Podcast coming Soon

My new blog is starting a podcast on the art world of HK.
I'm going to be needing guests!
Let me know if you're interested.
Here's the link to the full article
http://www.hkeld.com/articles/view/coming-soonthe-hkeld-podcast

New Blog

Making sure you are all aware that most of my theatre related blogging will now be happening at
www.hkeld.com

This blog is staying active for my travel, food and visual art stuff.
Also so I can promo my own shows.

Upcoming Charity Event

My friend Debbie is helping run this charity event.

Mark Your Calendars

The date for the next Vixens show has been decided... If you liked Snow you'll love our Christmas Extravaganza!

The Vixens Christmas Extravaganza, coming to Bisous!

New website is ready!

My baby I've been gestating for the past few weeks has been born.
http://www.hkeld.com

If you give glances to your friends cute kids on facebook- take the time and look at my child.
(It won't poop or throw up on you!)
The old blog will stay live to cover events that are not covered by my new place of residence on the internet. Such as my travels, foodie journies, and my own personal musings that hkeld won't be interested in.

Thanks again for reading,
Meaghan

One Night Only!

There's only more 48 hours left til my new site is open to the world. I'm very excited but exhausted at the same time... Tomorrow we have our press conference where we're unveiling the site to the press. That's even more scary!

If you want to come to the press conference please let me know! I'm happy to have all bloggers, twats, and social media mavens around. Having the "real" press is nice and stuff but I'll always feel more at home in the web-verse where I can say whatever the hell I want and I don't have to worry about deadlines!

Exciting things are afoot in Honkers!

My new job as an editor is barrelling along fine to any of you that are wondering. Right now we're working on the final ten days before we launch the website. (www.hkeld.com) Shameless plug, la!

A lot of great things have come from this opportunity so far! I was given the honor of a press pass to Detention by the Tang Shui Wing company which I'll be seeing on Sept. 6th! Very excited about this as the show looks amazing from the promo pictures and I am a big fan of Mr. Wing's work. The show is playing at the Shouson Theatre in Wanchai Sept. 6th- 9th. I think the show looks super fun, what do you think?

You can get more info on the production at the Studio's website.


Also, I'm working on a very exciting secret project for the launch. Want to know what it is?
Come to the TST Cultural Center, outside between the center and the art museum on SUNDAY, Sept 2nd at 5pm! I promise you'll have fun! If you're an artist and want to get involved with me on this super fun "secret mission" send me a message! All mediums and nationalities welcome as long as you LOVE art and LOVE Hong Kong!

Drama/ESL Teacher Needed for Awesome Charity Opportunity

Volunteers STILL URGENTLY needed!

THIS SUNDAY AND ALL SUNDAYS IN AUGUST!!!!

Can you spare an hour this Sunday? Want to eat delicious Indonesian food and make new friends in Victoria Park? I am in need of a English teacher (you can use drama games - in fact this is highly encouraged) to work with a group of 30 Indonesian domestic workers who need to drastically improve their English in order to develop better working relationships with their employers. The women are eager students in need of some support. If you can only make this Sunday that is fine. Or if you can commit to a few Sundays in August that would be highly appreciated.

Please contact kylelipinski@gmail.com

PS- I know Kyle and she is a wonderful artist who works very hard to use drama as a medium to help people. Help her with your amazing talents by supporting this charity she has started. She doesn't need money she needs your time and your skills for one hour on Sunday!

Dear Theatre Artists of Hong Kong...

As many of you know I recently took on a position as the editor of an online magazine dedicated to promoting Hong Kong's theatre and performing scene.
Part of this job is gauging what are your needs as a community from an online resource that will assist you by promoting you theatre shows via the internet and social media channels.

Filling it out is important because we are tailoring the website to your answers in the survey.
Your needs are important to us!

For Theatre Professionals
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CLD9BZH

General Use Survey (For those who love the arts but don't produce it.)
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TMMWGGF

I really appreciate it.
Please answer both! They have completely different questions on them!

HKELD.com will be live Sept. 1! Please send all your press releases to editor@hkeld.com for any shows that are being produced in the fall.
It's our pleasure to the get the word out on the great art you are producing in our wonderful city!

Ladies Weekend in Macau- A Guide

I love a good ladies weekend in Macau. It's totally sexist but we get a lot of freebies that boys don't get. I totally take advantage of this... They let us into clubs first, they give us free drinks, they're polite to us, they hold doors open for us! As much as I would love to include a couple of my gays in on one the these trips I know they would totally ruin my abilities to get bonuses!!!

Our trip this time was surrounding seeing a show at the City of Dreams. My previous Ladies Weekends have been about: Mid Autumn Festival, People Leaving HK, Lady Gaga Concert, Birthday Weekends. Basically, find an excuse to grab an overnight bag and take a trip to Macau! Treat yourself and your girlfriends to a night away in a city that never sleeps!

Here are some simple rules I think help make your trip better and some things that I loved in Macau that I think are must sees.

Taboo- Review- City of Dreams

Every year I have an amazing time with my girlfriends and have a ladies weekend in Macau. This years' ladies weekend revolved around seeing Taboo, the new Dragone show produced at The City of Dreams. As a member of Hong Kong's Vixens and a big fan of burlesque as an art form I was really excited to see what this amazing production team could do with such a sexy theme. I really believe there is a huge market for adult entertainment in Macau that is being largely ignored. There are fifty showgirl shows in Las Vegas- some great and some tacky. I like that the team from Dragone decided to do something sexy. I think that it was a well conceived idea and was indeed a beautifully designed show. It is very sexy, the dancers cast are beautiful and extremely talented at what they do.

What Makes Art Good?

I know everyone has a different philosophy on what makes art good.
I think all art is valid but whether it's good is a whole other story.

Opinions wanted! What do you think makes art good?

Coming Soon...

Dear Loyal Readers,

Thank you so much for being a fan, enemy, or passive reader of my blog; HKarts. I have appreciated all your support and your hate mail. As some of you know, I recently accepted a job running the first online magazine for theatre in Hong Kong. I cannot release a lot of details but I wanted to make sure I said thank you for reading.

If you hadn't read my blog then I wouldn't have gotten this fabulous new job opportunity.
The old site will stay active for my continued travel, art, and food related postings. I also will be linking into the new site so you can see my continued reviews, previews, op-eds and features on local artists.

I'm passionate about theatre and I'm passionate about artists in Hong Kong. You are some very talented people and deserve recognition for your hard work. I'm proud to be one of you and I'm happy to be a new piece of the puzzle when the new zine opens.

We hope to have the new site launched by Sept. 1 for the opening of the season.
Please continue sending me all your press releases! I'll also be hiring writers, if you're interested in getting into the blogging game, please let me know...

Don't let people tell you that dreams don't come true. I now have a job where I can work from home in my jammies and get free theatre tickets. My dream job!!! Don't let people tell you that talent, hardwork and good ideas go unnoticed. My blog has been up for three years but only got a lot of traction in the past year. My hits went up 400% thanks to all of you!

More details are to come. Keep checking for updates!
Keep creating great art,

Meaghan

PS- I am making a list of EVERY single theatre company, theatre school, opera company, dance company, corporate event entertainer, dance school in HONG KONG! This is a very arduous task. Please help me out and send me links to your websites or facebook pages!

Artist of the Month- Chun Ying

This month's Artist of the Month is a working Cantonese Performer and Artist. He makes a living everyday working in our field. He doesn't have to wait tables or teach classes to pay his bills. He actually is a paid actor. *shock and awe* He busts his butt too! I wanted to feature a Cantonese Performer for this month. Please get to know him!

