A Lazy Day Off....

It's Monday, June 28th(I think), 4:40 PM and It's my day off. I've just been lounging around reading, recovering a bit from an uber fun night at the Bedrock Club. It was sort of a good-bye party for B.T. and Stephen, our Aussie Co/Asst. Director, who left today. Stephen was B.T.'s A.D. for the Australian production of "Cabaret" and, in his absence here in Korea, was basically(along with Suzie Taylor, the Choreographer) the main stage director- and a great one at that!

Well, the show has been going very well, and, as I said before, is being received with great applause; the only problem is that the applause is still coming from very small houses. Word on the street is that Seoul will be completely different and that the houses should be packed. We'll see.... We only have 2 more shows(Tues. and Wed.) before we leave lovely Taejon, and won't open in Seoul until Saturday. That means we as a cast are invited by Mr. Park, the presenter, to the production of "RENT" I spoke of in earlier blogs. I think we're invited to some after-party with a host of local uppity-ups who are friendly with Mr. Park as well.

Along those lines, we're very proud to know that the diplomatic corps from the U.S. Embassy is coming to see the show this coming weekend. I understand the U.S. Amdassador to South Korea will also be in attendance, so I guess I'll have to take it easy on the Soju that night....(just kidding- I'll still be drinking lots of Soju)

As I stated before, the extension to China is off, but, after talking to B.T. last night, he told me he and Suzie are directing the West Chester version of "Cabaret" that opens around late August and runs through mid-November. He also told me that Thomas and Jen(Foothills' "Cliff Bradshaw" and his wife, our Choreographer) are also involved, Tom playing the Victor/trombone track, similar to what I'm playing now.(Tom also played this role in the Studio 54 production.) However, both of them have to leave the production early, as they have both been cast in the new Monty Python Musical "Spam-a-Lot". I'm thrilled for them , as they are both super people and well deserving of the gig. However, that also means they will need a replacement during the run for Thomas' trombone track. If they haven't already filled the position(no trombone joke intended), B.T. said he'd pass my name along to the West Chester folks, so I'll just wait and see......

All the best to those who continue to read my words, and, as always, Peace- An-nyong-ee Keyseo! -Gags

Open For Business...

Howdy! Opening night was great! Full house(I estimated around 2,500 or so seats), great crowd. That was opening night. Since then, the show has been fine, but the crowds have been less than big. They've been very responsive, supportive, and seem to love the show, but, it's a big hall to be 1/4-1/3 full. The cheap seats are a mile away and right at (and above) eye level, so there is no rest for the wicked(i.e. those of us on the band bridge).

Have I mentioned already that Taejon is kind of a hell hole? I have? Well, that's because it is. The one redeeming fact is, or was, that right next to the hotel is a bar/lounge called The Bedrock. A whole bunch of us went there opening night to have a few cocktails, and there was this awesome cover band from the Philippines who have been playing there regularly for about a year. They had this male singer who has a falsetto that blew us away. He did a rendition of "Endless Love", singing both the Lionel Richie and the Diana Ross parts at the same time. It was indescribably brilliant. We were all saying how we had found our new hangout in Taejon- that is until the next night when some folks went back(I stayed in- it was a long day) and told us how some Korean guy got dragged out and beaten up pretty good. I guess the bar is run by some "connected" people, and the incident had something to do with that. No one from our group was involved or in any danger, and the band, who we have all befriended, told some folks that this was only the second time this year something like that had happened. I suppose I've seen worse in Worcester, but this is the kind of town where the police aren't called in these situations. I'm not too worried about it, as it was an isolated incident and, considering the amount of business we brought them the past few days, the club staff will probably go out of their way to assure us of our safety.

That aside, it's been pretty uneventful here. Hotel to theatre, theatre back to hotel. Life on the road, I suppose. We have two shows again tomorrow, and then Monday off. I have no idea what I'm going to do with a whole day off in Taejon, but I guess I'll try and finish the book "Wicked", which I picked up just before leaving Seoul. If you haven't read it, it's excellent(so far), although it is much saucier and grittier than I had anticipated.

Well, a 1:15 bus call tomorrow for a 3PM show can only mean one thing- B.T. McNichol is back in town and has notes for us. B.T.(our director) was only here for a day or two at the beginning of rehearsals, and just got back in today. He watched both shows today or what he could stay awake for, anyway. So, I sign off looking forward to hearing from you all, as there's a void of normalcy here in Taejon.... An-nyong-ee Keyseo! - Gags

Opening Night.....

