Word of the Day April 12

Kawaii!!!

Meaning cute is Japanese
Cute like overwhelminglling sickeningly cute
Used on obejcts and people but also as an entire world view.

Hello Kitty is Kawaii!!!
Jessie is Kawaii!!!
Small furry animals are Kawaiii

Eugene April 12

Aiyah! nerves! -- Keep writing

The cast had their last rehearsal in the rehearsal space yesterday. It
hit me hard as I realized that we were loading in Monday, and that in
less than a week, the show will be up. I just couldn't believe it.
Last night, I couldn't even sleep. I kept worrying about how my
friends were going to get tickets. I kept worrying that my mom will
leave during intermission and not return to see the 2nd Act. I spent
the night with my eyes squeezed tight trying to slow down time so that
maybe opening night won't come so fast, because if opening night
doesn't come then closing night won't come. Then this will never be
over.

I'm not quite ready to finish this story yet. A part of me wants to
keep writing. I want to know what happens to Asha and Kaylin, Vincent
and Jessie, and Tony. And Mother. But definitely the story has come to
a point where there is closure. There is a really sweet and touching
ending to the story, and there is some closure to certain issues in my
life too, which makes this premiere so appropriate. As if I'm closing
one of the many chapters of my life. I just wish it was easier to let
go.

Melissa April 10

HERE WE ARE IN HONG KONG!

Well . . . almost. Yesterday we said goodbye to our silver walled rehearsal studio that's been our home for about a month and moved into the theatre today. And WOW! The set looks great! And it's not even 100% complete yet. Which is very exciting because I'm already impressed. Moving onto the stage and seeing the dinner table, the Wu home, and the acupuncture shop makes everything feel more real to me. It helps me envision Kaylin's environment better and understand her world that much more. The dinner table has got to be the coolest set piece so far. That giant table just slides in and out of scenes, appearing with all the utensils set and food! Wish I could have that in my apartment! Life would be so easy . . .

Tomorrow will be another busy day. Class in the morning, frantic attempt to write my 10 page analysis paper in the afternoon, another class, a costume meeting with Amanda, and then a run through with tech in the space of Act II till 11pm. Busy busy busy! But all very exciting stuff. I can't believe previews are this Saturday! And while I'm looking forward to this weekend, I'll be much more excited about the following weekend, when my family will come up to see me! 11 days and counting! Yay!

Megumi April 9

A Week to opening!

we have exactly one week until opening night and i am both incredibly
excited and yet extremely nervous. will people like it? will the music
sound good in context? will the story work? will everything flow? will
the actors enjoy themselves onstage? will i enjoy myself in the
audience? ahhh!!!

today we had chinese lessons with the actors. everyone has at least
two or three cantonese phrases they use in the play, yes even Asha,
and none of the cast actually speak cantonese. in fact, no one at
rehearsal can speak or understand cantonese except me, so when they're
off in their pronunciation, I'm the only one who notices.

the actors all had fun pronouncing "cho sam" i think it's their
favorite. i know it's definitely megumi's favorite. i'm still trying
to get them to hit "tong yuen" right.

i'm enjoying the connection between Megumi and Abria more and more
each day. Kaylin and Asha are hot together, they have amazing
chemistry, (except when kaylin is being self-absorbed and bratty,
which is when I just wish Asha would leave her ass and find herself
some other hot lesbian in hong kong).

Hyunsoo is a punk in real life, kind of like my own brother, which is
really nice for the role of Vincent. Gary is so sweet I really wish I
had an Uncle just like him, although I wouldn't want him performing
acupuncture on me. :)

Mariko told me today she wishes she got to play a lesbian because it's
fun playing roles that are nothing like who you really are. Maybe in
my next play she can be the butch lesbian?

And Judy, well she is still cute to me, even in her motherly clothing.

Melissa April 7

Big Momma

Not really!
One of the fun things about costuming is transforming actors.

For "Nian" the biggest transformation is in the character of Mother. The actress is in her 20s and we need to age her oh, let's see, about 40 years! Paula Kelly the makeup artist for "Nian" and I have a plan.

I started by building her a bodysuit--it has sags and a little tummy and looks like gravity has started its course on Mother's body. Next, I've found clothes that are matronly--longish skirts, long-sleeve tops and plain dresses. Next week at dress rehearsal, we'll add black rimmed eyeglasses; slight graying to her hair; and aging makeup. I am eager to see how it works... and if we succeeded.

