Cirque ZAIA Helps Macau Children

For Christmas 2008 the cast of Cirque Du Soleil’s ZAIA show, along with matching funds from Cirque, have raised over 45,000 MOP ($5,500 USD) to buy Christmas clothing packages for the babies and children of CRADLE OF HOPE and the FOUNTAIN OF HOPE groups in Macau (SAR) China.

ZAIA artists and staff helped wrap the gifts and even took the older children on shopping trips in Macau to pick out their own clothes. A couple days before Christmas the older children will get to see the ZAIA show live and meet Cirque artists in person. Merry Christmas Macau!

Enhancing AIDA Transition Music

Email question received about Elton John AIDA orchestrations:

I wondered if you knew of some great orchestration companies or tracks to enhance  our production of Elton Johns Aida. We have a small venue and could really use some tracks specifically for transtitions.

Any information is helpful. Thanks!

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Manchester United visits Zaia in Macau

manchester-united-1108

Photo November 2008 at the ZAIA Theater – Venetian Macao.

Manchester United visited Cirque Du Soleil’s ZAIA Theater in Macau, China as part of their promotion for the new Manchester United Interactive Football Experience located at the Venetian Macao. Here is the photo of MU with the ZAIA cast (I’m on the far right in the top photo).

Update December 2008: Manchester United wins the World Cup!

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Chime Long Circus – Guangzhou China

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

A large group of us from Cirque Du Soleil’s ZAIA show went to see the Chime Long International Circus in Guangzhou, China. It was a fantastic show. The Chime Long circus is more of a traditional circus that includes animal acts. Music for the show is pre-recorded – no live band.

There were so many elements in this show that makes Circus so mesmerizing. There were truly death defying acts including long and high jumps without nets and the Wheel of Death – a Circus favorite. I thought the animal acts were great, although it was a little disturbing to some. There were also great moments of beauty with lush slow aerial acts.

My absolute favorite part was the end of the show when four rows of birds fly from stage left and right across the front of the stage and over the audiences heads. First I think it was pelicans followed by doves. So beautiful. If I hadn’t seen it myself I would have thought it was a projected special effect. Bravo to Chime Long International Circus!

Mass Exodus of Expats from Macau

Macau Expats 11-08
Macau Expats 11-08

Macau Business Magazine has a chilling front page article in their December 2008 issue called “You’re Fired – Expat Exodus” about the mass exodus of Expats working in Macau. You can read the original article at: http://www.macaubusiness.com/index.php?id=1451

Overview from Macau Business Magazine
The wave of lay-offs that has hit the expat community has left a bad taste in the mouth. The whiff of betrayal is in the air and for many, there will be no coming back.

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The Swingle Singers

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ju4uCFzBz4

Approach to Bach with the Swingle Singers – with original member Ward Swingle. He says if we can listen to Bach in the morning we lead better lives because of it…

I remember hearing the Swingle Singers a LOT as a kid in the early seventies. Great stuff and some of my favorite all time renditions of Bach and Mozart. Vive la mystere.

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The Christmas Gloria – One Year Later

In early December 2007 I had let go of all but one of my posts in preparation of leaving to work for Cirque Du Soleil. I received notice at the beginning of December that my date to join Cirque had been moved to three weeks later so I had some time on my hands. My last job I still retained was music director at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church in Mount Vernon, WA.

I wanted to do something with my newfound free time; so decided to do something crazy that I had always wanted to do: To write a complete orchestral and choral work in one week like JS Bach used to do for his weekly church services. My last service for the church was Christmas Eve 2007 so I decided to write a Gloria for presentation at the evening Christmas Eve service.

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Bach Badinerie

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVxwuirUX-M

Two video recordings of a Badinerie by JS Bach. I have heard several absolutely horrible renditions on YouTube – but I like both of these. My favorite of these two is the first on top. The musicians take a little more chance with the tempo and interpretation – and to my ears it has a little more sizzle than the performance at the Vatican.
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Wittenberg Theater


WITTENBERG THEATER CLOSES 2001
Theater Wittenberg Closes Its Doors –
The Theater Wittenbergs sustaining institution, a special purpose association, has resolved to close the theatre beginning in summer 2001. The decision will affect 156 jobs. A theatre for children and young people and a project-based music theatre will remain in operation.

HISTORY OF THEATER IN WITTENBERG
Wittenberg has a long tradition in cultural events. The City Theatre Mitteldeutsches Landestheater reached a great importance in GDR times. Since 1996, the City proposes Open-Air theatre shows based on the Lutheran history still alive in many historical places of the ancient town. As highlights, in 2001 and 2005, Fernando Scarpa became the artistic director of the “Bühne Wittenberg” (Stage Wittenberg), a project for theatre, art and culture in the whole of Germany which attracts to the City plenty of audience and whose success achieves European echo. Hamlet is said to have studied here.