A stardust of yesterday

Macbeth: Paul Zivkovich  Lady Macbeth: Camilla Brogard  Macduff: Du Yanhao  Lady Macduff: Ingrid Kaptyen  Duncan: Simon Palmer  Malcolm: Daniel Nicholson  Banquo: Gao Yang  Boy Witch: Conor Doyle  Bald Witch: Omagbitse Omagbemi  Sexy Witch: Maya Milet Hecate: Fania Grigoriou  Porter: Garth Johnson  Agnes Naismith: Xu Xinwen  Danvers: Dai Shaoting  Speakeasy: Chris Jäger  Fulton: John Ross  Taxi: Sam Booth  Bride: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby) Husband: Ben Whybrow Matron: Tang Tingting  Nurse: Chen Yian  Anna: Jiang Yuli Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu  Woman in Bar (Constance) : Shen Ni

This day has finally come to me. 

I was planning to set the date on my birthday but it came 1 month earlier (the incredible casts of the national holiday week was also one of the reasons). I didn’t have any specific feelings when I was standing in the queue, I was quite calm. I believe some of you would understand, that with this frequency, the number is no longer important, it has already became a habit and is not easy to get rid of it. I don’t know since when, my passion for this hotel itself is above any single character/performer, in multiple aspects.

It’s been a crazy year. Back to 9 months ago, someone asked me “Will you watch this show for a hundred time?”, I replied “That sounds crazy. But who knows. Maybe after 3 years.” At that time I thought watching a show for 30+ times a year was unbelievable, but look how far I’ve been now. 

I was quite happy and felt so blessed when I saw the casts of my 100th visit. There’s my favorite Banquo for now, I haven’t seen those beautiful Banquo solos for a while. There’s the best Boy and Sexy of Shanghai, and with Paul’s Macbeth, the Witches 1 and the Rave were stunning. And all the regular characters/performers I love, reminded me how much I was fascinated to them.

And of course something to remember of my 100th was, what I’ve been wishing for has happened. I was truly blessed. Thank you so much.

Though I said I was quiet calm before the show, but I did had a feeling of something ended up after I took my mask off and threw it into the basket. (I stopped collecting blank masks after #30.) I knew it definitely wasn’t the end of my visits to the McKinnon, but it truly is a milestone and I’m stepping into another period of, the way (or the motivation) I visit. 

Reviewing my journeys in this year, the Mckinnon has left countless memories in my mind. Though there’s some regrets, I still feel grateful for everything happened to me. I never thought I would pay that much for a show, but almost every night I spent in this place proved it’s worth my supporting. 

Things started with an invitation from my colleague. He had a preview ticket and ask me to come watching. As it’s much cheaper and I had interests on every theatre works, I came. But my brain was blank. I didn’t read any introduction, didn’t know what it’s about, even have no idea of the story of Macbeth. And the worst was, I was wearing heels and a high neck sweater, that’s why I failed to follow any character for a whole loop. Although I wasn’t in a best condition, I still enjoyed the show, and was so excited. I’ve never had a theatre experience like that before, every single scene blowed my mind, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it in the next few days. So I tried everything I can for 2 more tickets in December, and I kept looking for more informations on the internet. The more I researched, the more I want to go back. And you know what happened next, in the following months.

The McKinnon hotel somehow became a part of my life, though I don’t want to admit. I’ve been going through many things this year, including resigned from my previous company, gave up my title of a Fashion Designer, got diploma of Patissier, changing my career life to another field and started to have a new journey of my life. I met many people in the McKinnon and some of them became life-long friends of me. We’ve spent countless nights together in and out of the McKinnon. We explore and share opinions for the shows along with its development. We’ve witnessed how this show developed, how the performers improved, how the plots became more and more logical, and how we find ourselves. Every moment was worth remembering. I’m not sure how long will we keep watching, but our love to this place won’t change.

The SNM Shanghai Cast list on my page has upped to date.

