Shanghai has only recently been exposed to the wonder that is Musical Theater. It seems experienced Musicalist Robert Vicencio is staging the first Musical Theater Workshop in Shanghai. Robert brings many years of experience from such musicals as Miss Saigon, Jesus Christ Superstar and even independent cabaret theater. While Shanghai is no Saigon, I am sure he can adapt.

This will be done in collaboration with Jazz du Funk which is an international dance studio here in Shanghai.

One way or another, come to the workshop so we can all spontaneously break out into song in the middle of People’s Square, only to be shut down and herded away by government officers! So all you ambitious actors, get over there and start singing and dancing!

It has been more than 2 years since government officials decreed they were going to tear down one side of Maoming Lu to build a park. Maoming Lu was scheduled to be demolished renovated way back in July 2005. We are still waiting. The first move against Maoming was in August of 2000 when the police came in to “crack down”. Since then Maoming has been the recipient of countless threats, but has managed to still survive them all.

The word on the street is that they want to turn it into a park, or perhaps even another flower street! I think the bottom line, is that they want to just make it quiet.

Anyhow, this is the kind of ambivalence I have come to expect from these officials with their grand declarations. Wasn’t there supposed to be some sort of curfew going into effect? Close the bars at 2pm? Or is that only in Beijing, and only in the KTVs?

Yes, it seems Bar Rouge might be closing their door, or perhaps moving. Why?, you may ask. Well it seems that the lease on Bar Rouge has run out and they have opted not to renew it. Now as far as I know, Bar Rouge had the option to renew their lease, but simply didn’t. So it does not seem to be an issue of them being “pushed out” by the property owners.

This of course causes varied speculation. Of course the most obvious might be that they are closing down, but why? Could it be that they are not making enough money? Have they upset some government officials?

Then again, it might be that the owner of the property sees the huge popularity of the bar, and wants to move in on it themselves and Bar Rouge was “pursuaded” not to renew their lease, for a nice amount under the table.

One way or another, there is no way that the space and reputation of Bar Rouge will go uncapitalized. Well known as the number 1 bar in Shanghai, someone behind the scenes has dollar signs in their eyes. I will give you an update if I find out some more.

The Shanghai Actors Association is growing every day. Just go to: http://saa.planetkarl.com. On the new site you have the ability to rate and review agents, therefore protecting other actors against underhanded agencies! The agencies, though, have the ability to put up their casting for actors to see.

Actors can also put up their info on the site, for agents, producers and others to view, including their headshots.

All in all it is a very good resource for anyone interested in acting in Shanghai. Hope all you actors out there enjoy!

MeiWenTi Productions has done it again. Bigger and better they have put up a wonderful show, also incorporating a script contest. This time filmmakers were treated to a weekend workshop where they learned about the many aspects of filmmaking, such as camera, sound, lighting, editing, etc. MeiWenTi brought an expert in each field to lecture the eager filmmakers about it.

The contestants were given about 2 and a half weeks in which to shoot, edit an produce the film. They all came through with flying colors. The Prizes were handed out Saturday March 11 at Velvet lounge, where audience members had a chance to view all the 7 submitted films.

This is right now the only place you can get a list of winners from Saturday afternoons event: 

The winners are as follows:

• Best Script from the script competition: Beth (Last Name?)
• Best Originality of the Script: Finding Fidel
• Best Cinematography: Love
• Best Editing: Love
• Best Actor: Chad Bagley (Finding Fidel)
• Best Actress: Eve de la Rosa (Finding Fidel)
• 3rd Best Film: Party Piece
• 2nd Best Film: Love
• Best Film: Finding Fidel

I want to give a big congratulations and a standing ovation to everyone who was involved, the lecturers; judges and especially all the filmmakers.

This is something that Shanghai could use with more of. No, RESISTANCE is not some anti-government group bent on “resisting” the imperialist regime. In fact it is far from political. Using their words: “RESISTANCE ASIA is a movement that puts music first, helping people to understand and enjoy intelligent and unique music.”

Basically fed up with all the bad club music RESISTANCE puts the focus on the music. They create a whole culture with their music. Once you hear their music, you know what it’s all about. Check out their website for more info on their upcoming events.

This ain’t your momma’s party. In a sort of underground way, RESISTANCE has been creeping up on Shanghai. Probably many of you have heard the name or seen the logo around someplace. All you need to know, is that if you see a party with the RESITANCE logo, you know there is good music and a fun time to be had. If you want to go chat with your friends, this is not the party for you.

After a short hiatus, planetkarl.com returns to it’s regularly scheduled programming! We have been working on some exciting projects in the Entertainment Industry, and you will see many of them coming up on this site.

Updates will not be as regular before, but you can expect a higher quality and more insider information. Enjoy!