see their faces.  It seems like so long since I was competing with them.  And they are all still competing!!!  I can't believe all that has happened since 2 weeks ago.  There was so much I wanted to say to them and so many things I wanted to share with them...but, there was no time because I had to get ready for the show....I just hope that I'll get a chance to see them again before or right after their final performance.....

  There was an air of excitement in the dressing room, as all of us were preparing for the show.  I had already been ready 2 hrs before the show because of interviews.  I didn't want the interviews to make me rush in the end and get nervous.  so...here I was all ready for the show....warming up would probably be a good idea.....so....I took my time warming up and soon the 30min before showtime call was announced.  At that point, everyone was very hyper and ready to go.  They had been waiting for so long and finally this day had come!   I don't know which part was more exciting for everyone....the opening or the opening party afterwards at the ritz!  hahaha...

  We did are ritual circle before the show...preparing ourselves mentally.  And suddenly, the band was playing the oveture.  There was a lot of running around hugging and saying "happy opening"!!!  The atmosphere was inspiring and everyone was ready to give it 100% (or more).  We got in our positions for the top of the number...and the curtains began to rise and show our tapping feet! 

  Overall, the audience was wonderful!  And everyone was happy to hear their laughter and cheer.  Everyone's spirits were up and everyone did a great show!  It was the best opening I could have ever wished for! 

  昨天晚上，有九個從[我行我Show]裡的朋友來看[42街]的演出，我好高興見到他們，他們仍然在比賽中，似乎和他們比賽像是很久以前的事了，真不敢相信兩個星期前我也是其中一份子…

  我有好多好多話想跟他們說，無奈我已經要趕上場了，希望在他們總決賽之前，或者是總決賽時，我再能見到他們….

     我們在那兒很緊張地準備演出的時候，東方衛視在那兒實況轉播，因為顧他們的拍攝，我二個小時前就把準備工作都做好了，因為我不希望匆匆忙忙地會讓自已緊張，表演前放鬆自已最好的辦法就是做熱身，我在表演前三十分鐘已經很悠游地準備妥當…

     我和大家一樣，這一刻已經盼了很久，我不知道到底是首演，還是首演後在ritz的宴會更讓人吸引….

     開場前我們拉手圍成一個圈，一起祈禱，希望演出順利，這時樂隊已經奏出前奏，我聽到四面傳來的“恭喜”“加油”的祝福聲，每一個人這時都已經百分之百，或更多的投入，我們站回到自已出場的位置，幕拉了起來，觀眾先看到了我們在跳踢躂舞的腳…

     那天的觀眾特別捧，台上每一個人享受台下觀眾的每個反影，每一聲掌聲，我們跳得更興奮，演得更投入了，這可以說是我最期待的，最出色首演…

   

  
  

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• banana cake madness

  Tuesday, Sep 4, 2007 11:57PM / Standard Entry

  Wow..I can't believe it's already been a week since my last blog.  Hmmm.....well, I've been put into the Audition number. IT is a lot faster than I had been practicing it...and also, it's a lot different with everyone else there taping with me...it can get kind of confusing... And the opening is tomorrow night.  I'm very excited about it...and of course, nevous as well....I have some fans coming to watch and a friend coming too.  So..it should be fun. 

  Oh, last night one of the musical directors came over to cook Italian food.  After I had rehearsals with Christine, we went to the market to buy some baking ingredients.  I decided to bake the cast, crew, and musicians some banana bread for today's long reherasal....we also got stuff for our little dinner party.  Anyways..it was a very nice afternoon spent talking and watching "Zoolander"...which I have yet to really watch and pay attention to.  The conversation was nice and the dinner was nice as well...cheese, salad, and a nice meatball pasta...I haven't had pasta in years!!!  oops...a bend to the no gluten diet rule...I really love having small dinner parties at home.  It reminds me of back in the day when we'd have family dinner's at my cousin's house.  I miss those times.  I hope I'll have a chance to have more dinner parties here in Shanghai.