I am so sad to move some of the names from Current Cast to Previous Casts. Most of them are the original casts in Shanghai, and they are important reasons of why I (and all of us) was fascinated by this hotel. Now there’s only a few original casts remain, however the chemistry between them and the new faces is so different, but we can never go back again. How much I love them, how much pain I felt to face their leaving. But I’m very happy to hear the previous casts are doing new projects (like Luke, Tim, Miranda, Daniel, etc.), and don’t have to stuck in this hotel forever. They are all talented artists, and definitely will keep shining on any other stage. Best wishes to them. I’m looking forward to see their new work someday in the future.

I watched the first 2 show of the new cast, however I didn’t spent a whole loop with any of them. When some people asked me how do I feel about them, I said they need time. But sometimes first impressions can speak. When you got an 1:1 and when he closed the door, walking close to you, and you sensed a strong smell of cigarette from him and he kept repeat doing something to use up time, you know you should stop. And I also witnessed the timing issue happened on almost every new casts. However how they deal with, was almost in the same way, like walking around or stop and hide in a corner or repeat doing something. The original casts also has this kind of period, they made many mistakes as well. But I can give many many examples of how they deal with the mistakes smart and perfectly, some even became beautiful memories in our minds. When someone put his/her heart into the character they perform, our audience can see. 

The only full loop I spent with in the last 2 shows was John’s Porter. I’m happy for him on getting another important role, and he really becomes a confident performer and can handle detailed acting. I am also very proud of our Chinese performers from the original casts, like Yang, Tingting, Yuli, Wenhsin and Huiting. Their improvements are clear to see in this year. Especially Yang and Tingting became swing now and have new characters. They kept impressing us with their new performance and standing on top of all the current casts. Bravo. 

Last night was the Anniversary of SNM Shanghai. I’ve watched about 120+ shows over the past 12 months and I’m sure I’m the only audience who start watching from preview and keep a frequency of about 10 shows per month. (I know someone who watched more but they started much later than me.) This place is dear to my heart. I saw how this show grow up, how they fixed up everything, and how the performers improve. I didn’t miss any important night. Back to 6 months ago, I would give up everything for a ticket, like paying double price to a reseller. But now, even there’s a free ticket, I would consider if I have something more important to do. I (and many of us) am reducing my frequency, but we still will come back.

Macbeth: Paul Zivkovich  Lady Macbeth: Emily Terndrup  Macduff: Garth Johnson  Lady Macduff: Chen Yi’an  Duncan: Sam Booth  Malcolm: Ben Whybrow  Banquo: Huang Hsiaoche  Boy Witch: Chris Jäger  Bald Witch: Fania Grigoriou  Sexy Witch: Ingrid Kaptyen Hecate: Shen Ni  Porter: Conor Doyle Agnes Naismith: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby)  Danvers: Camilla Brogard  Speakeasy: Du Yanhao  Fulton: Simon Palmer  Taxi: Daniel Nicholson  Bride: Tang Tingting Husband: Gao Yang Matron: Omagbitse Omagbemi  Nurse: Jiang Yuli  Anna: Xu Huiting Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu  Woman in Bar (Violet) : Xu Xinwen 

Mr. Conor Doyle as the Porter AGAIN.

I would never say enough for his Porter though it was only the 3rd time I met him in this role. I would not miss any of his solos, including my favorite version of “Moonlight becomes you”, the letter scene, and the lobby dance. He was so humble and calm all the time but you just can’t take your eyes off for him.

It was a night to remember because he brought me to that little room and told me his secret. I appreciate the way he chose his audience, he never pick up the aggressive one who stands at the first row, but the one who followed him for a whole loop and had good manner. 

Macbeth: Paul Zivkovich Lady Macbeth: Camilla Brogard  Macduff: Du Yanhao  Lady Macduff: Ingrid Kaptyen  Duncan: Simon Palmer  Malcolm: Daniel Nicholson  Banquo: Gao Yang  Boy Witch: Austin Goodwin  Bald Witch: Omagbitse Omagbemi Sexy Witch: Maya Milet  Hecate: Fania Grigoriou  Porter: Conor Doyle  Agnes Naismith: Xu Xinwen  Danvers: Dai Shaoting  Speakeasy: Chris Jäger  Fulton: Garth Johnson  Taxi: Sam Booth  Bride: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby) Husband: Ben Whybrow Matron: Tang Tingting  Nurse: Chen Yi'An  Anna: Jiang Yuli Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu  Woman in Bar (Constance) : Shen Ni