WTF are you thinking HK Arts Festival?!!!

This is my official response on this. Early Bird Bookings are a necissity for HK Arts Festival but anyone can tell you it's a serious pain in the ass to do it. You have to coordinate with your friends about what they want to see. One of you gets stuck paying for it on your credit card and you have to wait for the person to give you the money. On top of everything you never know if you're getting the first or second choice in seating. ANNOYING but it was a system that worked. And it's how I secured my Juliet Binoche tickets, my Pina Bausche tickets and my Robert Wilson tickets in previous years.

Now, some "genius" at the HK Arts Festival decided to make the Early Bird Bookings in releases. You only a certain number of programs available at a time to purchase. You're not going to have the whole catalog available until after the counters open. Which means all your abilities to do discounts for large ticket purchases are going to be impossible. Apparently, they don't want me seeing 15 shows again...

Our first release opened today and we have access to three of the programs.
None that I am excited about... So, I guess I'm sitting on my ass waiting until someone decides to let the other shows come available for sale...

Thanks HK Arts Festival! This was your best idea-yet.
Well besides having a HK Arts Festival with 70% of the performing groups being from other countries...

http://www.hk.artsfestival.org/en/book/early-bird

Social Media as a Viable Tool in the Theatrical Arts

Recently I did about 35 job interviews for positions back in the states. They were for various positions in companies from Artistic Director to Community Outreach to Teaching Positions at Universities. One common question was asked in all the interviews. "Do you have experience in using social media and the inter-web in promoting theatre?"
This is the first time I had been asked this question sooooo many times in interviews. But it makes me think about how the landscape of theatrical advertising and outreach is changing in our modern era. In the "olden days" all one had was the three basics: 1) word of mouth 2) print 3) radio and tv

Now, we have so many more ways of reaching an audience. We can reach them through mailing lists, twitter, facebook, pinterest, klout, flashmobs, viral videos, street art, as well as any of the traditional methods. It's great because we can reach such a more diverse audience then we ever could before. Our reach can be global in 2 seconds by making a youtube ad, for example. But, when the human attention span is getting shorter and shorter; which is the best method of getting a hold of new audience members and more importantly... keeping them?

Marketing is an essential part of the theatrical arts. If tickets aren't sold- then the show can't go on. I went back in my mind and started thinking about past campaigns I had worked on and seen in Hong Kong and why they worked.

Artist of the Month- July- Lara Genovese

This month's artist was recently voted Best Designer by the public! She also recently appeared as an actress in Filumenia presented by the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Stylus Theatre and Talking With presented by Aurora Theatre. She is a multi-talented theatrical artist and a very nice person. We respect Lara's talent and love her go getter personality! If you need a hard to find prop in town or if you need a set built she is the girl to go to. I love working with artists who are very dedicated to their crafts and Lara is certainly very dedicated to her work. She is a complete pleasure to work with and a true professional from my small experiences with her. I hope to have more in the future.

Please enjoy getting to know a little more about Lara, her opinions on the Hong Kong art scene and the biz.

Please remember you can always nominate a friend for an Artist of the Month article. We are always looking to showcase new talent in town of any medium!

Review- Filumena- Italian Chamber of Commerce and Stylus Theatre

"Children are children"- Eduardo Filippo

This is by far the most memorable line in the show and one of the overall themes of the play. We are all equal. We are all children at one point in our lives. We are all the same and should be judged the same. Filippo's play also explores meanings of motherhood, respectability, and what is the family unit. When the family is such an iconic thing in the Italian culture Filippo explores the non-traditional family with a mother who takes care of a children from a far and a woman who was raised in a family that hated her.

Filippo's play, Filumena was one of two Italian plays that hit the Hong Kong stage this weekend. It was produced by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in partner with Stylus Theatre. Directed and Designed by Adam Harris. I came to the theatre expecting a barrel of laughs, as when I studied Filippo in college I had come to believe that Filippo was a satirist but I left the theatre I was a bit puzzled to say the least...

Review- Accidental Death of an Anarchist 個無政府主義者的意外死亡- FM Theatre Power

There is certainly a plethora of Italian theatre in Hong Kong this weekend. Audiences have a choice of Filumena presented by The Italian Chamber of Commerce and Stylus Theatre or they could attend FM Theatre Power's production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist by Dario Fo. Surprisingly both going down in the HK Arts Center in Wanchai!

Mo from FM Theatre Power was kind enough to translate the program for me and give me some background info on their rehearsal process before I came. Many thanks! I'm a big fan of their work since I saw Kitty Hunter last year. (It was the their some what controversial production where the murderer stuffed severed heads of prostitutes into Hello Kitty stuffed animals...) Because that's what HK serial killers do, la!

My first #TDHK

My first #TDHK was an interesting experience to say the least. #TDHK is an event in Hong Kong started by @jmis and @hypercasey to put faces with the twitter accounts in Hong Kong we follow daily for our chuckles. If anyone has not delighted upon #hkproblems please have a search for it. It says everything you've wanted to say but never say allowed. Many thanks to @AndreMartin for offering to have a coffee with me the next time I'm out at the Y2 in Chai Wan and to @jdalarose for buying a girl a drink! Thanks to @hypercasey for inviting me to be the representative of the art community! It's nice to be surrounded by a bunch of financiers... They smell very nice! (Not that you thespians stink...)

What was most interesting about this event was that when I mentioned to people my occupation of Theatre Director it was a rather mixed reaction of "Really? That's cool!" or "There's a theatre scene in Hong Kong?" I guess because my life is so absorbed in theatre every single day that I didn't realize there are hundreds or thousands of expats that never even hear about the productions we put on. One person had lived here SEVEN years and NEVER seen a theatrical event because he thought they were all in Cantonese or tours! WTF?!!! He had never heard of any of the local performing groups which was a bit shocking to me.

I got a bunch of new twitter followers last night so I hope this will help diversify our audience a little bit. Because Hong Kong has a lot to offer in the terms of theatre. There is a production of some type on every single weekend. You just need to look. Or twitter peeps, feel free to ask me! I'm happy to point you in the right direction.

Follow me for all my blog updates @mmcgurgan

Shameless Plug as always...

HK Arts Awards 2011-2012 THE WINNERS!

Thanks to everyone for all their support during this project! It's been an enlightening experiment.
Congratulations to all the winners. If you were not present at the awards ceremony I have a little something for you as an award. If anyone tonight picked up an award "in honor" of an absentee please pass it onto them. They were not expensive but they were made with love.

I hope you had fun! I know I did!

Review- Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know- HK Singers

After the sell-out success of I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!, HK Singers has produced another small style cabaret musical with Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know. I love this style of musical. I don't think musicals need a lot of flash to be good. I think they need talented singers, a funny script and a great audience to come along with them for the ride. This show had all of these. Small intimate musicals are the innovative way for smaller theatre companies to delve into the musical genre without breaking the bank. It was an ensemble piece starring: Jai Ignacio, Moe Moss, Matthew Gillespie, Micha Sparrow, Paul Hay, Shareen Sing and Talia Ritz.

Directed by APA choreographer and professor, Mandy Petty, it was blocked incredibly well. It had excellent spacing and good use of the stage. I thought the choreography was well conceived and I particularly liked the use of the rolling chairs in the choreography. The pre-show concept was also very well executed by actors: Jai Ignacio, Moe Moss and Micha Sparrow. We only see vignettes of each character but I thought the acting was done well. The show was simple but excellent. They say simplicity is a sign of perfection. Please see: Reservations Part 3, for example.