  So, after dinner, I stayed up till 11pm baking banana bread...then, in the morning, I woke up at 7am (normal time for me) and baked twice as much. I was scared that there wouldn't be enough for everyone.  I ended up separating the banana bread into 2 lots.  I took one lot into the girls dressing room for the cast to share.  Then I left the other lot with the stage manager...hoping that he'd find a good time to give it to the crew and musicians.  I asked him about 3 times...and i could tell that he was getting annoyed with me....but, I was scared that all my hard work would be wasted!!!  I don't think he realized that I spent almost 4 hrs on those!!!  ..so, the rehearsal ends and I see the lot sitting on the table...like it had been several hrs before.  I was very upset!!!  I took the lot and left it with some of the musicians on the bus.  I should have known not to trust anyone with something so important to me. For some reason, I just love baking and seeing the expression on people's faces...it makes me happy :)

  哦，真不敢相信已經又是一個星期沒寫博克了...

  現在我已經正式被按排在開幕試鏡的那一場踢躂舞，我發現節奏比我平時練習的快了很多，當然和大家一塊跳的感覺也完全不一樣，有時會讓我感到有些攪惑，但是明天已經是首演了，我有些粉絲會來捧場，相信會挺有意思的…

     哦，昨天我和Christine排練完了以後，其中一位音樂總監和我們一起，去超市買了菜，一起到我們家來煮義大利餐，我去超市裡還特意買了些材料，準備給大家烤一些香焦麵包，拿去給大家，作為今天長期抗戰總採排的慰勞…

  很開心能有朋友來家裡聊天，我們一邊放為錄影帶看 "Zoolander"，其實我們並沒有真的在看，只是聊天時讓它有點聲音，晚餐也很豐富，我們先有點cheese作我們的晚前小點，然後有沙律，還有肉球意大利麵，我已經好久好久沒敢吃意大利麵，這可是違反了我的健康銀食譜了...

  我真的很興奮有人來家裡做客，讓我懷念那些家人聚餐的日子，我希望今後會有更多這樣的聚會在我們上海的家中…

  晚餐過後，我就開始烤我的香焦麵包了，一直烤到晚上十一點，第二天一早我第七點就爬起來繼續烤，我擔心晚上烤的不夠大伙分的，(雖然我平時七點也起床了)我這一回一共烤了二盤，一盤我放在我們化裝間了，另外一盤我交給舞台監督，讓他幫我忙分給樂隊和工作人員吃 ，但是怎麼知道我前後問了他三次，他仍然沒然沒有行動，我想他完全沒想到這是我花了四個小時去烤的，當總彩排結束以後，我發現仍然放在那兒，我就把整盤拿上了他們的巴士上，分給樂隊他們吃，以後這麼重要的事，我一定親力親為絕不拜托任何人了…

  說真的，我實在很喜歡為大家烤點什麼，我尤其喜歡看到別人吃我烤的東西後的反影，他們的歡喜給我帶來無限的喜悅….

  
  

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• Uncomfortable experience

  Friday, Aug 31, 2007 9:19AM / Standard Entry

  Ok, so...Wed night I get a call asking me to sing at a function the following day.  Of course, the first person I called was Lawrence (my cousin who is the best guitarist in Shanghai) to see if he would be able to play for me.  Unfortunately, it was too last minute for him to pull out of his gig at JZ.  So....one of the musical directors, Jeff was happy and willing to help me out.  We show up early at the club "Attica"...which looks very different in photos.  It could have been the fact that it was VERY dark in the club.  Anyways....Jeff and I are waiting for the engineer guy so that we can do a sound check.  We end up going through the song twice without plugging in the keyboard to the speakers...and without my microphone....and still...no sign of the engineer guy....so, we hang out outside for a min...and the view is INCREDIBLE!!!  The breeze was soooooo nice and it just didn't feel like Shanghai...except for the familiar Shanghai buildings in front of our faces...hahaha....anyways....when the engineer FINALLY arrives....we have a half sound check because there are already people at the club.  This means that while we were testing the keyboard sound from the speaker, loud "boom boom" music was playing as well.  And when I was testing the mic...the same thing...it was ridiculous!!!  What type of sound check was that!!!  For some reason...I was embarrassed that we had such an unprofessional experience...I wanted to appologize to Jeff...of course, I knew it wasn't my fault and had nothing to do with me...