None of the other characters in "Nian" have such elaborate transformations as Mother. But the actress playing Jessie does have a fun transformation. For "Nian" she is outfitted from head-to-toe and even to fingernail. Her character is a Paris Hilton wannabee and shopping for her has been fun!

I am looking forward to dress rehearsal next week and to seeing the wonderful technical aspects of this show come together with its talented cast.

Amanda April 6

Good daughters

Very often, I do favors for people, and because I want to focus on preparing for the show, I started telling people NO, and all of a sudden, I'm not a nice person anymore. Some are nice, and ask me what I need, and I tell them TIME and MONEY. Others just get offended. Now, I know who my real friends are.

Anyway, I read the entire script for the second time, and once again, I was moved quite a bit. The first time I've read it, I was so overwhelmed with emotions that I got physically exhausted. Because I can relate to both Kaylin and Mother Wu. I, too, have been away from my family in Japan for, actually, A LOT longer than Kaylin. (Let's not talk about how long...;P) Reading Mother's lines/songs, I realized what must have been going through in my own mother's head.

I want to be a good daughter and do more things for my mother, but doing things for her and doing things for myself, often times, don't go well together. For that, I am so far away. I want to make more money so that I can provide for my aging mother, and I want to make her happy by telling her how well I am doing. I just don't feel that I am giving her back the love that she's given me.

By saying I can relate to the Mother, I'm not saying I have children of my own. :D But, I've had a few relationships in which I had been like a mother to the boys. Not a good thing. You never get what you want or need.

As far as playing Jessie, it's funny how I got into her character so quickly, even though I'm more of a simple kind of person. I actually went in the first rehearsal with TRANSPARENCY and OPENNESS rather than RIGIDITY by studying too much. Okay, this sounds like an excuse for not knowing my lines very well. :(

The way Patrick is directing is very helpful when building my character, because it gives me a frame to play with and stretch within.

I began to remember that I was an actor. I forgot about that fact..., since I've been doing those easy, good-paying "acting" gigs such as prints and videos.

Hope I can get my instinct back to work as soon as possible. And, yes, my singing voice as well.


Sending good thoughts to all of you,

Mariko April 2

14 Days 34 Outfits

Or is it 15 days 40 outfits? Whatever it is exactly, it's a lot!

I am Amanda Mujica the costume designer for "Nian." Today I had a fitting with Hyunsoo. He looked great dressed as both a "mamma's boy" and dressed by his Paris Hilton-wannabee girlfriend. And it was great to actually see an actor moving around in the clothes I've bought.

Whenever I tell people I'm a costume designer they almost always have the same reaction--that must be so much fun. And it is, but it is a lot of work! For "Nian" I am trying to age certain actors; make other actors look younger; make some look bigger; some taller; and get everyone in out of costumes quickly. So before I can buy any item I have to make sure it's easy to get in and out of; it's in the right color palette; it's right for the character's style and age... and the biggy, it's within my budget! So I have gone through this process what feels like a million times.

I have been working with Patrick Wang the director of "Nian" for many years. As a designer, it really helps to know a director well. He, I, and Paula Kelly, the makeup artist, have been talking about this show for a long time and I think we've made some great decisions about how the look of certain characters will change as the show progresses. For example, when is Vincent (Hyunsoo's character) dressing himself and when is his girlfriend choosing his clothes for him? And how does he have his
own look by the end of the show that is somewhere between the two? I know my costumes will be enhanced by the beautiful lighting of Nathanial Packard. Good lighting designers are every costumers' best friend.

I'll write again after I've finished fitting the rest of the cast.

Amanda March 30 2007

Music and Cooking!

Hi everyone. It’s Juri Panda Jones. Yes. I am the chef/musical director.

I am hoping that someday I can be a host of some reality show that teaches music and cooking at the same time. I love both. They are pretty similar when you think about it.

You have to use all your senses, improvise, be alert, sophisticated, be smart and be spontaneous.



I started playing the piano at age 3 and started cooking at age 4. My mom treated me like an adult when I was young and she even forced me to join her Rock band when I was 4. I rehearsed every Tuesday night with some adults and memorized all my parts. Then the day of the show, I got nervous and couldn’t perform. All I did was blamed on my mother putting orange scarf around my waist of the beautiful costume which she used her wedding dress’s material to make it for me. I cried so hard on the back stage.