Review- Featuring Loretta- Dramatic English

Peter Brook states in his book, An Empty Space, that all one needs to produce theatre is "an empty space, an actor to walk across it, and someone to watch him." Dramatic English's production of Featuring Loretta starring: Aisling McDonnell, Daniel Levia, Michael Rogers and Shirley Sheung went back to basics and put together a show with ZERO budget to present to audience's for FREE! In their program notes, the cast writes: "You don't need anything beyond a script and a few good friends..." Amen!

Conversation with Elizabeth Briel

Sometimes awesome artists leave our fair city but leave their marks! Elizabeth is one of those. I wandered upon her and her work through the twitter verse and thought it was important to make sure people know more about her! She's really an amazing artist and has impassioned views on both Hong Kong as a society for artists and on the business side of art.

She also makes beautiful prints and does beautiful work with paper! Check out her work, it's really quite beautiful! I also find her "rants", as she calls them fascinating and hilarious at the same time. Got to love sharp wit on woman, it's the new look for summer!
Enjoy our conversation!

This is Elizabeth making paper!

General Notice

Attention Readers:

OFFICIAL NOTICE

The photos and youtubes posted on this blog in the Nomination Blurbs are not my property! They are the property of the wonderful artists who created the productions. I am not profiting monetarily in anyway by monitoring this award ceremony nor this blog. They have been posted up to help inform the general public who wanted more information about the nominees before making their decisions in the online voting.

The photos in the Example of My Work section are my property, as it is my work. I am currently doing job interviews and needed a place to put photos of my work for potential employers. Please do not spam this page with inappropriate comments.

Thanks very much,
Meaghan

Awards Ceremony Wednesday!!!!

This awards process has gotten so much larger than I ever thought it would. I always considered it a little dog and pony show that no one really cared about except for the people in the community and their close friends. Now, I see that the community of Hong Kong does really care about the quality of the shows and is extremely knowledgeable about what they like and what they don't like. People who watch theatre are just as smart as the people who make it and we should be honored that they have taken the time to vote for us in the categories we were nominated in. We have over 600 votes in the part one the survey! Can you believe that?!! Sure, it could just be one over enthusiastic person voting at every Pacific Coffee in town but I prefer to think that it's our dedicated audience members and fans who want to see us rewarded for all the hard work we put into our performances.

More times than not, the artists in this town are not paid for the work and I'm hoping that this award will just give them a little pat on the back and a fun night at the bar with the community.

Please invite all your friends that voted to come to THE CANNY MAN, Wednesday June 13th at 8pm for the ceremony! We would love to see people from all walks of the art community in town on Wednesday and I have NO DESIRE to stand up and talk for an hour by myself presenting these things so if you would like to be a presenter please leave a comment here or shoot me a PM. I would love a variety in the presenters, if possible!

Nominees- Best Theatre for Youth

Don't know if some of you are aware of this fact or not. The number one grossing part of the theatre industry is Theatre for Youth productions! (Easily.) It's a multi-billion dollar part of the industry that encompasses some major players such as Disney Corp and all the major Shakespeare Festivals in the US. It is a huge part of our industry and it is the money from school's and parents that often keeps our business' afloat in these tough economic times. It would be remiss of us to not honor some great Children's performers and producers in our city.

If one of your major target audiences in a production is those under 18 then your production can also be considered Theatre for Youth. (Hello, Grant money!!!) Using theatre as a tool to help teacher's in a classroom is an awesome power we have as performers.

There are generally two types of Theatre for Youth. Theatre which stars kids, such as YAF's production of Spring Awakening or productions starring adults created for children's audiences. Neither style is better than the other. It is like comparing apples to oranges. However, you nominated both styles in this category--- so you have to choose which is better! (haha!) 

Serious credit also must be given to Theatre for Youth companies in HK who often produce their own originally created work which is an arduous task. 

Revisiting the Best Cupcakes in Hong Kong

Hands down the article on the blog that gets the most traffic is my Top 5 Cupcakes article. I get like 100 hits a day on it. You all are cupcake obsessed so I felt I needed to update my opinions on it. I posted this article up about a year and a half ago and the landscape of HK's cupcake market has drastically changed since then. I can tell you some of my choices are still firm. Yes, I stand by my choice that Sweet Secrets does have the best Red Velvet and now I also add they also have the best Carrot Cake. But I'm a little bit biased toward them because they are nut free and being terribly allergic to peanuts I appreciate knowing that my baked goods are nut free~!

My new love!!!

Nominees- Best Bit Role

These actors took on lines that didn't have a lot of lines or stage time but left a huge impression on the audience that watched them. They had short and sweet parts in their productions.  Some were funny, some were sad, some were sexy... Just because the part was small didn't mean they didn't make a huge impression on the community!

Nominees- Best Actor

Some people think that men have it easy in the theatre business. That it's a lot easier for them to audition and get parts because there are less of them compared to us females. I don't think that is the case. People have really high expectations for what men can do on stage. You have to be funny, sexy and assertive all in one. You have to appear strong. All the guys who are nominated have that special something that make them one of the "best" of Hong Kong. They have that spark that makes them interesting as a performer to watch and great as a performer to work with.

I am missing a show photo and show poster of one of the nominees so I have subbed something in.

Nominees- Best Supporting Actress

Supporting Parts can sometimes make or break a show. I'm a firm believer in the team effort of the theatrical experience. There is no small part only small actors (and penises). All these amazing women made great additions to their casts and were nominated as Best Supporting Actress nominees. Once again we have a variety of styles to choose between! Pick your poison ladies and gentlemen!

Nominees- Best Actress

Best Actress was a difficult category for people to vote for. We have a plethora of extremely talented women in this city. These women are the best of the best. We have all sorts of different actresses nominated from women who played multiple characters to Cantonese Performers to musical performers to serious drama and Shakespeare. You can't really make a wrong choice. Just pick which one makes you happiest. All these women are incredibly talented!

Once again, I don't have photos of all the productions but have done my best to sub in show posters and youtubes where available. 

Nominees- Best New Comer

I don't have photos of all the nominees in this category! But I will insert the show poster where I am missing them. All these actors have been new to the HK Acting scene in the 2011-2012 year. New talent should be encouraged! Breaking into the scene here can be a little frustrating as open casting calls have become fewer and farther between with the recent rise in venue prices. These actors have risen to the occasion and become breakout talents in this year! I know we will see a lot more of them!

Artist of the Month- June- XYZ

Street Art and their creators have had a recent boom in the art industry. Of course we all know the Messiah of street artists, Banksy and HK's God of Graffiti, the King of Kowloon. There is a lot of developing and emerging talent in this kind of work as spray paint and walls are easily accessible to people. As long as one doesn't mind treading a little on the dangerous side...

I thought it was about time that my blog give some love to one of HK's street artists, XYZ.
Despite his penchant for my nemesis, performance art, (ugh),  I think he is incredibly talented. I like how his pieces are never really finished and are always evolving into bigger and better things.  I really love his art collaboration group DimmSumm which consists of him and 2 other local artists making a collective community where artists can come together and share their work together. You can view their work and learn about upcoming shows at their website here.

