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