I was raised in Japan and that place that I lived till age of 13 was very rural.

They had a farm and grew everything except onions and rice. I loved my grand-ma’s cooking. She let me help all the time and I did not mind at all. She always measured by her eyes and never saw her using any measuring tools. (I don’t think she owned any)



So now days, I hate to use recipes, measuring tools. I read them and I even record Japanese cooking show and watch them closely but I always memorize the recipes and ingredients. I use ratio thinking and dimensional thinking when I cook. Just like music.

You hear something and just use your sense to make it prettier. When you are in the moment and grooving, you wanna create that momentum with your gut and feeling not by meticulous manual and direction.



I love cooking because sometimes being artist can get frustrated because it’s difficult to see the end of tunnel, but cooking, yes you can see it. You can see that it’s done. You can see people eat your food, saying nice things to you and you can see that you did something positive for that day.



Music is harder to feel that goal than cooking. Cooking has tangible measurable outcome, but music/being musician is harder to see it.



I love being musician and chef because I am good at it and I feel perfectly balanced.



Thanks all the crew/ cast for eating my food and being so wonderful to me. As you know I believe in the power of food! It sure made us closer and we became such a wonderful team! I absolutely love Surviving the Nian. Working with all of you makes me so proud and wanna make me cook more food for you guys!



And please remember I can play the piano, too!

Juri March 28

Nian, he was here....

So a run-through tomorrow.... I'm not sure if I'm ready, but I don't think anyone's ever ready for a run-through. You just gotta do it, screw up, fix it, and then you'll be ready. It's kinda scary we only have about a dozen rehearsals before the show goes up.... Eek... It's very exciting and scary at the same time. I don't know which one more so....

We just had a our final music only rehearsal, which was awesome because Juri brought her amazing lasagna and lemon pie.... It's amazing how much she's helped me throughout this rehearsal, because I never knew that I needed THIS much work on my singing, but now I really feel like I'm getting somewhere. Hopefully I won't let her down on stage.... Our entire cast is getting to a point where we sing out a line from the musical every other minute. We were walking down the street to get lunch and we'll spew out a line from a musical and all of us kept humming the tunes in harmony.... It's definitely a good sign I guess... and a bad one because we're going to annoy all of our friends and families with our non-stop humming. Anywho... designer run-through, bring it on!!

Hyun Soo March 26

As JURI is my witness, I'll never go hungry again!

Scarlett O'Hara is not the only one eating good these days. The cast of Nian has been eating some serious five star lunches since Juri has been on the set for rehearsal. From home made turkey lasagna to lemon pie (with whipped cream!), cookies, Vietnamese noodles (with the lime, of course) omurice (a delicious Japanese rice and omelet combination) and fried rice, our bellies have been in very good moods. But Juri's food would be nothing without her battery powered pepper grinder, which not only adds the extra flavor to the meal, but the extra entertainment as well (right, Wu family?). Lunch, laughs, and a battery powered pepper grinder. What more could you ask for?

Thank you for all the wonderful lunches, Juri! You're the best :-)

Megumi March 25

Tired. Sleepy. Awesome.

Blogging today: Abria! She plays Asha

Whew. It's late, I'm tired. The kids were up late because they were wired. I'm so sleepy, I'm writing stupid poetry. I have had no time to blog because things are soooo hectic. I can't really do it while the kids are up because they require a lot of undivided attention. I keep asking myself, "What have I gotten myself into?" as if I didn't know that working full time, going to school and taking care of two kids (oh yeah and rehearsing for a play) was going to be tough. I guess I'll stop whining now. At least I get to work with an awesome cast of people who are very supportive.

I wonder what my costumes will look like. Will I finally meet with the makeup artist? Will I stop blurting out random things? Probably not. I am so exhausted. I guess sleep is winning right now. I'm out.

Abria March 24

The Jaded Lounge

Jacques Monday was pretty fun - I performed and lounged backstage with the always fabulous Becca D'Bus and her multi-colored, multi-layered, multi-textured monster wigs. Lotus Blossom sported humongous Pamela Anderson boobs and tried to fit them in this small strappy dress. Hot.

