Its been a while since I wrote in here. But I've been LIVING!
So let me back up for you...
We left Portland and flew out to San Francisco for 2 days while waiting for our flight overseas. I'd never been to San Francisco before - well, we flew into SF airport and drove out to another city on a previous tour, but I've never REALY seen the city. Of course, we were there during the BART (their subway workers) strike - so it made getting around a bit challenging but not impossible. A few of us decided to go down to Fisherman's Wharf and branch out from there to see the city as best we could in the little time we had. We started out taking in the Wharf, where you can see Alcatraz, and had a bowl of clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at the Boudin Sourdough Bread factory. Then we jumped on a Hop On-Hop Off Tour bus that took us all over town. Sadly, the Golden Gate Bridge was fogged out by the time we got there so you couldn't see it at all. We did get to see the worlds most crooked street, Golden Gate Park and some interesting areas of the city that we wouldn't have normally seen on our own. Then we walked over to Ghirardelli Square for an out-of-this-world chocolate brownie sunday.
Next day we got up and headed over to the airport. Our trip was broken up into two sections: SFO to Hong Kong (14 hours) and then Hong Kong to Singapore (4 hours) - and because of time zones... We left on the 3rd - skipped the 4th and arrived at Midnight (Singapore time) on the 5th. Kinda of hard to wrap your head around. I'm not sure how it worked - but I do know that I am 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard time exactly. The trip was uneventful (thank goodness) - just long. I tried not to sleep much since I wanted to make sure I got on a sleeping schedule that was right with my new time zone right away - so I read alot - watched movies - etc... Once we landed in Singapore, we boarded a chartered bus that took us out to Sentosa Island - which is where we are staying and performing while we're here. Its all sort of a blur in my mind. We checked in and went right to bed.
Sentosa Island is NICE - lets just say that half the island is inhabited by the local millionaires - while the other half is basically one big family international vacation destination run by Resorts World with many attractions such as the Festive Grand theatre (where we are performing), Universal Studios Singapore, several beaches, a water park, an aquarium, a luge, a casino, many celebrity restaurants, a huge mall called Vivo City and tons of other quirky little fun things - and about 10 different luxury hotels. The hotel we are staying at is right across from a giant statue/lookout point called the Merlion - which is the national symbol of Singapore. Its basically a half Lion/half Fish creature that symbolizes Singapore's power on land and sea as a port city. The hotel is great - and offers a (free to us) breakfast each morning that is to die for. They offer American fare (hash browns, pancakes, etc), Asian dim sum and other local selections, a European meat and cheese spread as well as a huge array of baked goods, fruits and juices. Great way to start the day - and it means you really only need to eat out one meal a day...so that's been a saving grace. Its also located within a 12 minute walk to the theatre and a 5 minute walk to an island tram that takes you to the mall (Vivo City) where you can catch the MRT (their subway system).
We were lucky enough to not have much to do show-wise for about 4 days - so that gave us plenty of time to acclimate to the area and explore a bit. There was some press to be done - a lot actually...but it was split up very well among the 'Family' with a couple things that the involved the whole cast. I spent one whole day with Keleen (our Morticia) going to different radio and newspaper interviews at the Mediacorp complex. It seems like the media here is all housed in one large government facility broken up into a large TV building that holds all the local TV stations, a large Radio building that holds all the local radio stations and a Print building that holds all the local newspapers and magazines - so that made it easy to get to all of the press, since it was all right there in the same basic vicinity. All the radio personalities we spoke with were great - and so much fun to work with. We also did a small 20 minute cabaret version of the show at a local indi music outdoor cafe - which was a lot of fun. Some of the other cast members were asked to do some TV appearances on local news stations and even on a variety show. MAC Makeup also had a few of us doing makeup demonstrations down on Orchard Road (where they have all the fancy smanchy stores/malls). And from what I've seen - its done some real good - as our shows are actually selling pretty well for such a large house with such a long run.
