For those of you that are not aware cosplay(コスプレ) is a combination of “costume” and “play”, a term coined by the Japanese to describe this whole penomenon of people dressing up in costumes. Not to be confused with 制服コスプレ(seifuku cosplay), which is the adult kind of cosplay (think naughty nurse). Anyhow, this is not limited to just the Japanese. There is a huge cosplay culture around Asia, even in China, despite it’s Japanese roots.

Actually, this provides a great example of Chinese and Japanese getting along great and contributing to each others’ culture. In the cosplay event I was in, they had brought in “celebrity cosplayers” from Japan. One of these was Shiina Sakuya, a girl that is famous for playing all male roles. I knew from that whole Kabuki thing that Japanese were mixed up, but hey, I don’t mind. In fact that just makes it more interesting. She was the headliner of the show, famous for playing such parts as Obiwan Kenobi, Harry Potter and Jack Sparrow among others. Also among the celebrity cosplayers was Mariko Goku, famed for her Queen Amidala role. You can check out the pictures below to see.

My friend Redondo’s company, is one of the ones responsible for organizing such events. It seems there are many such events every year around China. Cosplay is actually a big business, with many companies and even individuals having stalls at the event selling all sorts of movie, TV show and other paraphernalia. The guests were older than one would expect, some perhaps more than 30 years old. I suppose this goes with the same phenomenon as Internet cafes where people come together to escape into another reality, one more enticing than than reality.

All in all it is just one big fun fest where everyone is just playing around having fun. There is almost a juvenile like spirit in the air, where everyone can just sit back and have fun, like being a kid for a day. I think it is a suitable alternative to getting piss drunk and making obnoxious passes at chicks. Anyhow, those crazy Japanese, spreading their Japanese insanity all over the world; It’s fun, no?

Here are some photos of the cosplay event I was in:

If you were lucky enough to get tickets to the apparently sold out ballet performance “Sigh of Love“, (Chinese title 花样年华) you got to see something quite unique.

The Shanghai Ballet, under the guidance of French choreographer Bertrand d’At with Claude Agrafeil created what I would call a “Ballet Art Play”. It is not quite ballet, not quite a musical, but whatever it was, it was beautiful. From the audience’s perspective you see a series of heartfelt dancing scenes, which seem a bit discombobulated, only in a sense that it might be hard to understand the story. Though, the dancing scenes are very admirably performed by the dancers that really give you a sense of deep emotion behind every move.

As with most artistic professions, those who do it, do it for the love of the art. The dancers, as far as my conversations, all chose to do dancing as a career, not because they nothing else, but because they really had a passion for it. Having a job that is your passion is really something we all look for in life. Though, it is not all roses, as most of the dancers have been dancing for about 9 years or more. As you might guess, some of them have lost a certain amount of enthusiasm for their vocation. This, though, does not seem to lessen the seriousness with which they take their job.

Overall, they are performers doing what they want to do. Their salaries are not what you might expect for people in a highly specialized profession such as ballet dancing, but they don’t seem to mind too much, and it is still more than your typical Chinese salary.

If you missed their performance this time, be sure to catch it next time when they are on stage in October.

Here are some of photos of the production:

For those of you who missed the Improv game-show at the Acting up! event yesterday you missed a doozy! The audience was laughing their ass of at the hilarious antics! They will be doing it the 3rd Monday of every month from now on.

Read more about it at the SAA website.

The East-West Theater Company is now officially in Shanghai! Set up to do their very own comedy show entitled “Night of Mirth“, they plan on bringing stage comedy to a whole new audience. Formed by a group of exuberant and sometimes obnoxious foreigners and locals, they are breaking new ground on stage in China.

Only recently have western style stage performances begun to catch on. With the big musicals coming to town and more western performers finding their way into Shanghai, this is the beginning of a long trend.

The Theater Company plans to do a one-off show to “test the waters” in the Chinese landscape. Contact them for more info including how to get tickets.

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!

Disney is making big moves on the Chinese market, headed by it’s Lion King. The musical production is being moved up from it’s home in Melbourne, Australia to Shanghai in time for the July 18th opening at the Shanghai Grand Theater.

This is all in good effect, as musical theater seems to be growing in interest with the Chinese, as witnessed by the success of the Phantom of the Opera last year.

Tickets are on sale and will set you back 100-800RMB depending on the time and day. You have 100 chances to see the show, as they will have 100 performances.

Disney has been a bit lax in it’s China operations until now. An article highlights this:

Disney’s Donald Duck and other classic characters enjoy wide recognition in China. But many observers say the media giant failed to take advantage of its position earlier this decade, largely sitting on the sidelines while Viacom, News Corp., Time Warner and Sony Corp.’s entertainment arm opened TV stations and filmed entertainment joint ventures in China.

Also, it is unclear whether Disney is still in talks with Shanghai about building their new theme park here. One way or another, Disney intends on making their presence felt in Shanghai and China.

For those of you who like the flavor of the San Francisco, the band is coming to town. Though, the trip was nearly cancelled due to salary issues. This was due to the fact that that orchestra members were earning a mere $112,320 a year. For this they went on strike. I suppose that being an orchestra member must be something like being a member of the cast of Friends. Under the proposed plan their salary would rise to about $130,000 a year.

So don’t miss them when they come to town, and you can even learn a thing or two by listening in on their classes at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. These classes are to commemorate the sisterhood of Shanghai and San Francisco. Really, they have been sister cities for 25 years now. How’d I miss that one? Being sister cities probably involves some sort of bonding thing such as teasing each other and blaming each other when something goes wrong.

Senator Feinstein (1979 mayor of San Francisco) had this to say:

“I established the Sister City relationship between San Francisco and Shanghai twenty-five years ago to promote goodwill and friendship between our two cities through a constructive series of economic, social, and educational exchanges. Twenty-five years later the relationship is intact and growing. For those of us who believe in ‘people’ diplomacy this relationship is a successful and glowing model.”

Goodwill- check. Friendship- check. Constructive relationship- Well, if you don’t count the countless San Francisco businesses going belly up, especially the garment industry, because of inexpensive and plentiful Chinese imports, sure everything is rosy. India is the reason for all the tech jobs going overseas, so that doesn’t count either. Anyhow, enjoy your “relationship”.

I would love to get more parts, but the blind and retarded people seem to get all the good roles! Seriously though, it is true that director Wang Mo-lin’s play “Black Hole: Ending” is hiring these sorts of actors for the lead roles. Blind actor Liu Maoying and (being politically correct) “mentally disabled” 18-year-old girl from Hong Kong are the two leads. Though by mentally disabled, they probably mean mentally not-as-able?

It proves that through determination you really can achieve anything. This is the first time anything like this has happened in China. I am not sure, but can you readers think of any other time we have had disabled actors taking lead roles in films or plays?

Anyhow, kudos to them and I wish them luck. I think it is amazing, and I think it would be very intriguing to see such a thing.