Kit Yan, a brilliant poet-spoken-word extraordinaire (and did I mention he is extremely extremely goodlooking???) did a couple of pieces. I met for the first time Alex Dematteo, also very sexy as both Justin Timberlake and Mimi from RENT.

The House of D'Bus cheered us on. It's always a good time even on a quiet night.

Melissa March 23

RISE AND SHINE!!!!

Today is our first 10am rehearsal for Nian. Over the last few days we have all worked hard with Patrick to create our Wu family. The casting has been done really well and I must say that Judy does little quirks as Mother Wu that actually remind me of my own mother. Spooky! And Hyunsoo, who plays my brother Vincent, has begun to really create that character, so I'm starting to feel quite at home with my new family. Gary came back from vacation and joined us in rehearsal last night which was wonderful to have him back! He's such a happy person to have around and I can't wait to do more scenes with my Uncle Tony! And of course, Abria and I have been having nothing but fun together in rehearsal. Often our downtime has been dedicated to perfecting the electric slide. I'm sure Patrick is happy to know she's practicing! haha. But so far everything has been great and rehearsals have been flying by! Which is both scary and very, very exciting. Every rehearsal, as we do our blocking and choreography, we get a small glimpse of what the final production might be like, and let me tell you. . . it's going to be great! :-)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Megumi March 17

Juggling and Singing

Juggling school, apartment hunting, and getting my class schedule organized for both the summer and next fall is proving to be quite a challenge. And of course, on top of all of that, is our rehearsal schedule for Nian. This past week was our music rehearsals with Juri and it was great to hear all the characters' voices come to life (not that hearing all the songs sung by Melissa's many voices wasn't entertaining). However, it did prove how many songs I'm singing and how many lines of lyrics and dialogue I'll need to memorize. It's quite a bit. But, like any other show I've done, it all seems overwhelming and unattainable in the beginning. However, with love, hard work and dedication (sounds like a relationship...) it all comes together and I know on opening night we'll all be bursting with excitement. Everyone's been really wonderful and we all can't wait till Gary (that lucky guy has been on vacation) will return and complete our family.

Megumi March 15

Slllllluuuuuurrrrrrpppp!

That slurping sound you hear is our amazing cast, sucking in the juicy drops of musical wisdom that Juri Panda Jones –our unparalleled Musical Director— has been pouring out for them! The first week of rehearsals has been so exhilarating! This cast is super-talented, bringing so much beauty and passion to their roles.

The songs that Melissa has written for this show (like 26 of them or something crazy like that!) are utterly gorgeous and hearing the cast work with them has me more excited than ever.

Juri is a master at getting right to the point and getting everyone to do their very best work, but at the same time she’s FUN! All that and she even made a scrumptious noodle dish for everyone to eat at rehearsal today. I first met her through our beloved fellow artist Tommy DeFrantz a few years ago. The moment we were introduced, she was in the act of giving someone else a gift (which is typical, so if you’re smart, make friends with her!). I don’t want to say exactly what the gift was, but… okay, its kind of like traditional herbal Viagra! Wait, snake venom isn’t really an herb, is it?

On Tuesday they start the staging rehearsals with our boy genius director Patrick Wang! I know, Patrick is not officially a boy anymore, youthful as he does appear. He’s a tremendously accomplished artist who’s made a big name for himself in theater and film. But I’m proud to say that I first met him when he WAS still a schoolboy! Well, at MIT.

Patrick is on my mind because he has played such a great role in the development of the show, giving deep and smart feedback and suggestions about the script and really pushing to make this the most spectacular production The Theater Offensive has ever put on! Starting Tuesday, the whole cast will get the pleasure of plugging into his creativity.

Valencia Imani Hughes, the Production Stage Manager, keeps the whole show running! When Valencia is in charge, everyone is well taken care of. We also know we better deliver, because as a mother of four (!) Valencia knows a thing or two about being in charge. Actually, she’s now a proud grandmother! In fact, her daughter Marina was helping Valencia at a production meeting for our last show when she went into labor. I’ll never forget, Valencia was so devoted to the production, she was like: “Sweetheart, just hold tight. I’ll finish my meeting in just a few minutes, then I’ll drive you to the hospital. One cool cucumber!

So it’s not a surprise that with this terrific cast and crew, rehearsals are going strong. This is destined to be one of our most spectacular productions EVER!

