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Paris By Night 88 - Lam Phương
Đường Về Quê Hương Dancer's Blog
First of all, a huge thank-you to Steve Bermundo and all the dancers for taking time out to blog for all the fans on the forum. I hope you enjoy and appreciate their wonderful efforts. And if anyone here knows the recipe for the eggplant dish, please let us know. Of course, there will be more photos to come after the DVD is released. Not long to go now!
May 3rd, 2007
3:00pm
OK KIDS. It’s that time again. LUNCH TIME! I love getting to eat on this job. So if you'll excuse me, I’ll be right back …
4:37pm OK, I’m back and I’m stuffed! I just had a meatball sandwich with some spaghetti and garlic bread, plus a piece of pecan pie. And for dessert I had a Rice Crispy Treat with a diet coke to wash it all down. Good thing I was only snacking. Well it’s been a while since my last blog so I hope you like this one. First of all, there are quite a few new faces to introduce and they’re all girls. We’ve got Morgan, Randi, Taeko and Shelby. I took quite a few pictures of them to get you acquainted. So make sure to welcome them when you find their myspaces pages 
Right now, the girls are all getting ready to shoot their first number - putting on their make-up, putting on their costumes, putting on their hair. Me? Well, I’m not shooting anything today, so I’m going to watch a movie or something.
10:18pm Now I'm just sitting in my hotel room with my roommate T.J. He, Chris Quiban and I were not in any of the numbers to be taped tonight so all the other dancers are still at the theater taping their performances. But before I left the theater, I made sure to check out the food room. I’m glad I did because they were serving my FAVORITE Vietnamese dish. At least I think it’s Vietnamese. It’s sliced up eggplant in tons of oil. If anyone knows what dish I’m talking about, please feel free to send me the recipe online.
May 4th, 2007
3.20pm
Forty minutes til we rehearse for Minh Tuyet’s number. Some people are getting ready while some people you would never guess were about to dance in a show. Chris Liu is on a computer checking his email to see if his wife sent him any messages. Eugenia and Dom are solving a crossword puzzle. I’m trying to help them but it seems we’re stuck. Seems like a perfect time to go pay a visit to the food room…again.
3.29pm
No eggplant this time but I did get me a bowl of some rice and some really salty fish. I enjoy eating just a little too much on this job. I must have gained about 5 pounds since 3:00. But I'm not too worried. I'll be using the restroom soon and I'll probably on have made a net gain of 2 pounds.
Oh crap! I just heard from Buddy that we have 20 minutes to get ready for the taping of our next number. Good Grief!!
So I’m dressed in my costume for Minh Tuyet’s number. The costume consists of a shiny, silver vest and tight leather pants. Oddly enough, I feel quite comfortable in it. What does THAT tell you? Oh Geez. My stomach isn't feeling quite right. Is eggplant a gassy vegetable? Hmmm.
Well, would you look at that. I came back to my notebook to find that someone wrote “I love you, Steve. Your secret admirer!” I have a sneaking suspicion that it was Buddy.
May 5th, 2007
10:17am
I shouldn’t be admitting this to the whole world but I decided to go have a drink last night. Chris Quiban went with me. We stayed out longer than planned, even though our call time for today was 7:15 IN THE MORNING!!! And we have two live shows to do. Good thing I only limited my drinks to 7 margaritas.
2:04pm
Goodness Gracious.! The 1st show started about half an hour ago and I haven’t done a thing yet. Is there any wonder why I'm always eating on this particular job?
3:06pm
I’m now dressed in my costume for my first number. I’m kinda nervous about this one. There are plenty of extras in this number so the stage is going to be crowded. All the other dancers seem to be very relaxed though. I think you guys are going to love it. I hope you do.
4.19pm
Yikes! (Did I just say "Yikes?") Anyway, my first number is a beautiful song that recreates the harrowing boat trips made by many Vietnamese people during a most turbulent time in the 1970s. Well I was so deep into my performance, I screw up the choreography. Despite that glaring mistake, I manage to pull myself together and by the end of the song the audience is in tears. Ah! I love live theater.