  So....I thought that this function was a special function/party for the cast of 42nd St...therefore, more private?  But....little did I know....there was loud music playing and everyone was dancing...it was like any other club in Hong Kong.  At first, there were about 4 of us who were going to sing....as the night went on, however, I was told that I was the only one who would be singing.  I started to worry because the atmosphere seemed too awkward to suddenly get up and sing a musical theatre ballad.  So...basically, we had to stop the music to do our little thing...Kristen (the lead of our show) played MC and asked everyone to enter the lucky draw and introduced me. So...I sucked back all my fears of embarrassment...and decided that if I sang the song for all the cast members...forgot completely where I was....then I'd be fine!  And that is exactly what I did....I think...other than that one time I had to sing "All That Jazz" with hardly any music....this was the most uncomfortable experience I've had....singing "If I Loved you in the middle of a disco club....but...it's all good....life is full of these moments....right?

  星期天的晚上，我突然收到通知讓在第二天的晚會上表演唱歌...當然我第一個想到的是我的表哥Lawrence，他現在可以算得上全上海最捧的結他手了，如果他能為我伴奏，什麼問題都解決了，但我也知道這可能性不大，他那天晚上在ZJ有演出...其中一位音樂總監.Jeff說是願意幫我，他和我很早就來到了"Attica"練習...

  我以前從來沒去過 “Attica”，它看上去和宣傳照很不一樣，我們先是坐在黑暗裡等待做音響的來幫我們檢查一下聲音，但一直沒等到，結果我們練了二次都是沒有音響效果的，也就是說他幫我的伴奏的琴鍵沒了音響，而我的麥克風也完全沒有聲音，練完了那做音響的還沒到，我們只有站在外面看風景，沒想到那外面的風景實在是太美了，簡直不敢相信這是在上海，當然那些熟習的上海市的建築依就在眼前…哈哈哈

  終於那做音樂的出現了，但是我們卻只夠時間半隻曲子的驗聲，因為這時觀眾已經絡續進場了，也就是說如果我們還繼續試聲的話，我們的琴鍵聲就會和他們很大聲的音樂重在一起，我也是同樣情形試我的麥克風，我為我們這麼不專業的行為感到不自在，所以我主動向Jeff道歉，…當然我知道錯不在我，我不應該負任何責任…

  我一直以為這是屬於我們[42街]的私人宴會，但後來我漸漸發現，那像一般的香港的士哥俱樂部一樣，人們在大聲的音樂中跳舞狂歡…

  他們起先跟我說，我們有四個人唱歌的，怎麼知道最後只有變成我一個人唱，我開始有點擔心，讓我在這種場合唱一個音樂劇的歌曲…

  整個感覺有點怪怪的，他們突然把原來的音樂停了下來，由我們的女主角Kristen擔任司儀，開始我們小小儀式，我們開始抽獎，然後介紹我出…

  終於我鼓足勇氣，試忘卻這些不自在，因為我現在不止代表我個人，還代表了整個[42街]仝人，我告訴自已，我一定要唱好它...

  我想除了那次，我在幾乎完全聽不見音樂唱了 "All That Jazz"以外，這一回讓我在迪士哥中唱這首 “If I Love You”，可以說是我最不自在的一次演出…

     但是我知道這是件好事，人生中必定會經過很多這樣的時刻…

   

   

  
  

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