bomchhchh, bombom-bom...
Singing horses. That is all.
Labels: humour
Friday, 24 July 2009
Monday, 20 July 2009
post-production note (R&G are dead)
Hello all! (:
I must begin by congratulating everyone in the cast and crew for having survived the entire run of R&G! My thanks are also in order.
These, I presume, come across as platitudes; I will move on.
Back in April, I was confronted with a choice. I had to choose between 1) performing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (a beautiful and extremely massive work) in Australia with the Western Australian Youth Orchestra as a guest player, and 2) R&G. The former was a rare and brilliant opportunity, but the like of which I have done on occasion. The latter seemed like an appealing challenge of which I knew not what to expect.
There was a slight moment of hesitation. A decision was then made.
I think it was the right one.
Many of you are seasoned veterans of the theatre. Almost all of you have been crew members, actors, or even directors at some point of time in the past. I, however, have never been part of your world (I have played for operas and musicals, but they do not count!), despite always having longed to. This inclination never surfaced as a conscious desire. It always manisfested itself as a fleeting fancy or a passing thought. Nonetheless, I never did shake it.
There is something magical about the stage, something profoundly empowering about taking up guise and mask and being someone whom you are not, to the delight of an audience whom you live off. There are, of course, parallels in a musical performance, but ones that are less marked. There is no deception of the senses; there is no smoke and mirrors. And they say that music transcends language as a means of communication, but what of action, position and all things visual? and what of language itself, shaped by wit and purpose, which probes the mind in ways that music cannot?
Importantly, I have come to realise that the company and camaraderie that one finds in theatre is something that does not quite transpire with the same amount of meaning elsewhere! It is very unlike playing in an orchestra, or standing in for gigs (classical or otherwise). Even if you were to connect musically, and ergo (with luck) emotionally, you can achieve that without ever truly getting to know your colleagues. Everyone turns up, makes music, and leaves.
Theatre calls for staggering amounts of multi-discplinary work. In small, independent groups such as ours, cooperation and support are essentials. Relationships can never be purely professional. The friendships that follow are the inevitable result of happy consequence.
I am known, much to my chagrin, for having multiple personalities - some of which are abrasive, and not entirely pleasant. That I have gone through the entire process without actually disliking any one of you is somewhat of a miracle! It goes without saying, of course, that we all have had disagreements or expressed mild annoyance at one other at times. I, however, think I speak for all of us here when I say that I have always been terribly fond of each and every one of you froody, gorgeous and beautiful individuals. There are no exceptions.
I regret not having written any notes for anyone. I certainly do not feel obliged to! but I really am THAT fond of every one of you. I did mean to, but I put it off till the last day on which I woke up late; it was completely forgotten in my rush out from home. I then spent the afternoon brooding and generally being moody, brewing in guilt. ><
Excuses. I am embarrassed and filled with more than a little regret =\ but that means that if there were a PPP, you should all anticipate a little something (:
Alright! That took me longer than I expected. I am not very good with words - I am inarticulate, and even more so in speech; being a wallflower comes naturally to me. I therefore have to resort to writing verbose chunks of text as a means of expression.
I hope that I have not been tedious.
Wishing all of you well, and hoping to see everyone, somehow, really soon!
- zH
----
P.S. I seem to have developed an unhealthy interest in make-up. If I ever become a stand-up comedian, I shall pull an Eddie Izzard.
----
cross-posted to Facebook
I must begin by congratulating everyone in the cast and crew for having survived the entire run of R&G! My thanks are also in order.
These, I presume, come across as platitudes; I will move on.
Back in April, I was confronted with a choice. I had to choose between 1) performing Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (a beautiful and extremely massive work) in Australia with the Western Australian Youth Orchestra as a guest player, and 2) R&G. The former was a rare and brilliant opportunity, but the like of which I have done on occasion. The latter seemed like an appealing challenge of which I knew not what to expect.
There was a slight moment of hesitation. A decision was then made.
I think it was the right one.
