Preview- Turandot- Hong Kong Ballet

"I really want to see this one!"- Matthew, ageless

I was a very lucky blogger to receive an invite to the preview of HK Ballet's next project, Turandot. I wish more companies had the resources to perform previews as they are a great opportunity to learn about the process behind the piece. Turandot is a restaging of the award winning ballet that was commissioned by the HK Ballet back in 2003. Choreographed and conceived by Natalie Weir, she strived to bring Puccini's last masterpiece to life in a modern way!

All photos in this article are thanks to HK Ballet!

Turandot will perform March 16-18th at 7:30pm and the 17th-18th at 2:30pm at the TST Cultural Center. Tickets range anywhere from 580-100HKD for adults but there are also special ticket prices for seniors and students. A "starving artist" discount has yet to be seen by any of the major companies in Hong Kong. I hope it will come soon! I'm having trouble explaining to my mother the necessity to spent so much on theatre tickets each month!

Wanted- Cantonese Speaking Reviewer

HK_Arts has been voted one of the Top 10 blogs of Hong Kong this year! Hooray! We feel it time to take the next step and start seeing more local theatre.

At this time all our reviewers are English speakers. We would love to have a Hong Kong Reviewer who can give a better understanding to the Cantonese pieces than our English speakers.

Reviewers are not compensated but are sometimes rewarded with preview tickets. Must have a love of theatre and some English writing ability as we would love to have your reviews in both languages.

Thanks,
Meaghan

80 Days Around the World- Week Two

Week two has been a relative success! We had a few snafoos in our original plan/budget with the Gaga ticket escapade but thankfully have been able to sort things out. It has been a relatively slow week for eating but we were able to mark off a few more countries! For Vietnam, Matt went to one of our favorite places the Bao Bao King in Jordan. They have cheap but good food and options for both the meat eaters and vegetarians in our group. Friendly staff and FYI, ask for the secret sandwhich menu.

On Monday we had German food at a resteraunt called the Berliner. We ate at the one in Olympic. I would recommend lunch time for this place as it is pricey but the food was good and you get large portions. LOVED the dessert that came with our lunch set! Scotland was handled by the Canny Man in Wanchai. Good selection including a vegetarian haggis. Very warm and comfy bar. They also are a big supporter of local theatre. Support a restaurant that supports local artists! The salmon is REALLY good!

We had brunch at Lotus. The food was ok and the service ok. I did not enjoy my laksa as it was not laksa; more like spaghetti with chili pepper sauce. There was no broth and everyone knows the best part of laksa is the broth! Matt loved his Eggs Nordic!

Matty also took a couple other establishments off the list with a visit to Dimpal Fusion in Jordan to mark off Middle Eastern. They have good food but terrible service. Food had to sent back and by the time it was ready he had to take it to go! We recommend this place for off hours rather than the lunch rush. Also, be careful with special requests. This place gave me peanuts once in my food despite being told to keep them away and often messes up orders. He also went to Cafe Bistro which is a tiny Christian establishment in Jordan with two locations. Ran by very nice people the food is getting better. They had great food when they first opened but had an unfortunate chef switch a couple months ago. Their food is now back on track although it leaves something to be desired in the veggie category. The infamous cum baby picture can only be seen at the Shanghai St. branch on the 2nd floor.

With 65 days left and a lot more countries to hit we have a lot more work to do! If you have any restaurant recommendations leave it in the comments!

Anonymous Comments

Anonymous Comments have been added to the blog for those of you who wish to share your opinions without being known.
I believe there should be an open dialogue between the theatre artists and the community without fear of having your career/friendships compromised.
Open Conversations about the good, bad and ugly can only make us better as artists.
Please don't be assholes and spam this page or I'll be forced to remove it.

Thanks for your time,
Meaghan

Review- Menstruation Twitters- Jockey Club

No audience quotes as I was the only English speaker in the audience! 

(Enjoy the super creepy Disney Short about our bodies and ourselves!)

Menstruation Twitters

HK Jockey Club Creative Arts Center

30 Pak Tin St. Shek Kip Mei

Tickets through URBTIX

March 1st- 4th, 8pm and 3pm on Sunday, 100HKD

Artist of the Month- March- Daniel Garcia

 Daniel Garcia is not new to the theatre scene in Hong Kong but he has been flying under the radar.
Becoming a big wig in HK's voice acting scene over the past year with his big break in the cartoon series, "Dream Defenders", Daniel hasn't hit the stage too often. Recently he was cast in California Suite! We thought this a great opportunity to highlight the talents of a fellow Southern American Thespian who makes us laugh every time we hang out with him! Born and raised in the great state of Texas, Daniel is an actor we hope to see lighting up the "Great White Way" in the future!

You can catch him in California Suite when it performs with Sweet (Suite? haha!) and Sour Productions in May!

The Backlash

The past week has been an interesting week for me as the Blog Master of Hk_Arts. Most of the community has had a polarizing reaction to the review I gave to Private Lives. I think it a little odd that I gave another review the same week to another company for their production of Fool La La and no one said anything despite it being one of the best shows of the year, in my opinion.

Most of the writing/blogger community has praised me for being honest and shared with me some "not so nice" feelings about the English speaking theatre community in Hong Kong. Some people jump to the defense of the companies and declare that the productions are "amateur" and therefore shouldn't be held to such a high standard. Here is my official statement about this past weeks' hoop lah.