Please take a look at this cast list and tell me how should I divide my loops tonight. Paul Z as Macbeth AGAIN! Conor’s Porter! Austin’s debut in Shanghai! Yang’s Banquo debut! And also the swings: Ingrid’s Lady Macduff (I miss her in this role), Yuli’s Anna (I always hope I can spend a whole loop with her), and Garth’s Cunning Man. How I wish I could have enough time to spent with these people.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I stepped into the ballroom and saw Austin dancing with other 2 witches. I couldn’t help watching him and he responded with an invitation of dance. I wish I could done better but the last time I had a dance with a witch was about 4 months ago. So I have to spend a loop with him and I’m willing to do it. With my favorite Sexy Witch and the Amazing Bald Witch, and also my favorite Porter who always had strong connection with BW, this BW loop was really a treasure to me. Everything just so on point. 

Austin showed how good he is as a dancer with his beautiful movements. He’s not the powerful one but he has flexibility and strong sense of rhythm and he knows how to tell stories with his movements. His portrait of BW was different from anyone I watched. He looked more calm and he’s not very interested in showing his power and teasing people. But in the same time you felt he’s hiding something and he has more inside his body. Meanwhile, with this impression on me, I couldn’t get strong connection with him although I followed a whole loop and got some interactions. I believe his unfamiliar of the building is a reason because he failed to find the door to the stair after the reset. But it definitely can be forgiven as it’s just his debut in Shanghai. It was interesting to see he didn’t followed 100% the Shanghai BW loop and brought something new into. 

When I was watching the first phone booth, I decided to spent my 2nd loop in the lobby because of Conor. I’ve said enough how good and how I love Conor’s Porter in my previous recap, though I only watched once. He’s still my favorite Porter so far and I was always hoping I can meet him in this role again. His danced changed a bit from the last time I saw. The choreography of moonlight changed a bit but still touching enough to make me sob. I loved how he strongly threw BW’s jacket to the corner of the counter and being angry to himself at the end of the Moonlight. My heart ached for that. The lip sync between him and Austin was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Conor’s strong emotion for BW and Austin’s unique coldness were a contrast which made this story even more cruel.

Macbeth: Paul Zivkovich Lady Macbeth: Emily Terndrup  Macduff: John Ross  Lady Macduff: Chen Yi'An  Duncan: Sam Booth  Malcolm: Ben Whybrow  Banquo: Huang Hsiaoche  Boy Witch: Chris Jäger  Bald Witch: Maya Milet  Sexy Witch: Ingrid Kaptyen Hecate: Shen Ni  Porter: Garth Johnson  Agnes Naismith: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby)  Danvers: Camilla Brogard  Speakeasy: Wang Mingchao  Fulton: Simon Palmer  Taxi: Daniel Nicholson  Bride: Tang Tingting Husband: Gao Yang Matron: Omagbitse Omagbemi  Nurse: Jiang Yuli  James: Du Yanhao Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu  Woman in Bar (Violet) : Xu Xinwen

Today was the second important festival in China, the mid-autumn festival. Since my family member were not in Shanghai, I chose to spent this special day with my best friend in our beloved McKinnon Hotel. As a reward, the McKinnon god gave us special gifts for the festival.

You can imagine how good they were when I put this two names together. It is a cast combination that everyone would dying to see. They were such a perfect match and their portraits of Macbeths were above my expectation. They had great chemistry and intensive emotions that were expressed accurately with their professional skills. The duets in Macbeth’s bedroom were one of the best (maybe even top1) I’ve ever seen. And what I appreciate more was that they had so many things to tell with their eyes, their actings had so many layers, therefore had increased the depth of the story. Their expressions matched each other’s portraits and even emphasized, and made everything more logical. It was really a treasure for us to see these two amazing performers working together.

I am not a Mcduff fan but I did followed this character a lot recently. I had another loop with John tonight and I felt grateful that I made this decision. I’ve seen scenes of John’s Macduff many times because I followed Malcolm a lot, but it was the first time I paid much attentions on him for a whole loop. After this loop I found out why I’m not into this character, because none of the Macduff’s I’ve watched before corresponded my own interpretation, until I saw John’s. 

