Good News And Bad News...
Howdy, all. Things are going OK as our time here in Seoul is coming to an end. This week has been a little crazy, though. Yesterday(Tues.), our Schnieder, Lucy Sorlucco, who was also the Schnieder in the Worcester Foothills cast, took a spill on some marble, rain-wet stairs at the hotel and had to go to the hospital. She' fine, a bump on the head, maybe a stitch and a leg abrasion, but that meant the swing, Laura Benson, had to go on yesterday(2 shows) and today(1 show). I'm not sure if Lucy will be back tomorrow or Friday, but, rest assured, she's in great spirits and will be just fine. In addition to that, we've been having major sound problems stemming from computer programming errors with the sound board software. Literally, insult on top of injury.
Speaking of "Tomorrow", our tour has taken an interesting twist this week. We were informed at a company meeting on Tuesday that ticket sales have not been going well in Japan(we open in August), and that has caused some decisions to be made by management back in the States. The first option was to have the tour shortened and come home at the beginning of August. The second option, which is what has been decided upon, is to replace our Sally Bowles(Katrina Yawkey)with a name star. Beginning in Japan, the role of Sally will be played by Andrea McArdle, who most of you would know as the original Annie Warbucks in the musical "Annie". She was also on Broadway in "Les Miserables"(Fauntine), "Starlight Express", as well as many tours, including the First National Tour of "Cabaret", in which she played Sally. She also played the role here in Japan on that tour, and the Networks brass are hoping her name and recognition from the last Japanese Tour will boost ticket sales.
This has been a bit of a bitter pill to swallow for the cast, as we have all become very friendly with Katrina and are quite upset at her unexpected departure. Not only has she been an amazing Sally, but she's become a good friend as well. It's sad, but, I suppose that's the biz. On the bright side, she is such a talented girl, I'm not too worried about her finding work, as she was in the Broadway cast of "Cabaret" for a while, and was a member of the cast when the show closed this past January. She'll be with us throughout the rest of Korea and, in spirit, throughout the rest of the tour.
This, however, does not preclude that the tour is out of jeopardy of being shortened in some way. It's sort of sad, as everyone would lose the work for the cancelled weeks, but, many of us are itching to come home to a place where you can order anything you want in a restaurant and have a distinct possibility of actually getting it! I guess I really don't want a shortening of the tour, as I hope to use the money I(hopefully) save to make a break for New York. This might also mean selling my car, so, if anyone might be in the market in the next six months, I'll keep you in mind...... This is all speculation, of course, but, who knows, maybe I'll go to auditions when I get home and be off on the road again right away. I'm hoping getting in with this company has at least propped open a door for future work, as it has for many others. Networks, being one of the biggest and most well known Non-Equity(Equity is the Stage Actor's Union) tour companies, has a lot of folks on the road and is need of constant new and replacement casting. We'll see...........
On a different note, a few of us, with passports in hand, got to go to the D.M.Z. today. This is the 4 Kilometer wide Demilitarized Zone, 2Km on each side of the border, which separates North and South Korea. It was pretty cool, if that can be said of a 50 plus years of tenuous cease fire between brother countries. We went into the third tunnel, one of four tunnels that has been found @300 meters under the D.M.Z., built by the North Korean Army. These tunnels were built for the sole purpose of invading the South, potentially starting World War III. I have some pictures, and will get them up on ofoto.com very soon.
Well, that was a mouthful- I hope you're still reading as I say good-bye for now. I'll probably write again before leaving Seoul, but you may not hear from me again until after we get to Daegu. Either way, I'll talk to y'all very soon. An-nyong Hayseo!
Peace(and after today, I really mean it),
Steve
Speaking of "Tomorrow", our tour has taken an interesting twist this week. We were informed at a company meeting on Tuesday that ticket sales have not been going well in Japan(we open in August), and that has caused some decisions to be made by management back in the States. The first option was to have the tour shortened and come home at the beginning of August. The second option, which is what has been decided upon, is to replace our Sally Bowles(Katrina Yawkey)with a name star. Beginning in Japan, the role of Sally will be played by Andrea McArdle, who most of you would know as the original Annie Warbucks in the musical "Annie". She was also on Broadway in "Les Miserables"(Fauntine), "Starlight Express", as well as many tours, including the First National Tour of "Cabaret", in which she played Sally. She also played the role here in Japan on that tour, and the Networks brass are hoping her name and recognition from the last Japanese Tour will boost ticket sales.
This has been a bit of a bitter pill to swallow for the cast, as we have all become very friendly with Katrina and are quite upset at her unexpected departure. Not only has she been an amazing Sally, but she's become a good friend as well. It's sad, but, I suppose that's the biz. On the bright side, she is such a talented girl, I'm not too worried about her finding work, as she was in the Broadway cast of "Cabaret" for a while, and was a member of the cast when the show closed this past January. She'll be with us throughout the rest of Korea and, in spirit, throughout the rest of the tour.
This, however, does not preclude that the tour is out of jeopardy of being shortened in some way. It's sort of sad, as everyone would lose the work for the cancelled weeks, but, many of us are itching to come home to a place where you can order anything you want in a restaurant and have a distinct possibility of actually getting it! I guess I really don't want a shortening of the tour, as I hope to use the money I(hopefully) save to make a break for New York. This might also mean selling my car, so, if anyone might be in the market in the next six months, I'll keep you in mind...... This is all speculation, of course, but, who knows, maybe I'll go to auditions when I get home and be off on the road again right away. I'm hoping getting in with this company has at least propped open a door for future work, as it has for many others. Networks, being one of the biggest and most well known Non-Equity(Equity is the Stage Actor's Union) tour companies, has a lot of folks on the road and is need of constant new and replacement casting. We'll see...........
On a different note, a few of us, with passports in hand, got to go to the D.M.Z. today. This is the 4 Kilometer wide Demilitarized Zone, 2Km on each side of the border, which separates North and South Korea. It was pretty cool, if that can be said of a 50 plus years of tenuous cease fire between brother countries. We went into the third tunnel, one of four tunnels that has been found @300 meters under the D.M.Z., built by the North Korean Army. These tunnels were built for the sole purpose of invading the South, potentially starting World War III. I have some pictures, and will get them up on ofoto.com very soon.
Well, that was a mouthful- I hope you're still reading as I say good-bye for now. I'll probably write again before leaving Seoul, but you may not hear from me again until after we get to Daegu. Either way, I'll talk to y'all very soon. An-nyong Hayseo!
Peace(and after today, I really mean it),
Steve
posted by Gags at 10:31 PM
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