Hello, all! It’s been
a long time since I’ve posted, but I’m going to try to pack a lot into these
next few blogs. Currently we are in
Tokyo, Japan, and we are seeing so much that I’ve been having to keep track of
what I do on a daily basis in order to report back what it is that we’ve been
seeing! But first, I will start with our
brief time in New York City for rehearsals…..
Since it had been almost a full year since I had been in
NYC, I made it a point to see a few shows while I was there. We were only in town for 4 nights, and I saw
3 shows; not a bad average. We rehearsed
in a dance studio (Gibney Dance Studio) during the day on Wednesday and
Thursday after arriving in town on Tuesday.
It was a bit of a whirlwind, but I had a great time. Rehearsals were quick, painless and
productive, leaving me the evenings to catch up on seeing some theatre. I got tickets to see Once on Wednesday….and
let me tell you, it was worth the wait.
John Michael, Austin and I all went up on stage before the show started
to grab a beer at the bar onstage. And
then, I stood mere feet away from my friend Mike Zygo as he and the cast played
some amazing “pre show” Irish folk songs.
We were completely blown away by the show. And I couldn’t have been more proud of
Mike. After the show he took us
backstage for a little tour. I got to
hang out quite a bit with him and his wife Jill over my time in NYC, and it was
really awesome to see them again. On
Thursday night I had the pleasure of seeing Into The Woods at the Delacorte
Theatre in Central Park. Tickets are
very hard to come by; you basically have to camp out in the park and wait until
the box office opens the following day.
Tickets are free, but go very quickly.
So, my friend Robin camped out, and we headed to the show that
evening. An amazing concept, and a
fantastic production overall. And it was
a real treat to be able to see Dennis O’hare, Amy Adams and most importantly,
Donna Murphy in person. On Friday
morning, I took a trek out to Brooklyn to get my hair cut at Tomcats, a
rockabilly barber shop. I was in need of
a trim, and what a rad little place. It
was well worth the trip out there. I got
a few errands done during the day, and chose to see something completely
different that evening: Silence! The Musical.
A ridiculously bawdy and hilarious spoof on the movie Silence Of The
Lambs. I haven’t laughed that hard in a
long time. Completely ridiculous, but
brilliant and very entertaining.
The next morning, Saturday, we began our trek to Japan. Vans picked us up at our hotel on 40th
between 8th and 9th, and drove us to LaGuardia.
I was REALLY not looking forward to the 14 hour flight ahead….but I have
to say, it really wasn’t that bad. We
got dinner, breakfast, a couple of snacks, hot tea, water, coffee, free drinks,
AND, I watched three movies on board.
Most people feel that you should try and stay up for a few hours on the
plane, sleep close to a normal night’s sleep, and then be awake for the last
couple of hours on the plane; in the hopes that you will be more acclimated to
the time change. After leaving at 12:30
PM on Saturday, and a 14 hour flight, we arrived in Tokyo where it was 3:35 PM
on Sunday…..yes, that’s right. Tokyo is
13 hours ahead of EST. That night was
kind of a blur. A group of us walked
around a bit to find food, and then most of us crashed very early. But for the next few days, of course, we woke
up extremely early, feeling groggy and not quite adjusted.
We left the park and walked around a shopping area not far
from the train station, taking in all of the sights and smells that area had to
offer. It became very clear right away
that we were not in Kansas anymore……
On Tuesday I went to lunch with Chuck and a few other people
at a Ramen place called Kuorokuaen. I’ve
been back several times for their inexpensive yet delicious Ramen and pork
dumplings. A bit later in the day, the
entire cast met in the lobby with all of our interpreters and presenters and
trekked to our first Shinto shrine, Mitake Shrine. To see this age old shrine juxtaposed against
skyscrapers was a pretty amazing sight.
They invited us to take part in the blessing, and even gave us an
offering afterward. A small rake that
symbolizes money, fame and “raking it in”.
We then had some time to rest, and headed to the theatre for
our first tech run. The building is
quite amazing. The theatre itself (Tokyo
Theatre ORB) is in the middle of a skyscraper, about 15 stories up. We are surrounded by a shopping mall and
quite a few restaurants. The theatre is
quite new, so most everything is automated.
It’s really a pleasure to be here.
After rehearsal, a few of us went to a very American looking pub called
the Abbot House, where we met a new friend, Pokke who took very good care of
us.