Many of you are seasoned veterans of the theatre. Almost all of you have been crew members, actors, or even directors at some point of time in the past. I, however, have never been part of your world (I have played for operas and musicals, but they do not count!), despite always having longed to. This inclination never surfaced as a conscious desire. It always manisfested itself as a fleeting fancy or a passing thought. Nonetheless, I never did shake it.
There is something magical about the stage, something profoundly empowering about taking up guise and mask and being someone whom you are not, to the delight of an audience whom you live off. There are, of course, parallels in a musical performance, but ones that are less marked. There is no deception of the senses; there is no smoke and mirrors. And they say that music transcends language as a means of communication, but what of action, position and all things visual? and what of language itself, shaped by wit and purpose, which probes the mind in ways that music cannot?
Importantly, I have come to realise that the company and camaraderie that one finds in theatre is something that does not quite transpire with the same amount of meaning elsewhere! It is very unlike playing in an orchestra, or standing in for gigs (classical or otherwise). Even if you were to connect musically, and ergo (with luck) emotionally, you can achieve that without ever truly getting to know your colleagues. Everyone turns up, makes music, and leaves.
Theatre calls for staggering amounts of multi-discplinary work. In small, independent groups such as ours, cooperation and support are essentials. Relationships can never be purely professional. The friendships that follow are the inevitable result of happy consequence.
I am known, much to my chagrin, for having multiple personalities - some of which are abrasive, and not entirely pleasant. That I have gone through the entire process without actually disliking any one of you is somewhat of a miracle! It goes without saying, of course, that we all have had disagreements or expressed mild annoyance at one other at times. I, however, think I speak for all of us here when I say that I have always been terribly fond of each and every one of you froody, gorgeous and beautiful individuals. There are no exceptions.
I regret not having written any notes for anyone. I certainly do not feel obliged to! but I really am THAT fond of every one of you. I did mean to, but I put it off till the last day on which I woke up late; it was completely forgotten in my rush out from home. I then spent the afternoon brooding and generally being moody, brewing in guilt. ><
Excuses. I am embarrassed and filled with more than a little regret =\ but that means that if there were a PPP, you should all anticipate a little something (:
Alright! That took me longer than I expected. I am not very good with words - I am inarticulate, and even more so in speech; being a wallflower comes naturally to me. I therefore have to resort to writing verbose chunks of text as a means of expression.
I hope that I have not been tedious.
Wishing all of you well, and hoping to see everyone, somehow, really soon!
- zH
----
P.S. I seem to have developed an unhealthy interest in make-up. If I ever become a stand-up comedian, I shall pull an Eddie Izzard.
----
cross-posted to Facebook
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
I am Kirk.
James T. Kirk.
James. Tiberius. Kirk.
I can't hear you over the sound of my awesomeness.
Welcome to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise! Won't you meet my crew? This is first officer Spock - helmsman Sulu - navigator Chekov - and communications officer Uhura. Have a seat. Scotty has the impulse drives up and running. We're good to go.
McCoy?
Oh. Him. We marooned him on the last planet. For being a twit.
I'm ready. Are you? To explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.
No one, of course, tells me what to do. Because I can't hear anyone over the sound of my awesomeness.
No one tells me what to do. No one.
.
.
.
"Take a right turn," the tester says.
And so I do.
----
So, it wasn't exactly the Kobayashi Maru.
But hey, I passed!
James. Tiberius. Kirk.
I can't hear you over the sound of my awesomeness.
Welcome to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise! Won't you meet my crew? This is first officer Spock - helmsman Sulu - navigator Chekov - and communications officer Uhura. Have a seat. Scotty has the impulse drives up and running. We're good to go.
McCoy?
Oh. Him. We marooned him on the last planet. For being a twit.
I'm ready. Are you? To explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.
No one, of course, tells me what to do. Because I can't hear anyone over the sound of my awesomeness.
No one tells me what to do. No one.
.
.
.
