Back in Canada-land

We flew from Amsterdam to Toronto yesterday -- and have finished our first day of auditions in Toronto today. Long day, especially with jet-lag and all. It's strange to have done casting in Dutch in Amsterdam for a week and suddenly find myself back in Toronto casting for the show in Canada. One company to the next! I hardly know where I am anymore, half the time. Anyhow, we shall re-cap Amsterdam when we have the chance -- but in the mean time, we are happily situated in our room at Hotel Le Germain in Toronto, and we are off to dinner at one of our favorite Toronto restaurants, Lee.

TM

Dutch Tarzan

Last night David and I traveled to Hague after auditions to see the Dutch version of Tarzan. The show is a Stage Entertainment production (same as us), so our casting director was able to organize the whole evening for us. We were very well taken care of: A car drove us from Amsterdam to Hague, an hour's car ride. Once at the theater, we were met by someone from the production staff, who gave us food at the cafeteria (not great, but we were happy to get some hot food) and then escorted us to our seats. We had great house seats, and after the performance, we were escorted out again through back stage, given the show CD and photo programme, taken to our car, and were driven back to Amsterdam.

Not bad.

We had been interested in seeing the Dutch production of Tarzan, because we'd heard that the choreography had been changed from the original Broadway version. This decision was an unfortunate one, as we felt that the Dutch production lacked the magical, wonderful gorilla movements and choreography that made the show special for us. While some scene transitions were cleaner and the theater space was used well for the production, all in all, this version of Tarzan made us want to go back to New York and see the original one again. Because of the less than wild reviews that the show received when it opened on Broadway, Stage Entertainment and Disney decided to bring in a different choreographer to try to make it more widely appealing. I think this was a mistake. The show now seems more like Lion King -- big, beautiful and spectacular, but not as innovative. (We find Lion King sort of dated now...)

The actor who plays Tarzan is wonderful, however, as was Jane. We did not like the father gorilla at all -- the actor had very sloppy gorilla movements. Some of the dancers were nice, but not nearly as fierce as those in the New York production. Despite not understanding Dutch, I think that this production was not as fabulous as the one we saw in New York.

But! It was great to get out of Amsterdam and take in a different show, in Dutch, for a change. We also got to see several tulip fields along the car ride, so it was a terrific evening.

TM

So far in Amsterdam...

(Artsy "mirror-effect" photo of David at the Mansion)

Our fourth night in Amsterdam -- so far, we've had a fantastic time and have found some good people for our Dutch production. The weather has been beautiful, and we are enjoying a sunny, warm spring here.

David and I are in love with Amsterdam. The city is gorgeous and laid-back, very tranquil, yet it has an urban buzz that keeps us engaged. The people here are lovely and open, too, and that most of them speak fabulous English (in addition to about 4 other languages) and are attractive don't hurt.

As we always seem to do in Amsterdam, we have eaten very well on this trip. On the first night, we had a gorgeous meal at a Moroccan restaurant, where we ate wonderful seafood tagine. The ingredients were fresh and, while simple, spiced perfectly, not overwhelmingly as some tagines we've had have leaned toward. On Monday night - our second night - David and I went to Blue Pepper, which is supposedly one of the best and most original restaurants in Amsterdam. The restaurant serves a contemporary Indonesian cuisine. It was my first experience with Indonesian food. Apparently, there is a large Indonesian population in the Netherlands and so there are many Indonesian restaurants in Amsterdam. David and I had never tried Indonesian food here, however, as I am not very tolerant of spicy food and David was concerned that there would be little for me to eat from an Indonesian menu. We were pleasantly surprised at Blue Pepper -- the dishes all had heat to them, but I could eat them just fine. The spiciness was one that enhanced the flavors within the dish and added a physical sensation, as opposed to one that killed all palate sensations and thus rendered the dish un-tastable for a spiciness-intolerant like myself. Last night, we went to Mansion, which was a terrific experience. The Mansion is a restaurant/lounge club space in the form of, of course, a "mansion." We had beautiful "modern yet authentic" Chinese cuisine. Delicious, delicious food! All our dishes were wonderful, and the intimate, glamorous atmosphere made us feel great after a long day of casting. We ate well and drank margaritas (in martini glasses) and took some silly photos.

(Below...David and Tomoko lick margarita surfaces as a acting exercise for "committing to silliness.")

In Amsterdam...

We arrived in beautiful, sunny Amsterdam after a pleasant albeit sleepless overnight flight. Our hotel, the Bilderberg, is a boutique hotel in the museum district of the city -- great location, but our room is very "boutique"... which is, frankly, too small for us to comfortably share for a week of flat-out auditions without killing each other (which won't be good for the show). There is no closet space to speak of, only a closet that is big enough to hold our spring coats and a few other items. There are no drawers AT ALL. Since we have traveled with two suitcases EACH (as we are going from Amsterdam straight to Toronto), this space won't do. We will have to investigate tomorrow about switching rooms...gah!