Well, we open tonight and things seem to settling down as far as quick changes and the other hairy aspects of a new production. We are very lucky because, as I mentioned before, the entire cast and crew(not including the local dressers, techs. etc.) has done the show on tour or Broadway before. That is except myself and John Little(Shultz) who hitched on from the Foothills production. I feel pretty good, as our last runthrough went fairly well. I know, I know, a crappy dress = a great opening and vice-versa....

Not much new to report. Mary, thanks for the pictures and the emails. I promise to write emails very soon(Ephraim, E-Spot, et al). I'll drop another line tomorrow or the next day and let you all know how the opening went, as well as the reaction of the audience. 'Till next blog...
Peace- Gags

P.S. We have learned that there will not be an extension into China on this tour, but, rumor has it that they may come back to Asia to do another "Cabaret" tour. Who knows, maybe I'll become a regular on the "Cabaret" tour circuit, as often happens with this show. -G

Last Day of Tech...

Well, I'm on break(6:50 PM our time, 5:50 AM for y'all) and only have a few minutes to get back so as to be ready for our first full dress(w/costumes, makeup, all props, etc.).
I believe all will go well, but it's been a long couple of days. The longer we are here in Taejon, the less thrilled we all are. Last night, there were a few drunken fights right outside the hotel. Not a big deal because all of the guys involved were too drunk to even throw any punches. There was just a lot of very drunk pushing, shirt tearing(sometimes their own) and stumbling. I was more concerned they would get hit by a car.

This is definitely the shadiest town we'll be in the whole time over here. That coupled with the recent hostage situation makes me long for the states. There are no obvious protests or gatherings here in Taejon, but, seeing it is a college town, that usually indicates a hotbed of protest activity. We go back to Seoul in about a week, so, we'll see if the demonstrations there die down by then.

Well, back to tech. and onto opening night tomorrow. I'll try and keep this going here in Taejon, but if it gets dicey, I might have to stick close to the theatre/hotel. I'm not too worried, though. But, better safe than sorry. Don't worry, Mom and Dad, if it becomes not ok for us to be here, they'll let us know. So far so good. Peace. Steve

I Miss Seoul Already....

2 Days in Taejon and, yes, I already miss Seoul. Although it's kind of a college town, there's not much to do around the hotel. It's not too bad around the theatre(which is on a college campus), but we will only be at the theatre for performances. That means we get to spend the rest of the time around our rather dingy hotel. The rooms are much bigger(2 beds), but the staff barely speaks English and the rooms have that "lived in", mid '80's feel. Taejon(also spelled Daejong), as one cast member put it, has a boardwalk/Atlantic City sort of feel, but without the beach. It's kind of weird. Thank goodness we are back in Seoul in about a week.

It's Tuesday, and we are on break from tech. rehearsal, so I'm finally getting a feel for the set. It's much taller than the Foothills set was(go figure-we actually have fly space). I'm also getting to meet the crew, who are very stressed out, for good reason but are also very nice. Those of you from UMass may remember our Head Carpenter, Andy Capelli. He's also the boyfriend of our Company Manager, Janice. Small world...


Well, I gotta get back to tech., but I should be able to keep in touch in Taejon, as there are some "PC"'s around the hotel as well as the theatre. That is if the Red Sox don't put me in the hospital with an ulcer.... Later- Gags

On To Taejon....

Hola, all! Sorry it's been a few days, but the last few times I tried to access my blog, it wouldn't let me. So, it's Sunday night, @ 8:45PM and I've had kind of a lazy day off.(I saw "Shrek 2" with a Korean audience(Korean subtitles).) I leave for Taejon tomorrow at 11:30 AM, but will be back in Seoul in about a week and a half. The other TV spot we did for publicity's sake was on Friday, and it was probably cooler than the first spot the other day. First off, it was in a theatre that looked like a cathedral from the outside- I thought we were going to be struck by lightning for sure. But, as it turns out, it was a beautiful, modern space that seated about 3,000. It was basically a full house because it was on a college campus and all the performers sharing the bill appealed to a younger crowd. Guess who followed us this time- you guessed it, All4One- again- I'm beginning to think their manager booked them around us so they could check out the scantily clad KitKat Girls... There was also an excellent female singer and a rockin' Korean Salsa band. They were a blast to hear! As for the rest of the bill, we rehearsed in reverse order(i.e. we opened the show, so we rehearsed last) so I didn't get to see the rest of the groups, as well as the fact that we left as soon as we were done. No objections here.

