Hong Kong...city of...wonder?

This completes my first leg truly of the tour that is my life of Cinderella: a month sit down at the Hong Kong Cultural center. How truly amazing this theatre is. It sits on the Kowloon side of Hong kong (HK proper being an island, much like Manhattan) right on the water (a wopping 30ft from the water's edge) and was a architecturally cool building with a state of the art kind of feel to it. It was what I was used to performing in from the US tour, so it was a welcome change from the old, small, smelly and battery-operated Chineses theatres. Just saying.
So Hong Kong. I had a bit of a Love/Hate thing going on with the city and it's people. I felt that the way the city was run was much more effecient than the way NYC trucks along. The subways are suuuuper clean, the streets and neat and tidy, and there are not many, if any, slums in the city and most people were very very pleasant. (HK island i mean) All that being said, i think Hong Kong lacks a personality of it's own. It lacks character and individuality. It was a British territory for so long that it maintains some European influences and exclusively Bristish cultural stereotypes ie. double decker buses, british english and driving on the oppostie side of road. Is there a point to that? or are they just being....british? difficult for the sake of being so. it's lucky they have it written on the streets which way to look for traffic before you cross. It tries to maintain it's Asian identity with chinese markets, traditional foods and building a Buddha statue atop one of the highest peaks on the island. Even with those very Asian things....i just felt like the city was trying too hard to be something that it isn't. is it odd that i speak of a city like it's a living, breathing thing...? i truly feel though, it's a cold place. the bar scene is full of people who make ridiculous sums of money but complain of their jobs and drink themselves silly. the shopping is all very posh designers only and lacks that thrift store or private designer we all seek out. everyone is beautiful, but in that, "i should be on a billboard, so don't look at me in person" kind of way.
I know it sounds as if i didn't like my stay in Hong Kong, but truly i did, but i'm a spoiled guy living in Manhattan. I did meet some wonderful people and have made friends there that if i went back, i would seek them out on the double.
The audiences were a welcomed group because they widely spoke English and understood theatre and especially musical theatre. they were receptive, active and acutely aware of the plot and subtle humor. It was a welcomed change from the very polite and reserved audiences that were in China.
This past week was Thanksgiving and the company graciously hosted a dinner in the swanky downtown area called Lan Quai Fong complete with turkey, cranberry sauce (my favorite, out of the can:-) and of course, some good company. It was nice, but nothing like the home cooking i love on my favorite holiday of the year.
I miss my family very very much, especially in these times of the holidays. Life on the road is quite wonderful, but there's nothing like decorating a tree in NH or Washington Heights, strolling in freezing Central Park or College Woods, Egg Nog Lattes and good convo in any starbucks in the world, the singing snowflakes at Columbus Circle above Whole Foods, Ice skating with the one you love's hand in yours, Boston commons and gardens and that freezing night of tossing each other in the snow, and of course being around everyone you love. This Thanksgiving, i'm thankful for all mentioned above, all things on the road to come and for you, for seeing me through this journey that has shown me what life can be.
Happy Turkey,
your skinny man in the orient.

Beijing Adventures

The much anticipated arrival into Beijing has finally happened!!
My first day entering the freezing city (i was very thankful for the the ability to wear layers) my friends sarah, mashawn and myself trekked immediately to the Olympic village. Although it was night and very very cold, it was a very neat sight. The Birds nest and the water cube are side by side with only a street between them, and are both architectural wonders. You look at the birds nest and wonder how it stands because it lacks any kind of sturdy looking support. It was cool to be in the place where the biggest sporting event in the world took place a mere few weeks before. It was also a little awkward because though the Olympics are a very big deal and bring much to the city that hosts them, these structures are there forever and only got a few weeks of use....hopefully it will bring people to Beijing for more reason than just the Great Wall...
DID YOU SAY GREAT WALL? WELL, YES I BELIEVE I DID!
Have mercy this was the coolest thing I have seen in my life. We went as a group (cast, musicians) and chartered a bus with a tour guide who told of the "communist magic" that brought Beijing to where it is today and then went on to talk about the wall...(funny little man). From the bus we could see the wall scratched into the mountain side from a far distance, and it was awesome even from afar. The trip we took was to a less touristy spot on the wall where there was a cable car up to the middle of the wall where you could climb up (literally...up) or down to where I shot that Youtube video for everyone, onto the luge that zigzagged ridiculously fast back to the village below. I again went with Mashawn and Sarah but after peaking up, we climbed down and parted ways, each of us wanting our own moment alone on the Great Wall. you know, just to say we did. Mine included making video letters to home and frolicking like a fool down (as literally down as it was up....) the wall and leaping and turning until i could barely breathe. I figure if i was going to die of a heart attack, it might as well be on the Great Wall of China. No? I thought so.
I then had a near death ride on my own personal luge where they constantly were screaming at the loud speeding americans to "slow down!!! no photo!!! be careful!!" (again, if i'm gonna go, i'm gonna go while speeding down the mountain FROM the Great Wall of China...still no?)
We did make a side trip to a tomb after the wall...but once a tomb, always a tomb. we probably should have seen it before the wall so that it wouldn't look so lame to us. I took pictures..and then erased them, it wasn't worth it. It was no Terracotta Warriors. Obviously.
Beijing concludes my time in mainland China. I have to admit that it's a very sad thing to me now. In the beginning I was impressed with it's history and culture, in the middle it was it's people that really got to me (see: Noodle shop man) and in the end, it was a genuine blend of the two. Between the lights, food, drink and music of Shanghai and the wall, shopping, and the pleasant people of Beijing, China now holds a very special place in my heart. It was not the first time i'd received the message of not judging a book by it's cover, but this was the most resounding in my heart.
I should also mention that with the end of mainland comes the end of the Ukranian orchestra, my dear friend Yang, and our head wardrobe mistress, Colleen. All very sad losses because all have helped make this tour what it has been for me. Especially Yang, my late night hospital trippin, dancin, irish bar lovin, Californian/Shanghainese Noodle buddy. He only wonders why we all hate rice so much:-)
Cheers