CHINA BLOG II

Sunday
Today is hard to describe. This was our tour day. We got up early and left on our trip at 10:am in a lovely van. Our translator and tour guide was suppose to be Jing Jing our stage manager, but we had tossed some last minutes at were so we were accompanied by Ce Ce and her mom. Ce Ce speaks very good English. We were first taken to a spot here in Shanghai for shopping. It has a nifty name and was really nifty ( I'll get you the name later ). It was old buildings that have been residences for hundreds of years and has been turned into an artist colony of sorts. It was full of wonderful shops and wine bars and old buildings. Later we grouped together again and went to lunch in Water Town, an hour out side of Shanghai. Down a back alley between two dragon statues, we entered the restaurant and were taken to the second floor and a private room. The smiling non-English speaking waiter came in and delivered a new dish every 15 minutes or so. We ordered beer and coke, Branis lead us in songs, Cody and I drummed with our chopsticks. A good time was had by all. We had to call for CeCe to explain what the dished were. Many were a mystery, until the final dish. In a large tureen, swimming in a wonderful broth was a whole chicken. When I say whole, I mean whole. Ira named him Henry. Kara did an artful job of getting all the meat off the bones and feet and face. Henry was a good lunch.
We went on to explore Water Town with it's rivers, 300 years old bridges, boats like in Venise, shops and restaurants. This is another indescribable place, so ancient. It is crowded and smells of foods and inscents, animals, river, and time. We were treated to a boat ride along the river that bisects the shops full of traditional Chinese wares, clothes, handmade goods, cashmere, unimaginable things. We learned quickly that we should not make any purchases without the aid of CeCe. She is a wonderful translator and a kick-ass bargainer . She shouted down several merchants and saved us all a bunch of money.
After an hour ride back to Shanghai and dinner on campus, we started out tech rehearsal at 6:pm. We started from the beginning with hanging more lights. Then focusing them. The only problem with focusing was that the lights would later move off their mark, sometimes by 90*. Shane worked tirelessly into the night while the Chinese techs argued with each other. This academy is incredible, but quite old. We watched them switch out lamps and cables for hours. Finally us "actors" were released to go back to the hotel and sleep. But we had a 9:00 call for the morning.

So we were up early Monday morning for our first tech rehearsal followed by our second teach rehearsal followed by our first performance at 2:pm. At this moment we are about 10 minutes from the final curtain. Out second performance is this evening, our last performance tomorrow afternoon and all performances are sold out. WOW. Oh curtain call coming up........
Great show. Now 3 1/2 hours till call for evening show.
So tired of Chinese food, Hayley, Alan and I had pizza and shots of ginger tea at the Stage Deli. We met some other actors from another show; a show we would all like to see but it is playing opposite us for every performance. I have asked if I can get a tour of their shop here on Wednesday . We will be finished with our shows and getting ready to leave on Thursday. So the day is mostly free. Half hour to curtain.