Macduff used to be a character that only have many beautiful dances to me, since I never had a strong connection with him. In my interpretation, Macduff should be the most gentle one and has the most humanity because he is the only one who has a real family (especially a pregnant wife) among the royal characters, so that his weakness is clear to tell. For me, it is important to show this identity and it is a key point of Macduff’s story. John’s portrait of the character showed that and I appreciate how he completed with different details. His expressions were very logical and made the story easier to understand. Especially the scenes with Lady Macduff, you can see how emotional he is.

Macbeth: Andrea Carrucciu Lady Macbeth: Emily Terndrup Macduff: John Ross Lady Macduff: Chen Yi'An Duncan: Sam Booth Malcolm: Ben Whybrow Banquo: Huang Hsiaoche&Wang Mingchao Boy Witch: Chris Jäger Bald Witch: Fania Grigoriou Sexy Witch: Ingrid Kaptyen Hecate: Shen Ni Porter: Ian Garside Agnes Naismith: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby) Danvers: Camilla Brogard Speakeasy: Olly Hornsby-Sayer Fulton: Simon Palmer Taxi: Daniel Nicholson Bride: Tang Tingting Husband: Gao Yang Matron: Jiang Yuli Nurse: Maren Fidje Bjørneseth James: Du Yanhao Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu Woman in Bar (Violet) : Xu Xinwen

I followed 2 characters who I rarely follow recently.

The first one was Agnes. I had only a few 1:1s during the whole months and 2 of them were from Agnes, one from Maya, another one from Debby today. They were telling the story in different way and they left different impressions on me. But their different portrait of the character were both logical and I appreciate both. I think this was the second time I got Debby’s Agnes 1:1. Her expressions were a bit different from the one I could recall. Her portrait of the character became both braver and gentler. My personal favorite scene of Agnes was the one in Rep Bar with Hecate, that’s the one I could get the intensest emotion.

Macbeth: Olly Hornsby-Sayer  Lady Macbeth: Camilla Brogard  Macduff: Gao Yang  Lady Macduff: Hsu Hui-ting  Duncan: Simon Palmer  Malcolm: Daniel Nicholson  Banquo: Ian Garside  Boy Witch: Conor Doyle  Bald Witch: Maya Milet  Sexy Witch: Maren Fidje Bjørneseth  Hecate: Fania Grigoriou  Porter: Andrea Carrucciu  Agnes Naismith: Ingrid Kaptyen  Danvers: Dai Shaoting  Speakeasy: Chris Jäger  Fulton: John Ross  Taxi: Wang Mingchao  Bride: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby) Husband: Ben Whybrow Matron: Tang Tingting  Nurse: Chen Yi'An  James: Huang Hsiaoche Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu  Woman in Bar (Constance) : Shen Ni

I couldn’t remember when was the last time we had such a happy weekend spent in the McKinnon. Conor was BW again and he was even better than Saturday night. Though last night many interesting things happened for the first time, the quality of dances was not that good but acceptable. Even the solos was much better tonight, especially the pooltable. I think the last time I saw a pooltable solo had same quality as tonight’s was in April. It can be said as another example for What used to happened everyday before June, happened like lucky draw nowadays.

Macbeth: Andrea Carrucciu  Lady Macbeth: Ingrid Kaptyen  Macduff: John Ross  Lady Macduff: Chen Yi'An  Duncan: Ian Garside  Malcolm: Ben Whybrow  Banquo: Wang Mingchao  Boy Witch: Conor Doyle  Bald Witch: Fania Grigoriou  Sexy Witch: Maya Milet Hecate: Shen Ni  Porter: Garth Johnson  Agnes Naismith: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby)  Danvers: Camilla Brogard  Speakeasy: Du Yanhao  Fulton: Simon Palmer  Taxi: Daniel Nicholson  Bride: Tang Tingting Husband: Gao Yang Matron: Jiang Yuli  Nurse: Maren Fidje Bjørneseth  Anna: Xu Huiting Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu  Woman in Bar (Violet) : Xu Xinwen

Haven’t seen Conor Doyle performing his iconic character for more than 2 months. Last time I saw him, he was Porter, before that he was Macbeth. And tonight we also had the best Bald Witch and Sexy Witch for now, so the witches became a thing to watch. All the witches scene are recently the best one with no doubt. 