His survey is below! Some of the questions were slightly altered because his medium is art and not theatre. Check out his answer to number 5, it's so sweet!!!! We are always striving to feature new and upcoming talent on the blog! If you know of someone you think is worthy of the Artist of the Month feature feel free to nominate them! We accept all mediums of art, theatre, music and dance.

Gone but Not Forgotten!

A sad tragic thing happened in the McGurgan household today.

I broke my favorite coffee mug! Only a true coffee person gets what a sad thing this is! I don't drink alcohol so coffee is the closest thing I have to a drug in my life!

Goodbye Sweet Friend...

Nominees- Best Supporting Actor

All these men are great chameleons! They are able to play many different types of characters! Some have been in the scene for a while and some are newer to us. They obviously have large fan bases because so many of you voted for them we had a tie and had to have 6 nominees! And there is a funny story about one of their nominations, please keep reading... I don't have show photos for all the gentlemen so I'm doing my best by subbing with show posters. Nominees, if you send me a show photo later I will come back and edit the post with time willing.

I'm doing these articles in my free time. They are very time consuming. Thanks to all the artists who have sent me photos of themselves. I will get to all of your categories as quickly as I'm working as quickly as I can. Thanks!

Nominees- Best Designer

These are the nomination for Best Designer. We have a couple set designers, a couple production designers, a lighting designer. All aspects of design are an important part of the theatre experience. These people (included myself, thanks for nominating me!) work hard in a town where spaces are expensive, we don't get a lot of time for cue to cues and we work on really small budgets. Show some techie love!

Nominees- Best Musical

Now, I did not see all the wonderful nominees that you all voted for! But obviously they made some kind of impression because this was the category that we had the most nominations in! You all must love your musicals! I don't have show photos of all the nominees but I do have some links to some helpful articles, reviews and some youtube videos! Thanks Satoshi for letting me link to your reviews, somebody loves their musicals... Hopefully this will help you all in making your decision if you're having issues deciding.

Review- Talking With- Aurora Theatre

Tonight I was invited to the preview of Talking With by Jane Martin. It is being presented by Aurora Theatre this Sunday at Grappa's Cellar at 2pm and 8pm, 200HKD. Before there was The Vagina Monologues there was this collection of women's monologues so I was excited to see what all the fuss was about.

If you saw Coffee and Cigarettes back in October you saw two pieces performed from this play. The monologue French Fries was performed by Faith Lawson who is now nominated for a Best Bit Role in the HK Arts Awards so obviously she left an impression. Miss Lawson will not be in this production as she has sadly left HK to return to NYC. Jenny Hann who performed Rodeo in October will also be in this new production but will be taking on a triple threat role as both an actress, co-producer and costume designer. If you liked what you saw in October you'll love what you'll see Sunday!

Best Charity Production Nominees

I don't have show photos for all these nominees! But I have all the posters which should help jog your memory on what the experience was like! What matters about these productions is that portions of the proceeds from these productions went to help great charities! Combining Art with a great cause should be encouraged and one of these great shows should be rewarded for all the hard work they did helping others through their craft. This awards process is supposed to be fun! I wanted to reward people for all their hard work all year long! Don't take it all that seriously people, it's not a bomb...

Best Local Visual Artist Nominees

Here are the nominees for best local artist. Since we didn't get enough nominations for the category I tried to pick a variety of mediums for you to pick between. We have a gallery manager, a zine artist/graphic designer, a sculptor, a urban sketch artist and a multi-media artist. Pick your poison or pick one at random. All are valid mediums and all are up and coming artists in the scene. You can always find out about new and upcoming local artists on Hong Kong Art Web, which is one of the best sources for local artists to display their work. Here are just some samples of their work but you can always find out more about these artists via their own personal websites and blogs! Just google them, la!

Best Show Nominees

Best Show Nominees!

I couldn't find a photo online of Iron but I was able to find a youtube promo.

All of these photos belong to the artists who helped create these productions. They are in no way my property I'm just loading them up here to help people who are asking to see examples of the work. Please use these as tools to help you make your decisions on who to vote for!

Best Band Nominees

To help people who are having trouble picking people in the music category. 

Here are the youtubes for the Best Band Nominees. Give them a listen and make yourself knowledgeable of some of the best local talent in the music industry in Hong Kong. We tried to pick different genres and styles when we picked our selection. I believe it is good to observe and learn new things every day as an artist. Experience something new today courtesy of me! If you don't like any of them then pick one at random! (You can always pick No One Remains a Virgin for having an awesome name!!!)

 YOU MUST VOTE IN EVERY CATEGORY!
 Just like people do in the Academy and at the Tonies and at the Grammys. Do you really think 50 cent knows much about the bluegrass albums? NO! But he votes for them!) Do you research. Ignorance is NOT Bliss despite what they say!

Online Voting Starts Today!

Link for Part One of the Awards!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8VSDWPR

Part Two...
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/876KL3C

You can only vote once in each category and you may only vote for one person! Votes are always welcome by email at meaghan.mcgurgan@gmail.com or PMed to the facebook account if you would prefer.

VOTING CLOSES JUNE 10th!

Nominations for HK Arts: Best of Hong Kong 2011-2012

THE PUBLIC HAS CAST THEIR BALLOTS AND DECIDED WHO IS THE BEST OF THE BEST IN HONG KONG'S ART SCENE...  DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!

Below are the nominations for HK Arts: Best of Hong Kong 2011-2012. This was an open nomination process. We had hundreds of emails sent to us by members of the community. Although a lot of people just seemed to be nominating themselves (you know who you are), most of you took some serious thought about who you thought were the best. I deeply appreciate the time it took for you to fill the nomination form out. I know it was tough because when I filled mine out it was a arduous task.

Ballots were not only counted by me but by an outside source not associated with the art community. The nominees are listed in no particular order. We would love to have photos for the blog of any nominated show. If we are Facebook friends could you please tag us so we can upload them? It is for a future article so that people can make informed voting decisions.

Three categories did not have 5 artists nominated in them: Local Band, Local Visual Artist and Best Reoccurring Audience Member. I find this to be a little sad that people don't know 5 local visual artists/musicians so I took it upon myself to fill in the missing gaps to make it five. Do your part and research them before the voting begins! We were only missing one nomination in Audience Member category so I filled it in with something I know we all love and cherish in our community. *please tell me you can read sarcasm!*

Rules

An online poll will up in a few days hopefully! But you are always welcome to turn in your votes via email. You may vote once only and for one person in each category. Votes will be counted not only by me but by my outside source. Winners will be announced in June.

Backstage Live- More like Backstab Live

Recently, I performed for the first time in Backstage Live, a small venue in LKF with The Vixens. It was our first full length cabaret and we were looking for a venue with liquor and a stage in the same room. A tough thing to find in HK that isn't completely overpriced!!! We were first impressed by the venue for it's cheap price, great location and great manager Joanna. She was lovely and helpful. (Still is. This review is no reflection on her because she was one of the few highlights of the experience at the venue.) For Hong Kong this venue is very well priced. You pay a small fee up front and put a deposit on the bar tab. If the bar tab is reached then you get the bar tab deposit back. We were excited to perform here and even more excited when we SOLD OUT our show completely. The night before the show we were given 20 minutes to walk around the venue. We talked a minute to the lovely Joanna and talked about the Sold Out venue and the need for 82 seats. The owner of the venue happened to be in the room at the time. "82! How are 82 people going to fit in here?"

This should have been our first sign on what was going to be a good show but a generally negative venue experience.