I'm getting a little antsy about opening the show, because there's not much left to do except costumes, makeup, props, and getting familiar with the new set. It may sound like a lot, but we were rehearsing in a room about the same size as(actually, a bit smaller than) the Foothills rehearsal hall, so we need to fix the spacing and get our timing down(i.e. how long it takes to get to and from the band bridge, what does the cross-over/under look like, etc.). It will be interesting leaving one of the biggest cities in the world to go to a city of roughly a million. That's still pretty big, but, compared to Seoul, it's like going from New York to Worcester.

Sorry I haven't been uploading pictures(I actually don't have too too many), but I've been waiting to use a cast member's as I'm not sure how cool it is to use the "PC"'s for uploading. I'll figure it out soon enough. I did start an account with ofoto.com, but need to upload some stuff before I give out the site.

Well, I certainly hope to run into some "PC"'s down in Taejon, but if you don't hear from me for a bit, you'll know I haven't. Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there, especially Jack and Woody. I'm thinking about all you guys very often, I hope the same is true on your end.(I miss the peanut terribly, but get a chance to look at her every time I open my wallet. Give her a kiss from Uncle Tak.) Again, please continue to drop me lines(even just a hi with your name) and I'll try and get around to personal emails after the show opens this week. Peace and Kamsa hamnida ee-tawk-so(Thanks for reading!) Steve

40 Million Koreans Can't Be Wrong....

Hola! It's Wednesday night, @ 9PM(8AM your time) and, since we had a short rehearsal(12PM-5:30PM) there was no lunch break. So, here I am updating an' all.... Yesterday when I was writing, I wasn't sure what this press gig was going to be like. Well, it was kind of a trip- Come top find out, this studio was one of the few TV stations run by the South Korean Govt.; kind of like the Korean BBC(Actually, the KBS). First, we ran the two numbers("Don't Tell Mama"/"Wilkomen") so they could get the lighting right.(This TV studio was big -it probably seats @ 2,000 people) Then we had to record our vocals over an old instrumental track from the first Networks tour. Then, we waited for a few hours and had a tech. run through, then waited another few hours before the show started. This show is sort of a Sunday night music variety show viewed, we were told, by, oh, say, most of the TV owning audience in Korea, or about 40 Million People!! I suppose when there are only a few stations to watch, you often have a captive audience to play to.

We were about 13th on the bill following a few solo singers(it seems these singers only do ballads) a youth orchestra and, directly before us was an American Boy Band/group called All4One. I sort of knew them, but a few of the cast members said they were pretty big a few years back. I guess they had one big hit, but I can't remember it now. I suppose Korea is sort of Boy Band Purgatory, as we've been seeing posters for a Hanson concert that just took place. Any-hoo, it was a "Live to Tape" gig, or, for a live studio audience meant to be aired at another date.

It was kind of funny because we had to clean up the choreography for this show, as it airs on Sundays at 6PM. I guess we'll see if the "Cabaret" audiences get what they expect or not....
We're doing another gig like this on Friday, but without any clean up, because this show airs at 12 Midnight and is not subject to the same constraints as Prime Time shows. We'll see.....

I had dinner at a local Bennigans tonight, and I have to say, it was one of the funniest moments I've had so far. As in most western restaurants in Korea, there is usually old pop/rock music blasting over the PA system. Probably a satellite feed. Well, after hearing a few golden oldies, what comes on but "Kung-Fu Fighting"!! I almost peed myself!! Of course, I started looking around to see what the reaction of the other customers was going to be and, damn it all if they didn't start fighting with one another!! It was pandemonium- Mom was fighting Son, Dad fighting Daughter, and Grandma was kicking the heck out of the waiter!!!!(Just kidding, no one besides me even noticed what song was playing, but, let me tell you, there was the tiniest part of me that was hoping someone was going to do some fighting- but, to no avail...)

Well, I'll see you here on the blog site, but if you'd like me to call(if I get a chance), drop me a line with your number attached, as my cell phone(e.g. my phone book) is still in the states. Thanks for reading! An-nyong-ee Heseyo! -Steve

Week 2....

Well, I actually wrote a blog yesterday during lunch, but it got erased before I sent it, so I'll try it again. It's Tuesday, 12:45 PM, and I'm just about recovered from Sunday night's party at the "Mad Monk's" house. What it ended up being was a party for the three casts Mr. Park, our presenter, is currently producing. Along with our cast was the cast of the Korean productions of "Blood Brothers" and "RENT". The cast is hoping to see both productions, schedule permitting, on a ticket exchange. However, those casts will almost definitely see us. That I'm glad about because each cast got up and did a number at the party, and our number("Wilkomen") is a little lack-luster with just vocals. I'm quite sure they have no idea what they're coming to see and that were gonna blow them away with our dancing and playing. It was neat, however, to hear "Seasons of Love" from "RENT" in Korean. They had the notes and the pop style down, but, to quote the Beatles, it was "Plastic Soul, Man"- or in this case, "Plastic Seoul"...

