Don't sleep, just sing
I keep wondering how I'm doing so much sleeping in Singapore, and then I realize, I'm not! I’m just on the average sleeping schedule of an actor…up all night. Last night the whole company was up late, and for good reason. The whole time we've been on tour we've been talking about doing a cabaret. Originally we wanted to do one for tsunami relief (back when it had just happened or when we were in areas that had been affected) but we had trouble finding a venue. We've been talking about it for almost four months, until Jen (our Maria) decided to bite the bullet and just do it.
She recruited my help (as cast representative - an elected position - I often get stuck with some dirty work) and it finally came together last night. We were able to sing at a fabulous Brazilian restaurant that was owned by one of our presenters. When it all came together, Troika decided to throw some money at the project, so everyone ate for free, and it turned into our closing tour party. Because the food was free, everyone used it as an opportunity to drink all night long, and it ended up being a barrel of fun.
Now you know when you get a bunch of actors together to sing, it's gonna be a good time. Since we've been doing the same show for so long, a lot of people have talent that they never get to use. It's strange, because you don't really realize how good people are when you only hear them say one line every night, and they don't sing on stage. Because of this, a lot of people were eager to have the opportunity to bring it. It also didn't hurt that one of Troika's top ladies, Roberta Roberts, was going to be there to listen.
The evening started at seven, with about 10 different kinds of salads, and then they started bringing out the meat. All over Asia it's been hard to get good meat (China was gross quality, Japan was expensive), so we've always gone to Brazilian BBQ restaurants whenever we could find them. The whole concept of the restaurant is that you get unlimited meat, brought out to you freshly cooked on skewers. This is my favorite part, and last night was no different. I think I had about a million pounds of filet, sausages, chicken, lamb, brisket, and many others. We ate heartily for about two hours, while we also paid homage to two couples that are on the tour. Our Captain Von Trapp, Jim, is engaged to our child minder, Chrissy. They’ve been supposed to get married for over two years now, but something always gets in the way of the wedding date. Most recently they were going to get married in KL, but Jim had too many press conferences and couldn't get away. Our prop master Heather is also engaged to our head carpenter John. Because of all this, we added to the evening wedding showers for the two couples. It was great fun, and by the time it was cabaret time, people were excited to begin.
I think total, 19 of us sang, including three kids, and not including a number done by all the mothers (titled The SOM Aging Tour). We even got the restaurant owner to come up and sing a little opera. I pulled away from my daily wrinkles and classical singing to belt out "Miss Byrd" from Closer than Ever. Two hours later we were exhausted and laughed out by the fun. We left the restaurant around 11, and after the bus got back to the hotel we headed to our local 7-11.
This 7-11 is very interesting, because it's right by a notorious nightclub that the locals call the "Fourth Floor Whores". Apparently if you're a Western man who wants an Asian girlfriend, this is the place to go. Also, if you're unlucky inside, you can come down to the street right by the 7-11 and you'll find a nightly collection of transvestite prostitutes. We like to make the guys walk alone at night to 7-11 just to see how many times they're propositioned. Last night though, we went with them on a beer run, before heading to Jen and Matt’s room for a party. We chatted and chowed down on leftover desserts until the wee hours of the morning, when we went around the hotel building pyramids of empty beer cans outside the rooms of the people who had gone to sleep early. Heidi (our Lisle) has a proclivity towards kleptomania, and she ended up acquiring a rug, a few chairs, and who knows what else from the hotel lobby. All this was definitely a good enough reason for us to sleep most of today away, before Jessica and I rose around 2 to hang out at the pool. My tan's coming back, and with only 12 days to go I’ve got to squeeze in all the tropical sun I can get.
P.S. Roberta called a meeting tonight to talk about the next leg of the tour. I know, we though it was over, but the tour's picking back up in late August to go back to China and Hong Kong, finishing up at the end of the year. Now I'm torn, because they offered some nice signing bonuses, and as an actor it's hard to turn down work! I'll let you know what I decide. Any advice?
She recruited my help (as cast representative - an elected position - I often get stuck with some dirty work) and it finally came together last night. We were able to sing at a fabulous Brazilian restaurant that was owned by one of our presenters. When it all came together, Troika decided to throw some money at the project, so everyone ate for free, and it turned into our closing tour party. Because the food was free, everyone used it as an opportunity to drink all night long, and it ended up being a barrel of fun.
Now you know when you get a bunch of actors together to sing, it's gonna be a good time. Since we've been doing the same show for so long, a lot of people have talent that they never get to use. It's strange, because you don't really realize how good people are when you only hear them say one line every night, and they don't sing on stage. Because of this, a lot of people were eager to have the opportunity to bring it. It also didn't hurt that one of Troika's top ladies, Roberta Roberts, was going to be there to listen.
The evening started at seven, with about 10 different kinds of salads, and then they started bringing out the meat. All over Asia it's been hard to get good meat (China was gross quality, Japan was expensive), so we've always gone to Brazilian BBQ restaurants whenever we could find them. The whole concept of the restaurant is that you get unlimited meat, brought out to you freshly cooked on skewers. This is my favorite part, and last night was no different. I think I had about a million pounds of filet, sausages, chicken, lamb, brisket, and many others. We ate heartily for about two hours, while we also paid homage to two couples that are on the tour. Our Captain Von Trapp, Jim, is engaged to our child minder, Chrissy. They’ve been supposed to get married for over two years now, but something always gets in the way of the wedding date. Most recently they were going to get married in KL, but Jim had too many press conferences and couldn't get away. Our prop master Heather is also engaged to our head carpenter John. Because of all this, we added to the evening wedding showers for the two couples. It was great fun, and by the time it was cabaret time, people were excited to begin.
I think total, 19 of us sang, including three kids, and not including a number done by all the mothers (titled The SOM Aging Tour). We even got the restaurant owner to come up and sing a little opera. I pulled away from my daily wrinkles and classical singing to belt out "Miss Byrd" from Closer than Ever. Two hours later we were exhausted and laughed out by the fun. We left the restaurant around 11, and after the bus got back to the hotel we headed to our local 7-11.
This 7-11 is very interesting, because it's right by a notorious nightclub that the locals call the "Fourth Floor Whores". Apparently if you're a Western man who wants an Asian girlfriend, this is the place to go. Also, if you're unlucky inside, you can come down to the street right by the 7-11 and you'll find a nightly collection of transvestite prostitutes. We like to make the guys walk alone at night to 7-11 just to see how many times they're propositioned. Last night though, we went with them on a beer run, before heading to Jen and Matt’s room for a party. We chatted and chowed down on leftover desserts until the wee hours of the morning, when we went around the hotel building pyramids of empty beer cans outside the rooms of the people who had gone to sleep early. Heidi (our Lisle) has a proclivity towards kleptomania, and she ended up acquiring a rug, a few chairs, and who knows what else from the hotel lobby. All this was definitely a good enough reason for us to sleep most of today away, before Jessica and I rose around 2 to hang out at the pool. My tan's coming back, and with only 12 days to go I’ve got to squeeze in all the tropical sun I can get.
P.S. Roberta called a meeting tonight to talk about the next leg of the tour. I know, we though it was over, but the tour's picking back up in late August to go back to China and Hong Kong, finishing up at the end of the year. Now I'm torn, because they offered some nice signing bonuses, and as an actor it's hard to turn down work! I'll let you know what I decide. Any advice?
posted by Beth at 10:30 PM
1 Comments:
take the work and the money!!
that's my piece of advice from this unemployed actor! good luck!
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