"Take a right turn," the tester says.
And so I do.
----
So, it wasn't exactly the Kobayashi Maru.
But hey, I passed!
Labels: life
think what you will
of MJ, but you cannot listen to his vocal lead-in to this without being moved. It is pure. Soul. RIP Michael.
Let me tell ya now -
When I had you to myself
I didn't want you around
Those pretty faces always made you/Stand out in a crowd
But someone picked you from the bunch
One glance was all it took
Now it's much too late for me/To take a second look
Oh baby give me one more chance
(show you that I love you)
Won't you please let me
(back in your heart)
Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go
(let you go baby)
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)
Yes I do now
(I want you back)
Ooh ooh baby
(I want you back)
Ya ya ya ya
(I want you back)
Na na na na
Tryin' to live without your love
Is one long sleepless night!
Let me show you girl,
That I know wrong from right
Every street you walk on
I leave tearstains on the ground;
Following the girl
I didn't even want around
Let me tell you now -
Oh baby give me one more chance
(show you that I love you)
Won't you please let me
(back in your heart)
Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go
(let you go baby)
But now since I see you in his arms...
Interlude
Forget what happened then
(I want you back)
Let me live again
Oh baby I was blind to let you go
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)
Spare me of this cause
Gimme back what I lost
Oh baby I need one more chance, ha!
I tell ya that I love ya
Baby, baby, baby,
I want you back
-- The Cooperation/The Jackson 5
Let me tell ya now -
When I had you to myself
I didn't want you around
Those pretty faces always made you/Stand out in a crowd
But someone picked you from the bunch
One glance was all it took
Now it's much too late for me/To take a second look
Oh baby give me one more chance
(show you that I love you)
Won't you please let me
(back in your heart)
Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go
(let you go baby)
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)
Yes I do now
(I want you back)
Ooh ooh baby
(I want you back)
Ya ya ya ya
(I want you back)
Na na na na
Tryin' to live without your love
Is one long sleepless night!
Let me show you girl,
That I know wrong from right
Every street you walk on
I leave tearstains on the ground;
Following the girl
I didn't even want around
Let me tell you now -
Oh baby give me one more chance
(show you that I love you)
Won't you please let me
(back in your heart)
Oh darlin' I was blind to let you go
(let you go baby)
But now since I see you in his arms...
Interlude
Forget what happened then
(I want you back)
Let me live again
Oh baby I was blind to let you go
But now since I see you in his arms
(I want you back)
Spare me of this cause
Gimme back what I lost
Oh baby I need one more chance, ha!
I tell ya that I love ya
Baby, baby, baby,
I want you back
-- The Cooperation/The Jackson 5
Saturday, 4 July 2009
SUPPORT! Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Tom Stoppard)
@ the Arts House! 16th - 19th July
-----
A lad of nineteen winters comes today
To make his debut onstage with this play.
From whence had interest come he does not know,
But swiftly does his newfound passion grow.
Sith tender days to music was he drawn,
Euterpe's flute for years past he hath borne.
A songsmith he is not yet still he sings,
The viol he bows, the lute he strums its strings.
Now Melpomène calls to him, he stirs!
Discards the flute for mask and guise and verse.
He wishes that his efforts may avail
So by your leave - applause should here prevail.
----
16th (Thu) - 7pm (student-only)*
17th (Fri) - 7pm
18th (Sat) - 3pm & 7pm (EVENING SOLD OUT)
19th (Sun) - 7pm
http://iwanthamlet.blogspot.com/
----
DO COME. You can contact me for tickets (:
-----
A lad of nineteen winters comes today
To make his debut onstage with this play.
From whence had interest come he does not know,
But swiftly does his newfound passion grow.
Sith tender days to music was he drawn,
Euterpe's flute for years past he hath borne.
A songsmith he is not yet still he sings,
The viol he bows, the lute he strums its strings.
Now Melpomène calls to him, he stirs!
Discards the flute for mask and guise and verse.
