Citrus Sweets Cupcakes- A Sweet Birthday Surprise!

As all my regular readers know, I love cupcakes. I've written several articles a few years ago about what I thought were the Top 5 Cupcakes in Hong Kong and my various experiences with the cupcake craze. (Some people say it may have died and passed onto the macaroon, but as a person with an almond allergy I say, "Long Live the Cupcake Trend!")

They even added a cute birthday message!

A couple weeks ago, I was on twitter when I got a very sweet tweet from Citrus Sweets Cupcakes in TST. They had read a couple of my reviews and wanted to know if I was interested in trying theirs out. I said, "Sure thing!" because I love cupcakes and it was my birthday that week. Totally, meant to be... *Let the music play*

Please Donate and RT!

Please donate and Share Shakespeare in the Port's Fringebacker campaign!

You can get tickets for Shakespeare in the Port for as little as 100HKD.
We need your help!

http://www.fringebacker.com/en/projects/Shakespeare_in_the_Port/

Daily Showtimes were released for the festival today!
Book your tickets now!

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
SHOW TIMES:

7:30pm
4/17, 4/19, 4/25, 4/26, 4/29, 4/23pm
4/20, 4/27, 5/3, 5/4

THE TRAGEDY OF MISS JULIUS CAESAR 
SHOWTIMES:

7:30pm
4/18, 4/20, 4/23, 4/24, 4/27, 4/30, 5/1, 5/33pm
4/19, 4/26

Taboo 2.0

Despite the fact that I gave Taboo a C last year when I reviewed it City of Dreams was kind enough to personally invite me back for a press trip to see the new and improved version!

Here's a link to the new review.
It's definitely improved for the better.

http://www.hkeld.com/articles/view/reviewtaboocity-of-dreams

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!

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.

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!

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!!!