When we were finally called into work - we did a small tech run of the show with the local crew - then two 'preview' performances before our 'official' opening on Thursday night. I hadn't realized what a big deal this show was - especially the opening- here in Singapore. But it was BIG. Many of the local celebrities attended the show opening night - including Ming Bridges, who is an Asian chart rising singer from Singapore. After the opening we went out to take pictures with the VIPs who came to see the show - and it was like I had just won the Tony back home. There were celebs posing with us - and huge crowds outside the velvet ropes snapping photos of us taking pictures with them. It was a wonderful, hot, blurry moment. Followed by a great opening night party thrown by our producers - who were in town for the event.
The shows have been going very well this first week - different - but well. These audiences definitely find different jokes funny - and others not so funny at all. They are also, on the whole, a quieter audience throughout - which is their culture. Its taken some getting used to, for sure - and its a tiny bit frustrating since (I've found) that a lot of my jokes are VERY AMERICAN SPECIFIC. So they are followed by obligatory cricket noises - but thats ok. We're bringing them authentic American Musical Theatre - complete with Charlie Sheen and american football jokes. We've also found out that they don't find the character of Grandma so funny here - as the cultures here generally tend to revere the elderly and not make jokes about them peeing themselves. So at least I'm not alone. THE SHOW - though, seems to be going over very well - and for that I'm very excited. The audiences are incredibly appreciative and always excited to meet with us afterwards (we have a rotating cast meet and greet schedule). And our social media fans are off the hook. A few of the cast have really taken to chatting with and getting to know our Facebook and Twitter fans - and they are loving it as much as we are. Its very exciting!
Outside of the show, I've done a ton of exploring. And am LOVING Singapore!
My first day out - all I really did was walk around Vivo City - which is this HUGE mall that has everything you can think of: clothing stores, electronic stores, massage parlors, restaurants, spas, a movie theatre, a grocery store, pharmacies...everything. It was a great culture shock just to walk around the grocery store - I think I strolled the aisles for a good hour just browsing. Eventually I ended up buying some instant noodles to keep in the room and some juices and things. One day a cast mate and I went back and got massages from this tiny little woman who jumped up on the table, straddled my back and beat the crap out of it with her elbows - which was painful at the time but GREAT a day later.
I also thought that I would try a local delicacy that I've been hearing/reading about called a Durian. It is known in SouthEast Asia, which is the only place is grows, as the King Of Fruits. From what I read - it was supposed to smell awful (akin to rotting fruit) but taste unbelievable (one book said it was like almond custard). So I bought one at the grocery store - and convinced Bryan, Dan and Keleen to try it with me...Lets just say...we all almost vomited right there at the table. The smell was bad - and the tasted was worse - not to mention the TEXTURE. It was sort of like biting into a rotting almond/onion flavored slug. NEVER AGAIN will durian pass my lips. But hey - I gave it a go...
I also spent some time exploring the rest of Resorts World - walking around the Casino area, checking out the shoppes and hotels, walking out by the beaches - in fact I took a bridge to the Southern most part of continental Asia! We caught a really cool nightly show on the waterfront that involved some dancing electronic cranes that fell in love and turned into real birds - well real birds on an LCD screen - but it was still pretty cool.
When I finally made it off the island...Mark, Julio and I jumped on the subway and headed out to the Singapore Flyer - the largest/tallest Ferris Wheel in the world (just beats the one in London) to get some great views of Singapore from above. We also checked out the Marina Bay Sands Hotel - which is this monster of a building - well, 3 technically. Its built in 3 tiers and connected at the top by a gigantic infinity pool. Mark had a friend from NYC who lives here now that worked over in the Shoppes at the Sands - so we stopped in to get out of the heat and say 'Hi'.
During our big cabaret press events, we discovered that we were smack dab in the heart of the colonial section of town so...Mark, Blair, Amanda, Chloe and I walked over the the historic Raffles Hotel and had a Singapore Sling at their Long Bar. This is significant because...ITS THE BAR WHERE THEY CREATED THE SINGAPORE SLING - which happens to be one of my favorite drinks ever...been drinking them in the states since I was 21. I was introduced to it by a work friend who's son had served over here in the military and in turn, introduced her to it. So it was kinda cool to be where it was invented.
Well - week one down -- there is still Sooooooo much of Singapore to explore - and I can't wait to share my adventures with you!
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