Abe March 13

MUSICAL!

And we now hear from Hyun Soo who plays Vincent!

So it begins... Surviving the Nian rehearsal.... I just survived the first week of rehearsal.... A lot of work to be done... It's been a while since I was in a musical. Almost 5 years.... And everyone's wicked helpful, and Juri's angel hair noodles are awesome. She's such a mom, she was like "Make sure to put the lime in it. It'll taste better!"

I really enjoy the music. Now I find myself keep singing after the rehearsal with all the songs stuck in my head. Which is good, because they're all very catchy and enjoyable, but annoying because it keeps playing over and over and over and over again in my head... I feel bad for Asha and Kaylin, because they have to learn a LOT of songs.... I have like 11 but there's like 3 where I have.... a total of 2 measures or so of singing or speaking, which is kinda sweet. I can still say that I have a LOT of songs in the show, but I dont have to put in work for it.

I'm def. excited for the rest of rehearsal. We'll see how well I can memorize all my lines...

Hyun Soo March 11

Sing! Sing! Sing!

Megumi Haggerty plays Kaylin, Megumi is today's blogger.

Hi! This is the first time I've ever "blogged" so I don't know if I'll be any good at this. Hope I'm not boring and you actually read this little entry till the end. Anyways, I will be playing Kaylin in Nian and am very excited about that! I adore this show and think it's going to be wonderful when we open in April. It seems so far away till then but I know it's going to creep up on us fast! I'm a junior B.A. Theatre Education major with an Emphasis in Acting at Emerson College. And although I've never been a musical theatre kid, I guess I'm getting sucked into it now with this show . . . funny, how they'll get ya, huh?

So last night was my first singing rehearsal for Nian and it was a lot of fun. Juri is our great musical director and working with her was not only professional and easy, but it really helped me put the story behind the lyrics. Kaylin is a strong young woman, but she does have a vulnerable side and that part of her comes through in her songs. She's a great character to play and I know I will discover more and more about her with every rehearsal.

(Are you still reading this? Good!) I just clicked on the Surviving the Nian blog site and wow! That's my face! On the right-hand side of the page. I guess that's the poster they're using for the show. It looks fantastic! And I love the fun picture of Abria and I on the bottom. That picture was in the METRO last week (something I did not discover on my own but was told via text message by friends who had seen it). All this publicity for the show is great and I hope it brings in a wide variety of audience members, because it really is a relatable story on so many levels. Plus, it'll give my mom something to brag about. ;-)

Megumi March 8th

Look New

Deep from the trenches (okay dressing room) of make-up consultations, here's Mariko who plays Jessie:

Last Thursday, I had a hair and makeup consultation for the show. Had my bangs cut, which I was growing for the past six months, and my really long hair got a trim (about 5 inches). I look really Asian now. Actually, this is the hairdo I've had since I was five years old.

Then I had a makeup done...with huge pink eyelashes. I decided to go home with the stage makeup, but I stopped by my office for a bit. Saw my boss and said hi, but I don't think he recognized me. Then I was going to go hit the mall, but I realized I had different eye makeups on each side. My roommate liked my new look.

Mariko March 5

Annoying

I have been so annoying at work today.

I started my day, as usual. I walked by the front desk of the YMCA and debated whether or not I should pick up the Metro (because lately I haven't had time to do my crossword). I did pick it up. In the office, I flipped through it to search for my puzzle when I noticed - get this - a HUGE picture of Abria and Megumi (my beautiful lead actresses) covering a quarter of the page.

My heart was totally racing. I'm so excited about this show, I ran and told everyone at work, even people I'm not really that close with.
Everyone.

I have been so annoying at work today.

Melissa March 2

Melissa has publicity issues.

Boston Pride Committee emailed me recently asking me to submit a press kit. I used to have a press kit, back in 2001, but it's been so long, I'm kind of forgetting how to do this promotion thing. I emailed back my myspace page, but I guess that wasn't quite what they were looking for. :)

I called up my best friend Han Yu, brilliant artist, designer & webmistress - so talented! And she's designing my press kit. I realize that most of the people who know me and my music now, know me because of the fabulous work she's done for me on www.melissali.com. It is a little outdated, but it's so beautifully designed.