There’s also something happened for the first time tonight. Like the phone booth between Conor and Garth, and Ben’s Malcolm and Conor’s BW dancing together during the party, which was the best Malcolm&BW cast combination I can imagine, including all the previous cast. These two can act. With Conor’s beautiful dance and Ben’s delicate facial expressions, they had more stories to tell. And I have to admit for the first time I stopped following Malcolm and left him with BW. 

The pooltable duet between Conor and Fania was also a first-time thing. I believe you can imagine how good it was when I put these 2 names together.

Macbeth: Andrea Carrucciu  Lady Macbeth: Emily Terndrup Macduff: John Ross  Lady Macduff: Chen Yi'An  Duncan: Ian Garside  Malcolm: Ben Whybrow  Banquo: Wang Mingchao  Boy Witch: Chris Jäger  Bald Witch: Fania Grigoriou  Sexy Witch: Dai Shaoting  Hecate: Shen Ni  Porter: Garth Johnson  Agnes Naismith: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby)  Danvers: Camilla Brogard  Speakeasy: Du Yanhao  Fulton: Simon Palmer  Taxi: Daniel Nicholson  Bride: Ingrid Kaptyen Husband: Gao Yang Matron: Maya Milet  Nurse: Jiang Yuli  James(elevator): Huang Hsiaoche Anna: Xu Huiting Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu  Woman in Bar (Violet) : Xu Xinwen 

Emily is back!!! The biggest surprise of September! So happy to see this cast combination again. 

Macbeth: Andrea Carrucciu  Lady Macbeth: Hope Davis  Macduff: John Ross  Lady Macduff: Chen Yi'An  Duncan: Sam Booth  Malcolm: Ed Warner Banquo: Wang Mingchao  Boy Witch: Chris Jäger  Bald Witch: Fania Grigoriou  Sexy Witch: Ingrid Kaptyen Hecate: Shen Ni  Porter: Ian Garside  Agnes Naismith: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby)  Danvers: Camilla Brogard  Speakeasy: Garth Johnson  Fulton: Simon Palmer  Taxi: Daniel Nicholson  Bride: Tang Tingting Husband: Gao Yang Matron: Jiang Yuli  Nurse: Maren Fidje Bjørneseth  Anna: Xu Huiting Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu  Woman in Bar (Violet) : Xu Xinwen

Had another Malcolm loop today. Ed’s Malcolm is something I won’t miss out. He always bring emotional performance and interesting details. His portrait of Malcolm has something different from any other. I appreciate how he deal with the audience who “ask” for the 1:1. 

I spent about half loop with Garth’s Speakeasy. It’s been a while that I haven’t followed any speakeasy, and I almost forgot he used to be one of my favorite character. Today I made this decision because I never watched Garth’s SP and I believed he would be an interesting one. But, to be honest, every single scene I watched, reminded me of Luke, of how good he was as Speakeasy.  Since he left, I haven’t found anyone that is even qualified for this character. ( I only had 2 loops with new SPs after Luke left and you can see my opinion from my previous recaps.) But I had to admit Garth is a good one for now, since he created interesting interactions in different ways, and he did the Wall Dance which no one would do it after June even though the movements were reduced.

Macbeth: Olly Hornsby-Sayer  Lady Macbeth: Camilla Brogard  Macduff: Gao Yang  Lady Macduff: Hsu Hui-ting  Duncan: Simon Palmer  Malcolm: Daniel Nicholson  Banquo: Ian Garside  Boy Witch: Garth Johnson  Bald Witch: Jiang Yuli  Sexy Witch: Maren Fidje Bjørneseth  Hecate: Fania Grigoriou  Porter: Andrea Carrucciu  Agnes Naismith: Xu Xinwen  Danvers: Ingrid Kaptyen  Speakeasy: Chris Jäger  Fulton: John Ross  Taxi: Sam Booth  Bride: Lee Wen Hsin (Debby) Husband: Ed Warner Matron: Tang Tingting  Nurse: Chen Yi'An  James: Huang Hsiaoche James(elevator): Wang Mingchao Man in Bar (Calloway) : Liu Yu  Woman in Bar (Constance) : Shen Ni