For the time being, with our room overtaken by our luggage, we had a wonderful dinner with Eleanor, Conrad and Penny at a Moroccan restaurant in walking distance. And the night is gorgeous, fresh and mild, so besides the state of our accommodations, we are happy.

Scrambling yet again...

We are off to Amsterdam tomorrow to cast the Holland production -- we will be there for a week. From there, we are off to Toronto for a week and a half... we are, of course, not at all packed yet, as we have been busy busy all week this week. The usual packing scramble has begun... we are going to get some dinner now, as our task at hand is so daunting, we need to let ourselves have a bit of a breather (we were casting until 8:30pm tonight).

New work computer...

My computer at work has been acting out recently (or rather, basically not working) -- so I've got a new Mac desktop! And it has the built-in camera with my favoritest program, Photobooth. We have taken a photo of ourselves on it, with "Cartoon" effect.

Glam Pics - GenArt Film Festival

Last week was GenArt Film Festival and we attended a couple of screenings and after-parties . Our photos taken at one of the parties are on www.joonbug.com. Since they were nice, we thought we'd put them up here -- the photos were taken at the after-party at PM Lounge for a short film titled "No Diving" and an independent feature film titled "Chalk."
Incidentally, I have no idea what I am looking at in this above photo, but it is rather (unnecessarily) dramatic. Meanwhile, David seems to have mastered the pose he takes in both photos and hits the mark every time (with slight difference in the face, perhaps).

(We did not care for the feature film "Chalk," but we did enjoy the party at PM.)

Dirty Dancing Toronto - $1.8 Million in one day!

Check out this fabulous news on Playbill.com: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/107389.html

A Look Back on Chicago...

(David trying to touch the clouds from the plane.)

David and I had a wonderful time in Chicago, although the trip was short (3 nights, 2 full days). Our first impressions were good -- we look forward to spending more time there, hopefully in the warmer months. Everyone we encountered seemed very nice and easily conversational, from the hotel staff to theater staff to restaurant staff to the dancers and actors we saw... Chicago seemed like a city where its inhabitants were happy.

A bit of musing about Chicago (a week later...):

ON W CHICAGO CENTER:
This was our first time staying at a W Hotel... and I must confess, I was at once excited and nervous about the prospect of staying in the W Chicago Center. Why? Because I looked up the hotel on Trip Advisor. The wonderful thing about Trip Advisor is that it is informative -- the site is laden with reviews from real people. The terrible thing about Trip Advisor is that it could inspire a certain amount of alarm, fear and dread, should there be one or two extremely negative and skeptical reviews about a hotel. Even more terrible thing about Trip Advisor is when one checks out one's hotel on it when one has no option of changing hotels -- the situation we were in in Chicago, and, of course, in which we generally find ourselves. (Since the general manager arranges our accommodations.) The Trip Advisor reviews of W Chicago Center were mixed -- some people liked it, others did not. One review by a newlywed couple, in particular, described in great detail how their computers AND their computer bags were stolen from their locked room. It was an "insider job." This reviews instilled terrific anxiety in us as we considered the safety of David's brand new Powerbook Mac -- not to mention his new, gorgeous Crumpler backpack (of which he is very proud).

Fortunately, we found the W Chicago Center lovely. Our room was spacious, with a comfortable bed and a nice view onto Chicago. David marveled at the flat screen TV, while I made sure to take home all the Bliss Spa products that were complimentary in our bathroom (there is a Bliss Spa Salon in the hotel). While the club-like elevators were somewhat strange (lit like a club with house dance music pumping within it at all hours), we enjoyed the lobby lounge bar as well as the Whiskey Bar... hey, what's not to like about a hotel that makes drinking at all hours tremendously easy? We fell in love with the margaritas at the W... toasty tequila flavor very present in a light, refreshing fresh lime juice and triple sec concoction. The staff were nice, too, and that there was a little boutique in the hotel didn't hurt (David bought a cute tee shirt)... so all in all, we enjoyed our first W Hotel experience.

(Also, we returned to NY with David's computer AND backpack safely with us.)

ON FOOD IN CHICAGO:
We arrived late on Easter Sunday, which meant a lot of restaurants were closed or had closed early. Eleanor, David and I rushed to a slightly out-of-the-way Tex Mex restaurant called Coobah, which was good, although not excellent and without frills. It was interesting to take a car journey out of where we were staying, which is in the city but in a business-y area, to what seemed more like a residential neighborhood. Although it was not our shining culinary experience of Chicago, it was a mellow, first night dining experience.