The house was incredible- I took some photos, but it doesn't do it justice. The "Mad Monk" was described to us as a spiritual man not officially recognized by the Buddhists as a part of any order because he was so far out. However, he was also described as the Pablo Picasso of Korea. It was quite an experience standing in his house(he died a @2 years ago) surrounded by his art, as well as the wall and ceiling "splatters" that were part of the decor. His, I guess you could say, girlfriend, still lived there. We were told she is a famous Korean novelist whose work would soon be made into a new Korean Musical, one of the first modern musicals to originate from Korea. As would be expected, Mr. Park will produce, as he is considered the Cameron Macintosh of Korea.

We are off at 2PM to a local TV studio to record some more press footage for promos and publicity, although it's getting to be a bit of a pain in the ass having our free time taken up so often. We have some other live press thing on Friday, as well as more in the near future. I suppose it's part of the territory and, please don't think we're developing superstar complexes, because we've been working hard with very little time off lately.

I'm so glad to hear from everyone so far, and, my apologies for not responding individually, but, once the show is up and running, I should have the time to sit and write some personal emails in addition to my silly blog. Please, keep writing- I'm a bit starved for news from home and, as it looks right now, our extension might be only a few weeks in Shanghai, if at all. So, I should be home in time to watch the Red Sox knock off the Stankees in the playoffs. (I'll see you in hell, Jorge Posada...)

All my best and Peace to all who read these words. An-nyong-ee Heseyo!
-Steve

It Doesn't Feel LIke Saturday...

But it is. Saturday is here, which means we have tomorrow off- sort of. At @4PM Sunday, the entire cast, as well as the Korean cast of "RENT", are invited to a place in the countryside once owned by a guy called the "Mad Monk". He's deceased, but our sponsor/presenter(guy with the $$) has access to his old digs, and were partying there tomorrow. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but it should be interesting.

We're stumbling through the show today, but, in general , it's going pretty well. Once again, I'm at lunch and only have a short time to write, and the space bar on the computer I chose is sticking, so I'll be brief so as not to throw the stupid machine across the room.

Another interesting thing is that there are some festivals this weekend celebrating Democrocy, as well as some protests against the sending of South KOrean troops to the middle east. We have been told to avoid these areas, one of which is right outside our hotel, so I'lll probably be staying close to home the next few days(except for the excursion to the "Mad Monk's).

I gotta go back to rehearsal, so, I'll drop a line in a day or two, or whenever it's not a bad idea to roam the strets again. I knew I should have learned how to say "I'm Canadian" in Korean before I left.....

Later-
Steve

Now I'm Sweating

1:30 PM. On break from rehearsal. Sweating my head off.(Isn't it fun to imagine what I would really be saying if this wasn't such a public forum.) It's the first really hot day here in Seoul, and the humidity is like a blanket. I've got a long lunch break, as I'm not needed until 3PM. I've had it kind of easy, considering the girls have been busting their butts and I've had a few half days this week. Then again, they are the real stars of the show.

I'm in yet another "PC" down the street from the "Seoul Center for the Arts", where we are rehearsing until we tech in Taejon or Daegu(I forget which one is first). After a week of shows there, we come back to Seoul for 3 weeks and then onto the other of the two cities I just mentioned. From there, we travel to the southern port of Pusan, the only city in Korea not felled by North Korea at the beginning of the Korean War. Then onto Japan for the rest of the tour.

Which reminds me, in general, the Korean people are, with good reason, not very friendly with the people of Japan.(Much hardship and attempted dominance over a long period of time.) This has made a very nationalistic people, evident by roads full of Hyundais, while not a Toyota or Honda is to be seen.

I spent a part of last night watching an international soccer match between South Korea and another team whose uniforms I did not recognize. The game was being shown on a big screen TV visible from the Plaza outside the hotel. It was the most fun I've ever had watching soccer. I know it can be a boring game, but it was like watching a Bruins game at the Fleet Center. S. Korea won 2-0, and was clearly the superior team.

I'll be signing off now, but, keep in touch and I'm sure there are some more adventures to come! An-nyong-ee keseyo!

Gags

So You Think I Have A Beer Belly, Eh?.....

