Cirque ZAIA Third Anniversary

August 28, 2011 was the 3rd anniversary of Cirque Du Soleil’s ZAIA show in Macau (SAR), China. Above is one of the new promotional posters. You can click it for a larger view.

Cirque Du Soleil ZAIA band

Maria Elena Medina (cello, viol), Olivier Milchberg (guitar, plucked strings, flutes), Gabriel Cloutier (singer), George Manz (key 2), Conrad Askland (bandleader, key 1, accordion), Rose Winebrenner (singer), Darrin Johnson (drums), Eduard Harutyunyan (percussion), Justin Wilman (violin, recorder).

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Actor’s Equity Staged Reading Guidelines

I was looking up information about setting up a staged reading for a new musical. Found these staged reading guidelines from Actor’s Equity.

Click to access Stage_Reading_Guidelines.pdf

Actors’ Equity Association will permit Equity Actors (“Actors”) to participate in Stage Readings upon completion of the attached forms and under the following guidelines:

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Varekai in Manila 2011

June 23, 2011 I had the experience of watching Cirque Du Soleil’s show VAREKAI in Manila, Philippines. I’m familiar with the music and had seen videos of the show but to watch it in person was electrifying.

My favorite parts were of course the music (another Violaine Corradi creation), the guy with the lightbulb on his head (you’d think since I work for Cirque I could look up the characters name) and the clown act with the spotlight (I’ve heard about that act for years, was fantastic to finally see it – very minimalistic and clever). Of course there were so many wonderful elements to the show I couldn’t possibly list them all. I’ll leave a professional reviewer to do that.

A big shout out to my friends and Varekai artists Isabelle Corradi (vocals) and Paul Bannerman (drums).

Varekai Opening (Charivari) Cirque du Soleil

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2HBTxyz9uU

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Sesame Street roasts Spiderman Musical

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR1DdMeVqTw

Sesame Street roasts the Spiderman Musical with their own “Spidermonster”. They make light of the many technical problems and also a reference that the music is Bono’s first Broadway musical. Spider Man: Turn Off The Dark opened on Broadway to bad reviews, then closed for a revamp and reopened to somewhat better reviews.