(David & Tomoko at Blackbird)

The second night, David and I went for a romantic dinner at Blackbird, which was wonderful. We had a beautiful bottle of wine recommended by our very thoughtful and sweet waiter -- a Central Coast white wine, 2004 Treana from Mer Soleil Vineyard. It was just to our taste -- fruity, medium-bodied blend of Viognier and some others, with a surprisingly clean dry finish. Some nights after a long day of casting, there is nothing better than sitting down together for a relaxing, long meal sharing a lovely bottle of wine (I suppose this situation is lovely most days, but it is indeed very nice after seeing one actor/dancer after another and having to be very focused). The food was excellent and innovative, and the dessert (a chocolate mousse with a paper thin wafer underneath) delicious. We had a fantastic time, and befriended our waiter, who turned out to be a real pro in the Chicago restaurant industry. He gave us his contacts at other restaurants we'd read about ("Ask to be seated in the area with Rex (the waiter)," he'd say), and wished us our speedy return to Chicago. (Blackbird's sister restaurant, Avec, is next door. It's a wine bar restaurant with a nice selection of wines. We went there post-dinner and saw our waiter there again, had a nice chat (he was there post-work with his colleagues). Lovely lovely man. We liked Avec for its wine, but we did not like the bright-bright lighting -- we like prefer to drink wines at a counter with a more dim lighting.)

On the third and last night, we ate at the restaurant in our hotel with Eleanor. Eleanor and David ate red-wine braised short-ribs and I had a rib-eye steak with garlic crust. All meat dishes were excellent, and we had a great time. It was a lovely way to cap off our first casting trip to the Windy City.

ON CASTING IN CHICAGO:
We spent our first day of casting seeing dancers from the Joffrey Ballet as well as dancers from other dance companies. Ballet dancers at the Joffrey level are basically certified to be non-human, I have come to understand. I have never seen a girl leap so high, leg kick so readily or feet point so perfectly. It was an exciting day. The treat -- for everyone -- came when Cynthia Rhodes, the original Penny from the film, stopped by to say "Hello." She is gorgeous, radiant, and absolutely generous and warm. David was over-the-moon thrilled to meet her, and ardently wished that she would take up the idea of demonstrating the mambo with him... but alas, she was too modest ("Oh, I'd step on your toes!" she said). I must confess, I did not expect to be starstruck -- I was just intent on making sure David got to meet her when she arrived, as he was in the other room -- but I was awe-struck by her brilliant person. She is beautiful and sui generis.

I also took a couple of photos of David in action teaching the dancing. (Cynthia Rhodes, by the way, whispered to me while watching David teach the mambo, "He is totally adorable!" This comment, of course, brought a wide smile to David's face when I told him.)

ON OUR TRIP BACK TO NEW YORK:
Our flight to Chicago was easy and smooth, and we even arrived about 20 minutes early. Unfortunately, our trip back to New York did not go as well. Because of the weather (snow starting to fall in Chicago), we sat on the tarmac for 5 hours. A machine had to be brought to our plane to defrost it entirely, which is not exactly a comfort-inspiring event. The defrosting process was a funny one, as the plane basically gets doused with pink-ish liquid that is eerily reminiscent of Pepto Bismal. We did have a lovely flight back into New York, however, and flew directly over the city and by Central Park, which allowed me to take some interesting bird's eye photos of New York.
TM

Change of Plan...

Have not had a moment to post photos and blog about our Chicago trip, which was excellent. We were originally supposed to fly to Madrid this afternoon, but plans have changed and our Madrid casting trip has been postponed... which means we are in New York for another week before we fly to Amsterdam. Hurrah! While we are sorry to miss our trip to Madrid, we are ecstatic about having another week in New York, during which we might put our life in order (a bit) and pack sufficiently for our imminent casting tour.

And this shall give us some time to catch up on our blogging...

In the Windy City

We arrived safely and easily into Chicago last night. We are staying at the W City Centre -- so far very nice, our room is spacious and with a nice view onto the city (we see a sliver of what we believe is the Sears Tower). The lobby is rather swanky and the elevator is like a club in itself... which is amusing and slightly odd at the same time. About to rush off to Ballet Chicago now for a day of seeing some serious dancers. For the time being, we wanted to share that we have already discovered that the the Whiskey Bar at the W City Centre Chicago has one of the best margaritas we have ever drank, outside of Mesa Grill in New York.