Hello again from Downtown Seoul where it's Wednesday, about 5PM, 4AM your time, and my abs are sore. As part of our daily dance rehearsal, the Kit-Kat boys and girls are warming up with a 10 minute group stretch/exercise routine(crunches, pushups, etc.). I'm actually doing pretty well, considering I'm a little fat and out of shape, not to mention surrounded by younger, more agile dancers. I'm hoping the routine, coupled with the fact I'm walking @ 5 miles a day exploring Seoul, will lead me to workout even more at the hotel gym I described in the last post. My goal is to come home lean and mean- or at least not as fat as when I left!

Rehearsals are going well, and the pit/ensemble is beginning to sound great. It's also pretty cool to be walking down the street, waiting for the light to change and have a bus pull up right in front of you plastered with the shows' advertisement. It's a bit surreal, but it makes a lightbulb go off that this is a pretty big deal over here. Other cast members who have done the show before tell me we are being treated like stars compared to past tours.

We get one free meal a day, breakfast, and it is an excellent spread with everything you can imagine from bacon and eggs to all types of breads, as well as traditional Korean and Japanese dishes like kimchee(spicy,pickled cabbage/veggies)and poached fish. I forgot to mention that on the plane, breakfast was a Ham and Cheese sandwich and OJ. Pretty weird..

The layout of the city is just as strange a mix as breakfast is, with huge skyscrapers towering over thousand year old temples. I keep exploring and running into mazes of street markets with everything from handmade jewelry to a Polo store to dead, roasted chickens to cell phone hawkers. Just as in the U.S., sex sells. Cell phone kiosks are "manned" by a bevy of beautiful young ladies in hot-pants with a pension for flirting to get you to buy their particular phone.

I now own thirteen phones.

(Just kidding! They ignore all the westerners and concentrate on people who will actually buy something.)
My Korean is still poor, but improving daily. The way I figure it, I'll have a good grasp on the basics, oh, say, about the time we leave for Japan. It figures. Not that anyone has any plans on coming here or being in the area, but I would absolutely recommend seeing Seoul sometime in your life. It's got to be seen to be believed. I suppose it's sort of like seeing Manhattan for the first time, but, having spent time there, it's still pretty fantastic.

Well, that's all for today. I hope all is well back home and that y'all haven't forgotten me yet. If you do visit this site, please drop me at least a one liner letting me know that you are reading up. You can even respond simply by signing your name. Otherwise, there is no way to know who has visited, as there are no "hit counters" on this site. Thanks again for reading and an-nyong-ee kaseyo!(good-bye!)

-Gags

Finally here...

An-nyong haseyo!!!(Hello!!!) I'm here in downtown Seoul emailing from a "PC", an internet hole in the wall surrounded by Koreans playing games, checking email and doing other work I don't recognize. Seoul is fantastic! It's so alive and the people are so nice. It's also very safe and not too expensive. There are also a ton of western places to eat(woo-hoo!) and we've discovered the water is ok to drink( so far....)

As far as getting here, it was a long flight. We left New York at midnight, Friday night and arrived in Seoul at around 8PM Saturday night(9AM Sunday here). The food on the plane was not half bad, but my knees were killing me the whole way. Luckily, we had an hour layover in Alaska, so we could all stretch, pee, and have a Cinnabon.(Kyle, I saw the big bear you were talking about. It was HUGE!) It was pretty cool flying over northern Canada, as the sun was out at 2AM. There was a GPS tracking device displayed, so we knew exactly where we were and how fast and high we were travelling, as well as the distance and time to our destination.

The hotel here is one of the nicest in all of Seoul. It's got one of the biggest gyms in all of Korea and, I believe, all of Asia! It's four floors of machines, pool, and, best of all, a virtual driving range! I haven't tried it yet, but certainly will very soon.

The hotel is directly across the street from the City Hall Plaza, where there is a huge open grass area, the only one downtown I've seen so far. They had been setting up this giant staging area there for days and no one knew why. That is until a few hours ago, when, on the way home from rehearsal, we discovered it was a huge celebration for the arrival of the Olympic Flame! (I got a few pictures).

The people in the cast and pit are super nice and all have done the Sam Mendes version af "Cabaret", so we should be in great shape once people re-famaliarize themselves with the show.

Well, I'll leave you for now, but please respond to this or send me an email(sgagliastro@yahoo.com) soon, I'd love to hear from you all very soon. Thanks to everyone for helping, as my mom said so strikingly as I was on the way out the door Friday, my dream come true. An-nyong-ee hasyeo!(Goodbye!)- Gags