Review- California Suite- Sweet and Sour Productions

Tonight I attended Sweet and Sour's presentation of Neil Simon's California Suite. Neil Simon is the bread and butter of comedy in America. We are raised and spoon fed him as the base of all that is good about quintessential American Comedy. California Suite was written in 1976 and is VERY seventies. I was discussing with my friends in the audience about how I think pieces from the seventies should be considered period pieces now. A lot of the pop culture jokes in California Suite no longer translate as funny especially to a Hong Kong audience because they have no idea who these people are... When California Suite debuted it was received to mixed reviews. Some people raved about it as it was considered the unofficial sequel to his previous hit Plaza Suite and some people panned it. One reviewer from the New York Times even called it "Sleazy and shoddily constructed" OUCH... No need for such tough words tonight as I thought my evening with Sweet and Sour was very sweet.

Getting all Political Up in Here

I never make those silly things with the photos and the captions. I love a good witty e-card though. Just ask Matty. I'm always sending him terrible ones. So I felt the urge for the first time to make one today. I don't know why. I guess because of all the flack my dear President has been getting. And because I'm waiting patiently for the day when all my friends can get married.

Also I love a good pun. Back to the writing. See you all tonight if you're going to be at the gallery opening. I'll have tickets for Snow! *plug*

A Conversation with Graham Hughes

While doing a radio interview for my latest show I met Graham Hughes in the lobby. He was a super cool adventurer. When I found out what he has been up to I was blown away by his amazing life! He has been to almost 200 countries on a budget and he has done it all SANS airplanes! How amazing is that?! You have to check out his blog and if you have the National Geographic Channel watch his show, Graham's World! I don't have a tv or I would totally check in! (As soon as it's on Itunes Graham I'm there!)
You can find his blog at:  http://www.theodysseyexpedition.com
You'll love it! It's smart and I can't imagine having an adventure like his! It's such a larger than life experience. I'm in awe of his dedication to his craft of being a traveler. I asked him if he had an Odysseus moment on his journey? Apparently he totally had a couple of those.
Thanks again to Graham for having an interview with me!
I appreciated his time and his lovely traveling hat! 

Thanks to Graham for the awesome photo from his blog!

I'm a Wild Thing... Are You?

I had very bad news today. Maurice Sendak, the author of Where the Wild Things Are passed away. As one of my favorite books as a kid I feel like one of my first mentors has passed away. I love great children's books. I kept all of mine from childhood and I still read them when I go back home. Great books like Where the Wild Things Are allow children to open their minds to magical places and imagine places where we can all be kings of the monsters! The darkness in Sendak's book is to be commended because it allows kids to explore the dark side of human nature and doesn't sugar coat. It's rare to find a kids book that is as layered as Wild Things.

I am a Wild Thing. Are you? I would like to thank Maurice for writing a wonderful book that I still enjoy introducing to kids these days through theatre. It is a wonderful children's theatre piece if you are considering it for your next season. All children LOVE it!

So, like Max I gnash my teeth and with roar declare, "LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!"
We need to dance and celebrate more in our daily lives. We need to have more fun and not worry so much. Sometimes we all just need a good rumpus.

Or we're going to become bitches and "Eat you UP!" as Maurice would say...

RIP Maurice...

What's your favorite children's book?

Gallery Opening 3812

I was pleased to be invited by my friend and fellow HK artist, Mark Peaker to his art gallery opening next Friday! They are celebrating their one year anniversary by bringing a young talented artist to Hong Kong. Mark is not only an artist he is a philanthropist and has been very kind to our community by giving and helping to raise money for several artistic charities over the years.

 It is now my duty to help spread the word and make sure we all show up for free booze! It is our duty as a community to eat cheese and crackers! *Please tell me you can read sarcasm...*
 (There will be cheese and crackers right?) There better be or you might have a fucking riot on your hands Peaker... You don't want a bunch of drunk artists around a mixed media piece... BELIEVE ME. Not pretty!

The opening is May 11th, 7pm to 9pm! Please RSVP if you plan on attending. You can more information about directions and so forth by contacting Joe at the gallery when you RSVP or by going on to the 3812 website: www.3812cap.com. The exhibit is called the Sounds of Nature and is a mixed media installation by artist Lin Guocheng.

Here is the beautiful flyer! I can't wait to see the show, lovely! It's going to be fab! I love any opportunity to see new and upcoming talent. More galleries should bring in new stuff! Especially that big gallery on the harbour in TST. I think it's called the Museum of Art. I have seen the same old shitty pottery there for four years. Change it up! Hong Kong is supposed to be one of the most progressive and modern cities in the world! Our Art Museum shouldn't have dusty old ceramics taking up half the building!

Nominations Accepted Starting Today!

I will start accepting nominations today!

You can find the complete listing of shows here:
http://hkartguide.blogspot.com/2012/04/list-of-all-shows-for-awards-form.html

You can find the nomination categories here:
http://hkartguide.blogspot.com/2012/04/nomination-form.html

For privacy please email the forms back to me at meaghan.mcgurgan@gmail.com
If you wish to give me your ballot in person we can arrange a meeting time.
or PM them back to HK_Arts facebook account. Your answers will be kept confidential. Nominations will be announced at the end of May. All shows performing in May are eligible.

Artist of the Month- May- Kirsty McLean

 Kirsty McLean is our Artist of the Month for May! One of the triple threats in town she can sing/dance/act and she is one of the funniest ladies I have ever met. Super talented and nice we are pleased to get to showcase her for the month of May! We're a little scared to hear she practices "method" acting as she is playing Lust in Snow and the Deadly Seven in Vixens Burlesque's cabaret in May. I would be scared to know how you go method for a character like that!!!

Please enjoy getting to know Kirsty! I can say from working with her personally she is always a professional, passionate about her craft and she is a pretty fierce dancer! 

Around the World in 80 Days- Week 9

It's official! We failed! We have two days left and too many resteraunts to complete by the time our challenge deadline is here. We were close but no dice. We are going to continue our journey around the world and finish it but we know we are not going to make the deadline. Money and time simply doesn't allow it. We would like to thank everyone who was reading and eating along with us for their time. We're sorry we couldn't complete the journey! We also would like to thank our team mates for the time  they spent researching resteraunts and the money they spent going out of their way to try new and interesting cuisuine. Too often we go to the same old places over and over again. We went on this journey to expand our cultural palettes and horizons. Oh and we totally called Peruvian food coming to Hong Kong. (Boom!)

This week we tried to be as adventurous as we could with our end of the month pennies. You know you eat out less at the end of the month because the cobwebs start appearing in your wallets! We had more European food this week with Swedish at Ikea (A total cheat we know!) A complete bargan at 7 dollars for coffee with unlimited refills and food for 15-30 dollars! You can't do better than that! The chocolate truffle cake was yummy AND nut free! Shatin Ikea was practically empty on a Tuesday afternoon and we totally took advantage and spent some time divulging into some Swedish treats at bargain prices!

Norwegian was a surprise at FILLES in TST. Pricey at dinner but a bargain at lunch for a 120 you get two courses of free range, organic food from the Scandanavian land of Trolls and ugly ass sweaters. Try the smoked salmon salad with poached eggs. Super yummy! Veggie options and Pescatarian options are plenty on the menu!

Matthew and Steven took on Seafood Buffet at a all you can eat Japanese buffet on Kowloon side. Their only complaint was they both ended up with massive headaches from the meal. MSG, anyone? Migraine suffererers beware! They also went to Olympic city and dined on Chinese cuisine. Cheap and yummy it was a pleasurable experience for both!