Paris G is sharpening her skills as a photographer, and I'm pleased to find out that she would be willing to take my publicity shots, which might end up on my new album. Speaking of Paris, it was great doing the True Colors performance at Glam with her and Gillie. That was a pretty crazy night, and quite literally when we were backstage during the auction, we both suddenly didn't want to go on. But Evelyn (our mentor and our True Colors director when we were in the troupe) wasn't there and we all knew that if she were there, we would have gone on without question. And we did. We got up on that stage and did our best because we knew Evelyn would have been proud of us.

Melissa Feb 28

Judy Tan says "Your Mother"

hi there! this is Mother. not your mother. i will be playing the role of Mother Wu in Surviving the Nian. i must say, blogging is a strange experience. blogging is at once writing to no one in particular and everyone in the world. very weird, but exciting nonetheless, because i'm writing to potential audiences of Surviving the Nian!!!

but perhaps even stranger is the fact that i am a 26-year-old playing a 50-something-year-old mom. the closest thing i've given birth to is my undergraduate senior thesis, and if that were a child, god save us all.

it won't be the first time that i will be playing Mother. besides being caregiver of my younger (by 12 years) twin brothers growing up, i was a mom in two past staged readings of STN. and, under the miraculous direction of first eugene tan and then patrick wang, i began to embody Mother Wu. and, really, patrick can make a chicken play Mother Wu, he's that amazing. i feel totally confident and comfortable that he will be directing me on stage. part of being an actor, i've learned, is to completely trust your director, even more than your better judgment (since mine always turn out to be wrong anyway). it's in that letting go of yourself that you discover your character. it's a terrifying experience, but exhilarating, too.

currently, i am a graduate student at Univ. of Connecticut. although i'm not studying acting, i'm studying something close to it--psychology. i'm in my first year in a ph.d. track in social and health psychology. prior to grad school, i've worked at fenway community health (holla!) as a research associate. prior to that, i got my BA from mount holyoke college (holla!), where i continued my voice training since graduating from the "Fame" high school, laguardia h.s. of music and art and the performing arts (last holla, i promise). it's been crazy how i went from classical voice training to psychology to musical theater on the side. i must say, though, that when people asked the two-year-old me what i want to be when i grow up, my answer was, "a singer" and an actor, although i didn't know it at the time. here's to making dreams come true in Surviving the Nian!

Judy Feb 26

How do you solve a problem like Melissa?

Last night as I hosted The Jaded Lounge at Jacque’s, which was awesomely good fun BTW, I realized as I was introducing Melissa that talking about her can be hard.

Lesbian folk musician
Chinese American Singer Songwriter
Award Winning musical writer
Chick with Stick straight hair

You see how there is a problem?

I settled on “super musical theatre inflected lesbian folk stylings of Merissa Ri” but that’s really not good copy.

The audience loved her though.
But they loved me more, but only because I had prizes to give away.

Becca D’Bus Feb 20

Melissa Li -- now Award Winning also!

I had had an inkling of what I was going to say when I was in the shower last Wednesday morning. But then 24 hours later, when I was on that stage accepting the award, I found myself shaking when I realized I was standing there alone. Abe was waiting by the stage for me to speak first.

What was I going to say? I wanted to be sincere, and I wanted to say all the things I had planned to say, but I also wanted to make it short and sweet.

I remember I thanked the foundation, then Abe, then my mother, and then my cousins. I remember trying extraordinarily hard not to cry - from being nervous and touched at the same time - or not to be distracted by the reverb of my voice in the room. I just remember thinking here's my chance to show Abe how much he's meant to me these last 4 years, and thinking here's my chance to show my mother and my family how their presence also meant the world to me. I don't know if I succeeded, but I was glad that I at least got a chance to say a few words acknowledging them in my first award speech ever.

Abe was charming on stage, as always. I knew he had practiced his punchlines in advance but they were great nonetheless. I'm glad he let me go first because it's always hard following Abe. I kind of wish the afternoon never ended. I'd never imagine that things would work out so well between me and my mother.

Melissa Feb 19

Survivng the Nian -- Now Award Winning!

So, now we should do that thing where every time we mention this show we say “award-winning musical Surviving the Nian!” Why? Because Melissa and I (Abe) trekked through the blizzard to Manhattan, where we were awarded the 2007 Jonathan Larson Musical Theater Award! I was so overcome with emotion and pride, I bet I gave Melissa a dozen new reasons to be embarrassed for me!