Wednesday was opening day, so it was pretty darn busy. A small group of us headed out for breakfast
and on Jam’s suggestion stopped at a place called Choco Cro. They had great, strong iced coffee, chocolate
croissants, and some French toast-like breakfast sandwiches. At 12:30 we attended a Shinto blessing of our
stage, performed by one of the same priests as the day before. Later, we took the elevator down to the
delicatessen below the theatre and wandered around looking at all of the
enormous fruit, beautiful displays, and smelling the sweet smells. Most of us got sushi and brought it back to
the theatre to enjoy during the invited dress rehearsal. After a break, we came back to open the show. We were excited and nervous to see how the
crowd would react to our show….but we were surprised to find that they were
really quite vocal! They were clapping
along to almost every song, and really getting into it. Following the performance, the entire cast
and crew were escorted to the lobby to take part in the opening night festivities. There were a series of speeches made by the
people sponsoring the show, and our hosts at the Tokyo Theatre ORB. Interestingly enough, the biggest sponsor was
Suntori, known for multiple products, but made famous by Bill Murray in Lost In
Translation, when he was selling their Suntori beer. They also distribute Orangina, and strangely
enough, Glen Fydich. In fact, that is
how they came to sponsor our show.
Because they are the Japanese distributor for Glen, and because it is so
prominently displayed in our show, they found it to be a win win
situation. Following the party a few of
us headed to an Irish bar, the Dubliner.
Nearby was a clothing store called….Moreau. Yes, I took a ton of pictures.
On Thursday, I ventured out to buy socks. Yes, socks.
I only packed so many long socks, and I had already gone through them
all. I was unsuccessful. Oh well.
I did, however get a great burger at Freshness Burger. Then, following the matinee, Jam and I walked
around the Harajuku area. We went to Pink
Dragon, a store with a bunch of Japanese rockabilly clothing and
accessories. We also got some amazing
French toast a la mode at Pain Petit Pas.
We stopped by one of the biggest and craziest toy stores I have ever
seen, Kiddie Land. Everything you could
ever imagine might be in a Japanese toy store was there. And more.
That evening, the cast of the Chicago tour came to see our show, and a
bunch of us hung out afterward at a place called 82 Alehouse.
Friday was an epic journey to Kamakura. A vast area of temples, shrines, oceanfront,
and rolling green hills. Our first stop
was to the see the Great Buddha, or Amita Buddha Daibatsu. An awe inspiring sight. Massive, beautiful, and hard to imagine it
was built almost 1,000 years ago. There
was of course a temple there to get my pilgrimage book signed at. After leaving the temple, we sat down at a
great Chinese restaurant, and continued our adventure. We made our way to Hasadera Temple, which
houses a huge beautiful statue of Kamakura.
We explored the grounds for quite some time, taking in the sights, and
the view of the ocean from our high vantage point. We made our way down to the beach, and after
walking for a bit, decided it was time to head home and rest before the show
that evening. The walk wouldn’t have
been complete without a stop for a frozen treat though…..I got some white peach
ice cream. MMM. We have not had ANYTHING to eat here that was
less than spectacular.
On Saturday I went back to my “Japanese Denny’s”, Kourakuen,
for Ramen. Following the matinee, Billy,
Jam and I went to Tokyo Hands; a massive craft store with more things to see
than you can possibly imagine. We made
our way back to the theatre early because the people selling our merchandise in
the lobby were nice enough to set up a display for us to be able to order some
to take home. Billy took us to Pepper
Lunch for a sizzling plate of cook it yourself beef, creamed corn soup and
potato salad. After the evening show
ended, we went back to the hotel to enjoy a free drink at the hotel bar. Then, Rosie, Billy, Jam and I decided to bar
hop a bit. We started at Abbot House,
and then on a recommendation from our buddy Pokke, we went to Shot Bar Garasha,
run by his friend Jum. It was a bit
awkward at first….but once he realized why we were there, the cultural and
language differences melted away, and we all had an amazing time. It’s truly interesting to see how people from
very different backgrounds and cultures can find a common ground through music,
theatre, and experience.
We had been looking forward to Sunday all week. Rie planned a very authentic dinner for us,
so all we had to do was get through the day!
That afternoon I got sushi and pork dumplings downstairs in the theatre
building for the umpteenth time. When
the food is this good everywhere, you really can’t go wrong. Following the matinee, Katie, Kelly, Austin,
Jam and I went to the Disney Store to buy tickets for our upcoming adventure to
Tokyo Disney Sea in advance. Then we met
Rie and went to Jayn-ka for some yakiniku style dinner. We removed our shoes and sat around a large
table and were served tray after tray of Japanese vegetables and array of meats
that we cooked in front of us over open flame.
It was great to experience something so new and different together, and
to have Rie there to help us know what we were supposed to do. We didn’t miss a beat, and left dinner,
heading to a bowling alley with karaoke rooms upstairs. We bowled with Rie, Yohe and his wife
Nou. Bowling was so much fun! I always like bowling, but with this group of
people it really was a blast. And, I
bowled 5 strikes….so, not too bad! Then
we headed upstairs to sing karaoke in a private room. Comfy couches, drinks included and good
company. What could be better??
Well, that is the conclusion of the blog for my first
week. Trust me…..there is much more
excitement to come……
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