From Don's Blackberry:
Sheep at 8am.
Third truck stranded.
Stones arrived for the road.
Horses at 2:30pm and the opera tenors can ride the horses up and over the sand hills while singing. Cool!
Dinner and the Hohhut actors arrived - 3 more than I thought - great. And a crew. But no stage manager.
Oh and a guy asking about light and sound. - turns out to be a new vendor and designer - ha competitve bid with 2 weeks to go! So evidently nothing has started on tech. Ha! That killed us.
I got 4 songs. Out of 12. Not bad for day 1 of rehearsal. And the composer isn't in the room.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday 9/13/10 - Alashan, Inner Mongolia, China
From Don's Blackberry...
Morning camels. Plus we have a baby. The sacred trees for us - no twig touched are ravished by the camels pulling down limbs 8 at a time.
The trenches dug by hand in the sand for cables 2 feet deep are lept over.
Everyone speaking Mongolian. Maps are made for the route but...not easy either.
Lunches gradually a little more work. Added the girl singers.
YY told a Beijing composer to start writing. Whoopee another composer that doesn't know the show. Also going to film company to rent costumes for dynasties.
The sand road "needs another material". Oh. Not just sand?
2:30 4:30 is Camel Practice. I asked if the trainers will never miss a show. Absolutely not!
The new asst director came - with jire and all. I talked thru show. He said LED screen? No. Ta shouts 'impossible!'
Morning camels. Plus we have a baby. The sacred trees for us - no twig touched are ravished by the camels pulling down limbs 8 at a time.
The trenches dug by hand in the sand for cables 2 feet deep are lept over.
Everyone speaking Mongolian. Maps are made for the route but...not easy either.
Lunches gradually a little more work. Added the girl singers.
YY told a Beijing composer to start writing. Whoopee another composer that doesn't know the show. Also going to film company to rent costumes for dynasties.
The sand road "needs another material". Oh. Not just sand?
2:30 4:30 is Camel Practice. I asked if the trainers will never miss a show. Absolutely not!
The new asst director came - with jire and all. I talked thru show. He said LED screen? No. Ta shouts 'impossible!'
Sunday 9/12/10 - Alashan, Inner Mongolia, China
From Don's Blackberry...
Woke for a run. - garbage truck playing happy birthday. Meeting with an actor at his house! Its a freaking audition - no its lunch. Ok. Actually a block from hotel the crabby alley led to blue painted door led to courtyard with pear trees to the old brick home. Inside a mirroed ceiling and mongol decorations in gold trim and of course a wedding pic .
The perf arts leaders parents in law. Previously leaders. 50 year anniversary. The leader when in 1958 the town was moved for the space station. Because party gave rice and a hospital. Before that only lamb and milk.
The grandaughter enters - the local tv producer.
And - we're speaking mongolian. The friend a man of intence angles and dark skin. He is multitalented sing , play, wrestle, build yurt, animals (camel and horse and sheep), history and deliver 400 babies.
Have tea anytime.
Write and build lists all day. The power stayed on.
Morning blocking notes and waking jiazi and yurong at 2pm during their nap.
The 8 music files were only 6 and actually just variations of 2 songs. Oh boy!
Afternoon to see costumes not like those in movie - a scheme. The oldest ladies in the county. Like the morning leader mom! 13 gals 50 to 90. And then they stay singing. Now this is an audition.
Batas is directing. One is his mother. Others are gao wa' aunts. They know the old songs. 3 tumes.
Showing off they costumes like princess. "The girls". Yes! They are in. No they will not be recorded - live. 2 sang for Mao.
Batar dancing and playing. The x leader joy$
The old want to celebrate - the young don't want to show themselves on stage. Mmmm.
I skipped dinner to figure out the rest of the staging and fill in pieces. Done at 845pm and then meeting till 11 with waxue yi.
A long long crazy list for 10 days.
I asked for camels asap. A music edit tech, cold beer (a frig) a yurt to assemble and a tree cast.
Tomorro I have 9 am camels. I met a music tech. The yurt has to come from hohhut and at 1am I found a sidewalk bbq with cold beer.