A Marathon of the Theatrical Kind

Tonight, Eleanor, Michael, David and I went to see the marathon of The Coast of Utopia, the Tom Stoppard play in 3 parts (Voyage, Shipwreck, and Salvage), at the Lincoln Center. This theatrical marathon began at 11am and concluded at 11pm, with a lunch break and a dinner break along the way. The Coast of Utopia is one of those rare theatrical events a New Yorker interested in the theater mustn't miss -- it surely will be remembered and discussed for years for happening at all, due to its magnitude and complexity. David and I were excited about the event for its event-ness itself, but we quickly fell in love with the production and thrived in our 12-hour experience with all 3 parts of the play. The cast boasted Jennifer Ehle, Martha Plimpton, Amy Irving, Ethan Hawke, Billy Crudup, Richard Easton and Brian F. O'Byrne as its main actors, with a huge ensemble. The set, by Bob Crowley, was gorgeous and genius; the lighting by Brian McDevitt stunning. The acting was fantastic all around, and, instead of feeling like we had crammed too much in one day (as it is possible to see the 3 parts on separate nights as well), we finished the day feeling that the marathon was the best way to see The Coast of Utopia -- it was a journey for the actors as well as for the audience. Jennifer Ehle was beautiful and wonderful, as was Billy Crudup, who transformed so completely that he was almost unrecognizable. Ethan Hawke was impressive, too, which redeemed him in my eyes as a stage actor. The last time I saw Ethan Hawke was in Henry IV at the Lincoln Center, in which he played Hotspur and was extremely disappointing (he struggled with the language and looked like a drowned rat). Tonight, he was passionate and charismatic as well as endearingly engaging throughout the 3 parts. The entire production was executed beautifully... and we left the theater feeling we'd witnessed a spectacularly special show. The Coast of Utopia reminded us of the beauty and power of theater, just how wonderful and magical a theatrical experience could be.

We are now up trying to pack to fly to Chicago tomorrow night, for 3 nights. Normally, we would feel slightly more stressed at the prospect of packing up the very last minute, with a casting session in the morning in New York and then an evening flight to a different city. Luckily, The Coast of Utopia has left us quite happy and fulfilled that, for a change, this mad dash to pack and attempt to get some sort of sleep doesn't seem as bad (at least until tomorrow, perhaps, when we suddenly feel very tired and sleepy).

TM

Seder Serendipity

Hey,
So tonight was my first Passover Seder (pronounced Sader) at Elizabeth's house in Brooklyn -- Elizabeth is a friend of Eleanor's, whom we have also befriended. I knew nothing of this Jewish celebration until 5:15 pm tonight when Tomoko very intelligently suggested that I might like to research a little about this event before I launched into matza and bitter herbs. Tomoko has been to several Seders and has a solid feel for the rituals which go hand-in-hand with this cultural event. Unfortunately, she was not able to give the precise description to me, explaining, "It's the Jewish Thanksgiving - lots of food, lots of relatives." A quick ten minute chow down on the Wikipedia database revealed a crash course into understanding Passover Seder... Did you read it? The link stuff is good - no? If you didn't read the link - and you don't know anything about Seder and you get invited to go - not to worry, the best thing about the ceremony is that it is very considerately explained to you as you go through it -- drinking strategic glasses of wine along the way -- it actually is written, "drink now" in the Haggadah. If you are considerate enough to read the link (that I painstakingly put into the blog) you will know that even the poorest man is OBLIGED to drink at least four glasses of wine (or pure grape juice) at Seder. Tomoko's first comment I remember at the table tonight was, "It's like a drinking game!" -- right then it all fell in to place - this is why she likes Seder so much.

Elizabeth's Seder was as tasteful as it was engaging. Elizabeth, who is a vegetarian, created a wonderful and innovative vegetarian meal that ended in the most beautiful flourless chocolate cake I have had at anyone's house - ever.

The guests are what made the evening the most enjoyable. We met a bonafide Frisbee World Champion and now avid kite surfer and his two groovy kids. We met a Tai chi master who is exhibiting his photographs in Essen, Germany, and his beautiful Columbian wife, a sculptress. All the while Finnea, Elizabeth's adoptive African American daughter, now two, wowed the crowd with sentences in English and French (she can also say "kiss" in Arabic). She is well on her way to being tri-lingual at age two - bugger I'm jealous.

All-in-all a great evening. Certainly one to inspire anticipations for next year. I am NO LONGER a Seder virgin.

Cheerio,
David

P.S. Tomoko doesn't really regard Seder as a "drinking game." There are aspects of reading the Haggadah that she loves and by which she is moved (e.g. opening the door to let the Elijah in to the home... she also likes the part when the matza's hidden for the kids to find, which we didn't do today). But mostly, she likes the cultural and communal aspect of Seder, which is why she relates it to Thanksgiving. But be warned. There are rumours circulating that sometimes the ceremony - wine or no - can go on for FAR too long. I've heard as long as two hours before you can eat anything more substantial than matza and bitter (salty bathed) herbs.