My Big Love Roberto was there with us, as were my super-talented cousin Alex and one of our Board members, Bill Kelly. Also, Melissa’s Mom and two cousins were there, but I’ll let her give you the dirt on that.

Roberto and I arrived in time to celebrate Valentine’s Day on 2/14. We stayed at the fabulously fun and funky Gershwin Hotel, had a massive Japanese Valentine’s dinner, then we saw Wicked. Stephen Schwartz who wrote the songs for Wicked was on the panel that chose us for the award and I’d always wanted to see the show. Hell, basically everything I’ve ever written can be boiled down to The Wizard of Oz! It was unbelievably spectacular!

The next morning we went to the posh 21 Club for the awards luncheon. Tony Corey had done an extreme wardrobe makeover on me, so I don’t think I embarrassed anyone with my outfit. Wait! What am I talking about!? I was
wearing a necklace and earrings bigger than most chandeliers! The maitre d’ appeared quite shocked. I guess he’s not used to seeing jewelry that glamorous during the daytime.

Anyways, when they announced the award, Julie Larson, Jonathan’s sister, said such lovely, great things about Surviving the Nian. She said that plowing through hundreds of musicals to choose this award, they can all blend together and seem the same, but that this year there was one that stood out as completely unique in it’s songs and story, Surviving the Nian!
My heart shot up into my throat when I realized she was talking about US!

Melissa made a beautiful and gracious acceptance speech and I talked trash as usual. People kept reminding us that this meant lots of producers in New York and around the country will be interested in Surviving the Nian! But our friends in Boston get to see it first!

Abe Feb 18

From the trenches of read throughs

What an amazing read-through we had. It felt great hearing most of the characters (but we missed Judy!) read the whole script. It took the story and project out of our (Abe and my) heads and gave the characters real voices and faces. There was a lot of momentum in that room tonight, and I can't even express how unbelievable it felt - here
was a room full of designers, actors, producers, assistants, all working on my show, this show I've been writing for 4 years.

The worse part of that night was that it was the third night I had been working non-stop. Two nights before it I had stayed up until 6:30am writing, then had to wake up at 11:00am for a conference call, and the night before that I had stayed up until 7:30am writing, and napping until 11:00am again. Then, at the read-through I had to sing the whole show beginning to end. Sometimes when I do crazy things like that, I truly feel my lack of skills as a singer - I was losing my voice by the end.

Abe rubbed his head against director Patrick's furry coat. I am often embarrassed for Abe, and I say that lovingly.

Melissa Li, Feb 14

First Read Through!

Melissa and Abe met with most of the cast for a first read through of the rehearsal script for Surviving the Nian. Some of the people in the room will be posting their thoughts on it this week. Stay Tuned!

Becca D’Bus Feb 12

Poking around with Kristen Porter

Abe and I visited Kristen Porter at Pathways to Wellness last Thursday and it was an amazing learning experience. She helped us make our script more authentic, and she explained the technique of quick in-and-out needle techniques to relieve headaches, which I think Abe is writing into the latest version of the script. She also told us a little bit about liver qi stagnation, which is a diagnosis of people who are restless, and move from place to place, never settling.

My vision is getting a bit blurry as I'm writing this. It's now 7am. I have spent the last 24 plus hours working on the rehearsal script, the version that is being read at the read-through today. I am nervous and prepared to cringe at any unfinished or unpolished sections. Must hit the sheets. Write more when I am fully functioning.

Melissa Feb 9th

Kicking things off

Hi, this is Melissa, the playwrite of Survivng the Nian.
These are super busy times, and my head is buzzing. Here goes!

My first entry in a blog ever. I had an extraordinarily intense conversation with my mother yesterday. She thinks that I'm making a huge mistake in my life by not currently having a full-time job and not having any solid plans after the musical is over. I'm slightly afraid of full-time jobs because last year, when I had one, it felt like a huge waste of time. The entire year.

This conversation stemmed from unpaid parking tickets that she had the pleasure of receiving notice through the mail (since it's her car). Does anyone want to pay my parking tickets for me?

I'm meeting her tonight to talk out plans for next year. She wants me to move home, but I know she will murder my cats. I am also currently thinking about applying for food stamps.

Melissa Feb 6