Mongolian was scratched off the list at Bayi. Off the beaten path in Sai Ying Pun. Bayi specializes in one thing: Camel. If you want to eat a dromedary this is the place. I had camel pancakes with peking style sauces. Kind of like eating camel soft tacos. It came with veggies to add and was a little spicy. Definately an adventurous meal and healthy! Camel is apparently very low in fat!

Portugese was taken off the list with a lunch at Cafe Liason in LKF. I never could afford this place at dinner but I knocked it off the list at lunch time. It was about 150HKD for a three course lunch with dessert and coffee. Still have not found a replacement for Cuban. Working on it.
Two days left... Will make another post on Tuesday about any progress made.

Color Coding System

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine

I Love Bad Movies

I love a good bad movie! I wait with baited breath every year to see what is nominated for a Razzie award and then I watch them with abandon. My favorite movie of all time will forever be Showgirls! I love good theatre but I adore a good bad movie... I think a crappy movie that makes you laugh is the perfect escape from an artistic existence. When you spend 90% of your days working on theatre and trying to create good theatre it's just fun to come home and watch Mommie Dearest!

Movies that are camp and unapologetic about how bad they are, are great because they make you laugh and you don't have to think. Movies that are supposed to be "great" films according to their creators and are HORRIBLE in a good way are even better ala Troll 2 or Showgirls. I love to watch the trailers for films that are horrible but people thought were going to be great like the recent bomb John Carter or Norbit. (That movie really sunk Eddie Murphy's chance at a Oscar didn't it?)

Why am I write about my love of bad films?
Just yesterday at the opening night of HK players Yellow Face I was introduced to Ivy Lam who is going to help bring Bad Movies to their place of glory in Hong Kong.

She's helping run a screening of Troll 2 and the documentary and the Best Worst Movie Documentary at the HK Arts Center in Wanchai on May 5th! I think we should totally go support her for this effort because we artists are often too serious about our craft and could use a dose of "Good Bad" Cinema to lighten our moods! Get your "Troll On" with me and many others on May 5th! Press Release Below and You can find the more info at the facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/293575404052033/

What's your favorite "good bad" movie?

Review- Yellow Face- Hong Kong Players

Tonight I braved the rain and hopped down to Sheung Wan to see Hong Kong Players opening night of Yellow Face by Asian American playwright, David Henry Hwang. Yellow Face talks about race and identity issues of what it is like to be an Asian American. It talks about the act of a white performers pretending to be Asian for a role ala Rex Harrison in The King and I or Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. One of the pivotal jumping points of the script is the Miss Saigon casting scandal in the 1990's. All American theatre students are subjected to hearing long tedious lectures in college about this scandal. Hwang took both real life experience and fictionalized characters and blended them together into the world of Yellow Face. It is not a "ha ha" comedy but an intellectual one. You will have to sit in the theatre and think for two and half hours. This might not be the best show to come to rip roaring drunk. It's not that kind of show, and it is LONG, eat before hand!

Around the World in 80 Days- Week 8

 Color Coding System

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine

This week we got quite a bit accomplished! We know we are in the final crunch of the challenge! We have only one more week left and several countries left. We also had some firsts this week! I had my first Szechuan and my first Argentinian meals. I loved my Argentinian lunch at Tango Steakhouse on Wellington. Chef Martin was a delight and it is now my NEW favorite place to eat. Seriously, check this place out! I can't afford it at their dinner price but lunch was around 100 and I had some seriously LARGE portions with some delish ingredients. The best empanada!

Szechuan on the other hand was a seriously painful experience. It hurt! My mouth went numb and I don't think I have ever eaten anything that hot before. My gay said that it was good Szechuan and if your mouth goes numb then it's cooked correctly.... WAH?! I had to go home and change my shirt after the meal!

Louise was a big help to us and knocked out Japanese noodles and hand pulled noodles! She had pleasurable experiences at both places and highly recommends both! They both have open kitchens which give you a view into the kitchen and how your food is prepared!

I also had an all chocolate experience at Awfully Chocolate in Central. I had a salted butterscotch brownie that cost me 60HKD. I know, right? Expensive ass brownie! I shared it with my friend Sarah because it was a big ass brownie and there was no way we could finish it. Share the love and the cost with a friend when you go! Super Yummy!

I also had a healthy treat with Gluten free food at O Green Cafe in Sheung Wan. I left a bit hungry but everything tasted super fresh. The staff was super nice and seemed generally concerned about all food allergies I had. (Unlike some places where they roll their eyes at you when you ask them to clean the knives between preps. You know who you are...)

We have 8 days left and 17 places left. We don't know if we'll meet the deadline or not. But we're going to sure as heck try! Cuban will have to removed from the list as we have found out that the only Cuban place in town shut down. We'll let you know what it has been replaced with once we find a viable option.

Review- The Truth About Lying- HK Art Festival

I was really excited to this show. It was the winner for Best Script, Best Performance and Leading Actress of 2010. This was also the winner of a lot of awards at the 2011 Hong Kong Drama Awards. Playwright, Wong Wing-sze was the recipient of one of the largest arts grants in Hong Kong to help produce this piece. I wanted to see what the board was awarding the money to and what all the buzz was about. Expectations were set high for this show; I paid close to 400HKD to see it and I wanted to see a good show. People were really talking it up as one of the best things to come along in local Hong Kong drama in the past few years. My local "Canto gay" and I went to see it; in case I didn't understand some of the jokes I thought it best to have an interpreter.

Presented by Hong Kong Arts Festival in partnership with author/director Wong Wing-sze it was supposed to be a dramatic look at relationships both work/romantic from the view of the protagonist, Emily who is working at a high power law firm. I can understand the plight of the working woman in HK as an interesting concept for a piece but the story line seemed predictable at best.

Design wise it was beautiful. I though the set design was good and I thought the lighting design was well conceived. I think the use of working lights hanging above the actors as part of the set was rather ingenious as it seemed to put a feng shui feel onto the entirety of the set. Costumes were chic and simple. Yours basic HK business wear, suits, heels and ties. People looked expensive, people looked like those fancy people you see walking around IFC at 11am on a Thursday. All the great design in the world couldn't save it in my mind...

Vlog #3- Money Honey!!!

Our latest vlog talks about money issues as a theatre artist. A lot of people have had complaints about the financial struggles of being an artist in Hong Kong. How do you make a profit? How do you pay the bills? How do you pay off the student loans for that Masters Degree hanging on your wall?

If you have any money saving tips for productions or a great tale of how you made it in the black leave it in the comments! We want to know about your successes!

Do you have any ideas about how to solve issues we're facing with ticket prices, venue prices or cost of designs? We love an open dialogue between the community. Enjoy our vlog. Many thanks to Giles Burton of HK Microfest who was gracious enough to sit down with us and to the people at the opening night of ACT's "The Dining Room" who answered our questions!