He wishes that his efforts may avail
So by your leave - applause should here prevail.
----
16th (Thu) - 7pm (student-only)*
17th (Fri) - 7pm
18th (Sat) - 3pm & 7pm (EVENING SOLD OUT)
19th (Sun) - 7pm
http://iwanthamlet.blogspot.com/
----
DO COME. You can contact me for tickets (:
Labels: poetry and verse, promotion, theatre
tennis
'John Wayne at A-l 18's beat Port Washington's Bob Francis of Great Neck, New New York, 6-0, 6-2,' Troeltsch says, 'while A-2 Singles' Hal Incandenza defeated Craig Burda of Vivian Park, Utah, 6-2, 6-1; and while A-3 K. D. Coyle went down in a hard-fought loss to Port Wash's Shelby van der Merwe of Hempstead, Long Island 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, A-4 Trevor "The Axhandle" Axford crushed P.W.'s Tapio Martti out of Sonora, Mexico, 7-5, 6-2.'
'LaMont Chu disembowelled Charles Pospisilova 6-3, 6-2; Jeff Penn was on Nate Millis-Johnson like a duck on a Junebug 6-4, 6-7, 6-0; Peter Beak spread Ville Dillard on a cracker like some sort of hors d'oeuvre and bit down 6-4, 7-6, while 14's A-4 Idris Arslanian ground his heel into the neck of David Wiere 6-1, 6-4 and P.W.'s 5-man R. Greg Chubb had to be just about carried off over somebody's shoulder after Todd Possalthwaite moonballed him into a narcoleptic coma 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.'
'Bernadette Longley reluctantly bowed to P.W.'s Jessica Pearlberg at 18 A-l Singles 6-4,4-6, 6-2, though A-2 Diane Prins hopped up and down on the thorax of Port's Marilyn Ng-A-Thiep 7-6, 6-1, and Bridget Boone drove a hot thin spike into the right eye of Aimee Middleton-Law 6-3, 6-3…'
'14's A-3 Felicity Zweig went absolutely SACPOP on P.W.'s Kiki Pfefferblit 7-6, 6-1, while Gretchen Holt made PW's Tammi Taylor-Bing sorry her parents were ever even in the same room together 6-0, 6-3. At 5, Ann Kittenplan grimaced and flexed her way to a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win over Paisley Steinkamp, right next to where Jolene Criess at 6 was doing to P.W.'s Mona Ghent what a quality boot can do to a toadstool, 2 and 2.'
-- Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
'LaMont Chu disembowelled Charles Pospisilova 6-3, 6-2; Jeff Penn was on Nate Millis-Johnson like a duck on a Junebug 6-4, 6-7, 6-0; Peter Beak spread Ville Dillard on a cracker like some sort of hors d'oeuvre and bit down 6-4, 7-6, while 14's A-4 Idris Arslanian ground his heel into the neck of David Wiere 6-1, 6-4 and P.W.'s 5-man R. Greg Chubb had to be just about carried off over somebody's shoulder after Todd Possalthwaite moonballed him into a narcoleptic coma 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.'
'Bernadette Longley reluctantly bowed to P.W.'s Jessica Pearlberg at 18 A-l Singles 6-4,4-6, 6-2, though A-2 Diane Prins hopped up and down on the thorax of Port's Marilyn Ng-A-Thiep 7-6, 6-1, and Bridget Boone drove a hot thin spike into the right eye of Aimee Middleton-Law 6-3, 6-3…'
'14's A-3 Felicity Zweig went absolutely SACPOP on P.W.'s Kiki Pfefferblit 7-6, 6-1, while Gretchen Holt made PW's Tammi Taylor-Bing sorry her parents were ever even in the same room together 6-0, 6-3. At 5, Ann Kittenplan grimaced and flexed her way to a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 win over Paisley Steinkamp, right next to where Jolene Criess at 6 was doing to P.W.'s Mona Ghent what a quality boot can do to a toadstool, 2 and 2.'
-- Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
Labels: humour, literature