5.23pm
Five minutes to go until our last dance number of the show.
5.45pm
Done with show number 1 now it’s time for food. Woohoo! EGGPLANT FOR DINNER!
9:07pm
Golly! (I just said "Golly," didn't I?). Anyway, the second show is well under way and I’m still waiting to do my first number…again. Hopefully I won’t muck it up this time. I’m really going crazy with this camera I have here. I hope my sense of humor, odd as it is, comes through in these photographs. And I hope all you PBN fans enjoy them.
Whew! Done with that first number! The audience was so receptive and appreciative. Despite the fact that, once again, I screwed up. Not as bad as the first show, though. This time I almost forgot to catch Shelby as she falls out of the boat. Almost! I remembered to catch her at the very last second. Try to find it when you get the DVD.
10:21pm (This portion of the blog is written by Chris Liu)
In true Paris By Night fashion, we are in the midst of taking a poll among the dancers to see what time the show could possibly end. Times range from 3 – 4 hours from the top of the show (on this particular evening, we started at 8pm), which would put us somewhere within the 12 to 1 am time frame. The winner’s prize is questionable and the air is overflowing with pent up energy. Being as we are on the verge of a 15 hour work day (this is true believe it or not!) we are eagerly awaiting pizza and costume piles (a tradition). However, not looking forward to only having less than possibly 6 hours to pack and celebrate before we return to our normal (yawn) lives until the next Vietnamese extravaganza. Until then, I have two more dance numbers to look forward to and potentially two more hours to go. First thing first though, where’s the pizza, eh?
For those of you fans out there of whom we love and appreciate, the truth of the matter is that we (as dancers) are vulnerable to the potential mishaps involved in a live performance. Often under the extreme demands of our craft, we are susceptible to the delirium and fatigue as a result of long hours and extensive rehearsals. And no, we are not perfect! (Well, except for maybe, Steve) An example of this for instance would be in the harvest medley with Ha Phuong and Huong Thuy (hopefully this will not end up on the cutting room floor and you diehard fans will be able to revel in the comedic tendencies of your PBN dancers). This production number is chock full of props of the gardening persuasion (flowers, hoes, gardening baskets etc), as well as lots of room for interpretation and mistakes. A simple chuckle from Steve Bermundo was enough to offset my focus and send my hoe rocketing in the wrong direction (of which could have resulted in a nasty mess given that the number has us parading around gleefully like dwarves on parade) * Keep an eye out* (A warning as well as a lesson well learned). Anyhow, the moral of this anecdote is that while frolicking around in a garden setting is indeed good fun, keep your eyes in check and your gardening hoe intact and Steve Bermundo’s laughter at far enough distance away. Keep these tips in mind, you shall soon be reaping the benefits of a safe and healthy (and an all together successful) production number.
Yours truly
Chris Liu
By the way, Wendy Lam says she wants to give a shout out but
Shelby is a newbie. She says Hi!
June 5th, 2007
1:48am
Ok, so as you can see, It's a been a few weeks since the taping of the show in Houston. I felt like I didn't write a proper closing to my blog. So here goes. The show, as usual, was fun and I miss everyone already. Fortunately, we try to make it a point to arrange some kind of get together in our downtime between PBN productions. In fact, tomorrow night, we've planned to meet for dinner at a favourite restaurant. The Paris by Night experience extends beyond the rehearsals and shows, from dinner with fellow dancers to staying in touch with Thuy Nga's fans. I've been fortunate enough to get wonderful messages from many of you who write to me via MySpace. The other dancers feel the same way. So on behalf of the entire Paris by Night crew, thank you for your continued support. We hope to entertain you for years to come. Hope this blog was able to entertain you as well. Until next time…xo.
Steve Paris By Night 88 - Lam Phương
Đường Về Quê Hương COMING SOON - JULY 2007
< Message edited by Kavana -- 6/13/2007 9:07:26 PM >
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