Review- The Dining Room- ACT Hong Kong

"We don't have dining rooms in Hong Kong so I think I'm missing some of the jokes."- Sam

"I liked the kid's birthday party best."- Michelle

"I don't particularly care for the script."- Clara

"I liked the last ten minutes of Act 1"- Jeremy (Who was VERY late to Act One) *burn*

"Very sweet."- Natalie

"Sara is great!"- Matthew

The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney is like indulging in a fancy 12 course meal. There are little plates, big plates, intermessos and sweet treats. There is a palette cleanser or two. There is sure to be great company to help pass the time and a lot of booze (hopefully). Sure, there are some courses that are better than others but overall the meal is made up by a great cast of characters who weave great stories together over the hours. I enjoyed my evening with ACT as they took on Gurney's award winning play. Of course, there are things that can always be improved upon but overall it was money well spent as you could tell that the production crew spent a hell of lot of time (and money) on that set and props list. Only the Saturday matinee has tickets left! So if you're available Saturday at 3pm I highly recommend you get your butts down to box office and pick them up! It's worth the money as it is a very high quality show production wise.

Let's talk production...

The Ruthless Machine

I am a ruthless promotional machine. I will go to all ends of the earth to make sure you come see my next show! I don't care if you are completely sick of hearing me talk about my work. I want you to be so annoyed by my talking that you give in and finally buy a ticket. WHY? Because I live and breathe for my work... I care so passionately for my work that I believe that I can enrich your lives by having you see my next production.

Yes, it's silly and a little sad, I'll completely admit it. My mother was an excellent nag. She would nag me to clean my room, to do my homework, to not fight with my sisters, to turn the tv off etc. etc. etc. If there is anything she taught me well by example: it is "to nag". You can thank her for that because I'm now able to nag people via the internet, facebook, twitter, pinterest, linkedon, etc: about how fabulous my next production is and why they should go see it!

My next show! GO SEE IT!

80 Days Around the World- Week 7

UPDATE
Due to a glorious suggestion from a reader named Spike! (Thank you Spike!) We have altered our color coding system so that you can see the week to week progress more easily.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine         

We knocked off Seven places this week! We are very proud of ourselves for finally getting a lot done!

A lot more was accomplished this week both good and bad things were discovered. I think we found a new candidate for worst resteraunt in Hong Kong. This honor belongs to So Bali Bali in Soho. One of the worst dining experiences of my life. I gave them an F- and frankly I would have gone lower if possible. I was the ONLY customer in the place and they still fucked up my order. They didn't even feel bad about it. And then they still charged me 20HKD for a bowl of rice. (Read that again) Yes, 20 HKD for a bowl of fucking rice. That is highway robbery and frankly it wasn't even that good. It was expensive, the chefs and the staff OBVIOUSLY didn't give a shit. It was my first taste of Balinese cuisine and frankly I could care less if I ever had it again. It was disgusting.
(Rant officially over)

Matthew found a treasure in Indonesian but has yet to give up the details... *tsk tsk* We're waiting...

Our team mate Louise also had a VERY BAD dining experience on Lamma at the Banyan. 2 hours for an order to be completed. When they still did not bring person's food they got really angry. The owner kicked them out and said he didn't need their business. Fine, we don't need their business either. It's called the hospitality industry for a reason. No one deserves to be yelled at for wanting their food done correctly when they are a paying customer. All Lamma people should avoid The Bayan for the way they treated our team mate. If we continue to give rude people our money, they will continue being rude.

We had some good things happen also! A lovely surprise at a tiny hole in the wall in Jordan where we ordered the house special "Hanan chicken rice". Super yummy and cheap. Chicken, plus rice, plus a side and a drink were 32HKD. Can't get much better than that! It didn't have an english name so just know it's the one with the green awning of Austin rd with the chickens hanging in the window. Can't miss it!

French was provided to us via a groupon at Babylon. (Am I the only person that thinks of Queer as Folk when I hear something named this?) French bistros seem to have popped up all over the place but we got a 5 course meal with wine and frois gras for less than 200HKD thanks to our groupon. The service was rude, the frois gras was not cleaned properly and the prices without the groupon were ridiculous. (600 HKD for a steak?! WTF?)

Veganism was handled by the people at Life Cafe in Soho. Now, I think the place is a little pricey. I also have a little difficulty eating any of the bread products because they LOVE to put nuts in everything they have. (It makes sense for veggies to get their protein in other sources but it would be nice to have one bread that is nut free!) I had the "fake burger with fake bacon and fake cheese". Flavors were all good but the textures were what was off. It was too chewy if that makes any sense. I also felt that the caesar salad was one of the worst things I've eaten. It had a slimey texture to it and because it was dairy free it had a funky aftertaste. Not a dish that would convert me over to the green side. We had the option of making almost anything on the menu vegan which was nice for the sake of the challenge.

Nomination Form

HK_Arts Nomination Form

You may nominate 5 shows or persons in each category. Do not put your name on the form. Email the form back to meaghan.mcgurgan@gmail.com for privacy. Or PM to the Hk_Arts Facebook account.

Nomination Period: June 2011- May 2012
Nomination Form Due back: May 1st- May 20th.
Nominations announced END OF MAY!
(Professional Local Companies may be included; tours with international actors are not permitted. This is an award show to promote local artists!)

Nominations to be announced at the end of May. (You can nominate a show that performs in May as nomination sheets are due by May 20th.)
Award show in late June, Venue and date TBA.

1.     Best Show (Non Musical)
2.     Best Show (Musical)
3.     Best Actor (please include show name)
4.     Best Actress (please include show name)
5.     Best Director (please include show name)
6.     Best Designer (please include show name and type of design)
7.     Best New Comer (MUST BE NEW TO THE SCENE! June 2011-May 2012)
8.     Best Producer/Best Company
9.     Best Stage Manager (please include show name)
10.  Best Supporting Actor (please include show name)
11.  Best Supporting Actress (please include show name)
12.  Best Bit Role (Must be 10 minutes or less of stage time)
13.  Best Charity Production (Where 50% or more of proceeds was given to charity. Please include Show name and charity.)
14.  Best Cantonese Production
15.  Best Theatre for Youth Production
16. Best Original Work (Must be newly produced, can be musical or non.)
17. Best Dance Show
18. Best re-occurring audience member
19. Best Local Band
20. Best Local Visual Artist

*Cantonese Performers may be included in the Actor category

List of All Shows for Awards Form (Updated)

This is a updated working, complete listing of EVERY local theatre/dance/musical/cabaret production in Hong Kong from June 2011- May 2012. Tours are not listed here because our awards are for local artists and companies. 
Nominations will start being accepted May 1st!
ALL LOCAL PRODUCTIONS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THE LISTINGS.
*A color coding system has been added. 

80 Days Around the World- Week 6

I am a bad, bad challenger. I went on vacation and didn't keep up with the list before I left. I got super lazy and it shows! None of the food I ate on my holiday counts because the challenge must be met inside Hong Kong or Macau. So, we only have twenty days left and over thirty places to still hit!

I think part of the slump is that it's expensive to eat out this much and the other part is that the vacation made everyone deter from the mission. We need to get back on track peeps! I removed Peruvian from the list because turns out this style of food hasn't come to HK yet. (Wait a year and we'll have one. Peruvian is all the rage right now in NYC.)

Hopefully we'll meet our goal! Only 20 days left! We gotta get our butts in gear team mates!

Top 5 Things to Do in Singapore with Kids

I am basically a 5 year old in a 27 year old body. I was blessed to have a trip to Singapore for Easter and I used this trip to explore the city. When I told all my friends in Hong Kong that I was coming to Singapore they said, "You're going to go shopping?" Ew... No. I hate shopping. I'm a broke artist. What can a broke artist do in Singapore when shopping is beyond their means? I think that a broke artist can get down with their inner child and explore the city the way a kid can; with wild abandonment and an open mind for learning.

Merlion Park from the view of the boat tour!