Ahh
Woke for a run. - garbage truck playing happy birthday. Meeting with an actor at his house! Its a freaking audition - no its lunch. Ok. Actually a block from hotel the crabby alley led to blue painted door led to courtyard with pear trees to the old brick home. Inside a mirroed ceiling and mongol decorations in gold trim and of course a wedding pic .
The perf arts leaders parents in law. Previously leaders. 50 year anniversary. The leader when in 1958 the town was moved for the space station. Because party gave rice and a hospital. Before that only lamb and milk.
The grandaughter enters - the local tv producer.
And - we're speaking mongolian. The friend a man of intence angles and dark skin. He is multitalented sing , play, wrestle, build yurt, animals (camel and horse and sheep), history and deliver 400 babies.
Have tea anytime.
Write and build lists all day. The power stayed on.
Morning blocking notes and waking jiazi and yurong at 2pm during their nap.
The 8 music files were only 6 and actually just variations of 2 songs. Oh boy!
Afternoon to see costumes not like those in movie - a scheme. The oldest ladies in the county. Like the morning leader mom! 13 gals 50 to 90. And then they stay singing. Now this is an audition.
Batas is directing. One is his mother. Others are gao wa' aunts. They know the old songs. 3 tumes.
Showing off they costumes like princess. "The girls". Yes! They are in. No they will not be recorded - live. 2 sang for Mao.
Batar dancing and playing. The x leader joy$
The old want to celebrate - the young don't want to show themselves on stage. Mmmm.
I skipped dinner to figure out the rest of the staging and fill in pieces. Done at 845pm and then meeting till 11 with waxue yi.
A long long crazy list for 10 days.
I asked for camels asap. A music edit tech, cold beer (a frig) a yurt to assemble and a tree cast.
Tomorro I have 9 am camels. I met a music tech. The yurt has to come from hohhut and at 1am I found a sidewalk bbq with cold beer.
Ahh
Saturday, 9/11/10 - Alashan, Inner Mongolia, China
Don and one of his many trips to the GREAT WALL!
Thank goodness he read this sign before he visited!
Friday, 9/10 - Alashan, Inner Mongolia, China
From Don's Blackberry:
1pm no power! For second day in row. It came on around 3pm like yesterday ....so does the electricity take a siesta too? So much for bucking the system!
1pm no power! For second day in row. It came on around 3pm like yesterday ....so does the electricity take a siesta too? So much for bucking the system!
Don Frantz is West of the Gobi Desert!
And no, I'm not kidding! I'll be posting his daily quips that I receive from his Blackberry along with some interesting photos!
The show that he's producing/creating/directing is an outdoor spectacle in a town west of the Gobi Desert (8 hour drive through sand!). Here, once a year for 2 weeks in October, the trees turn such a vibrant color that hundreds of thousands of people flock. The government, realizing that they should start entertaining the tourists, want to create an outdoor spectacle. So who should they turn to, but our dear friend, Don Frantz! With people, horses, camels, sheep and goat at his disposal, well, it'll be fabulous to see what he comes up with. Hope you enjoy reading his notes and seeing his pictures as much as I do!
best,
Laurie
The show that he's producing/creating/directing is an outdoor spectacle in a town west of the Gobi Desert (8 hour drive through sand!). Here, once a year for 2 weeks in October, the trees turn such a vibrant color that hundreds of thousands of people flock. The government, realizing that they should start entertaining the tourists, want to create an outdoor spectacle. So who should they turn to, but our dear friend, Don Frantz! With people, horses, camels, sheep and goat at his disposal, well, it'll be fabulous to see what he comes up with. Hope you enjoy reading his notes and seeing his pictures as much as I do!
best,
Laurie
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
KATONGA closes after 10k performances!
It's been over 6 years since Town Square and its creative team installed KATONGA at Busch Gardens, Tampa. The award winning show made break throughs by bringing Broadway talent to the brand's African Themed Park. After 10,000 shows and over 1,000 performers, the show closed September 2010.
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