A Chat with Jenny*- Problems in Singapore Theatre Scene

*Jenny and I met over twitter back in 2011. She offered to speak with me about the theatre scene in Singapore. She wished that I not use her real name as it could affect the type of work she can get. So you get some background info: Jenny* is a college graduate of theatre, she works professionally for a theatre in Singapore as a box office manager but her real passion is acting and producing. She is a lovely person and I deeply appreciate her answering my questions.

Review- Matchbox Concept Hostel- Singapore

I am currently sitting in my hostel typing on a laptop that was given to me to use for free. I am smelling of free designer shampoos, lotions and shower gels that were included in the price of my stay at Matchbox Concept Hostel. I love this hostel, next time I am in Singapore I will stay here again mainly because of the beautiful staff girls! They were a pleasure to hang out with, they went beyond the call of duty to help a customer and they helped you with all your direction needs.

The beanbag loft! It now has swings!

Bring Out Your Dead- In Honor of Grave Sweeping Day

Tomorrow is Ching Ming Festival in Hong Kong. A lovely little holiday that happens twice a year *correction, grave sweeping happens twice a year, the other holiday is called Chuen Yuen. Thanks Miko!* so that you can sweep the graves of the dead in your family, pay your respects, have a picnic in a graveyard and spend some time talking memories of people who have left our world for a better one. It is in honor of Ching Ming Festival that I make this post. It's not a flashy festival and is often overshadowed by close holidays to it. (Like this year with Easter.) It doesn't have any commercial Hallmark cards with it. (Can you imagine?) Ching Ming literally means "Clear Brightness". It's important to honor what has died in the past so that we can look upon everything that is being born new with clear eyes. Pretty ideas, right?

According to Feng Shui principles the graveyards must be well kept and have certain items. Such as: something red, a water element close to it, better feng shui for the dead is found away from noise, etc. You can find more details about the feng shui principles of grave yards in china online. I learned a lot by just googling it. But if someone tells you that you have a ghost in your vagina, RUN!!!!!

Getting Urban with Art- A Conversation with Gary Yeung

I had the pleasure of talking with Gary Yeung, a local visual artist who calls himself an "urban sketch artist". I discovered his blog via Stumbleupon and really liked his views on our city. He covers the good, the bad, the unique and the mundane. (My personal favorite work of his is the sketch of the beautiful banyan tree in Yuen Long that is covering up an old school building. One of my favorite places in HK and a beautiful piece of artwork.) No stone is unturned, no facet is ignored. You can take a look at his art via his blog: http://www.studiogario.com/.
His sketches would make a unique gift for friends wanting a piece of Hong Kong that is off the beaten path. And art is always a good investment. We never know, Gary could become the next "King of Kowloon"! (If you don't know what this is in reference to, please google it.)

Gary is smart, nice and talented and he does sketches of kittens... What more could a girl ask for?

Artist of the Month- April- Nicole Garbellini West

This month's Artist of the Month is the undeniably unique Nicole Garbellini West. One of the few Italian Actors in town she brings a different training and a strange blended accent to our fair scene. On top of being beautiful and talented she is also super nice! I have had the pleasure of working with her and she has become more than a co-worker over the years. I love her and respect her as both a person and an artist. 

Recently she has become a power producer of Aurora Theatre putting on plays like Glengarry Glen Ross and Coffee and Cigarettes at the Fringe Club. 

When we first started working together back in the day on Mary Ignatius, Nicole spoke to me about how actors with accents were not really used in the HK scene very often. I think that Hong Kong is a beautiful melting pot of cultures and accents. We should embrace it as part of our talent fabric.  She's one of the most open people in town about wanting new talent. So, if you're new in town and don't know where to get started in the theatre scene she is the lady to contact.  She is super friendly and loves to give advice to newbies in town. She also likes finding new actors to put on stage!

Review- ODD Showcase- ODD

Most of the time when you see a show in Hong Kong you grumble about the ticket prices. This was certainly not the case tonight. Tonight I got to see a great FREE piece of NEW theatre created by local artists that was better than a lot of the stuff I've paid over 200 bucks to see. New theatre should always be celebrated because it's difficult to create from nothing. I give serious credit to the ODD Group for the hard work they put into the show tonight. Sure, I didn't like all of the pieces but I thought all of them came from valid places and were entertaining.

80 Days Around the World- Week Five

Sorry for not updating on our usual day! We got super busy with lots of work things and we had a promotional performance of our next show: The Vixens present: Snow and the Deadly Seven. You can get your tickets online now thanks to our sponsor Passionately Yours!! (Shameless Shameless Plug...)  Also, one of our team mates Matty had to take a sudden journey home to be with his Daddy while he has surgery. I'm sure we speak for the entire Hong Kong Theatre Community when we wish Daddy Gillespie a quick recovery, so that his son can come back to us! We miss you Matty!

This week we got some things knocked out. The highlight of places we visited was a California Cuisine/Wine Bar in Central. This resteraunt was weird because it had wine machines where you inserted your credit card and wine came out of a spout. The food was super tasty. We loved the baja style fish tacos! Didn't care so much for the tomatoe soup because it had a very sweet aftertaste we couldn't place. I would describe it as maple-ish; not so yummy. All the food is organic and they do wine tasting on Sundays!

We journied to Egypt with Habibi, although we love their lunch menu options I would never go there for dinner as the prices are ridiculously expensive. It's better to go there at lunch time because you get enough food, lots of little portions to snack on and it won't break your bank. Dumplings were scratched off the list at Wang Fu in Central. A Michelin forked resteraunt that looks like a hole in the wall at first glance. Don't be so fooled. The food is delicous, the portions good and the prices very reasonable! When you want dumplings this is the place to go. Also, the eggplant in oyster sauce is exceptional here!

Steakhouse was taken off the list with a groupon at Angus Steakhouse. My main complaint with this place is location. It's located at the Wanchai Pier which is kind of hard to find if you don't know where you're going. The restaurant staff was very nice and personable but it felt very empty. Everyone there was on the groupon. Portions were huge and tasty! Steak was cooked well. Lots of veggies although they didn't have a seafood free salad option for my dining partner who is anti-seafood. They easily took it off no problem la! (They did give him a strange look though when he asked for his salad plain...) I don't really see how this place made a profit on us diners last night but as long as groupons are offered on steak dinners I will buy them! Next week, french lunch at a fancy place in soho...

Vlog #2- Women's Issues

Despite being the 21st century there are still some women's rights issues in the art community NO MATTER where you live! This morning I sat down with two directors in the Hong Kong theatre community, Candice Moore and Wendy Herbert to discuss hot button lady's laments.

What do we feel about issues like the casting couch, the unbalanced audition pool, how are women directors treated compared to their male counterparts, are women's lit pieces done enough, are we pulling in enough of the female demographic audience with our play choices?

All of this and more discussed in this vlog: Women's Issues in Hong Kong.
Feel free to start a hearty discussion in the comments! The more conversation the better!

Review- One World- World Family

I was invited to see a Theatre for Youth production called One World English Carnival. I am a Children's Theatre Director by profession so I can have a good time and see a kids show! The show was presented this weekend at Polytech University at the Jockey Club Auditorium. Tickets were really cheap and each child was presented with a souvenir tambourine! (I didn't get one but I survived...)

Before I get into the review, I would like to apologize for any mis-spellings in the names of the cast during this review. There was no program given out to me so I am unable to double check my spellings! Thanks for your understanding...