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Asia: Ariana Grande, Suntory Hall, Sunburn
Ariana Grande Cancels Vietnam
Matt Sayles/Invision/AP – Ariana Grande
American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
The Asia leg of Ariana Grande‘s Dangerous Woman Tour continued to be plagued by unforeseen problems with the cancellation of her Vietnam concert. Following fan charges of unprofessionalism in South Korea and a serious security burden in the Philippines, the singer had to cancel her Aug. 23 concert at the Quan khu 7 Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, citing health problems.
“My Vietnam babes, I apologize from the bottom of my heart but I am currently dealing with health problems,” Grande wrote on her Instagram account.
“I came to Vietnam, looking forward to performing, but my physician did not allow me to perform for you tonight.” According to Page Six, Grande’s doctor told her to rest at least 48 hours before performing again.
The nature of her illness was not disclosed.
However, her concerts in Manila and Bangkok were hit by serious rainstorms, which aren’t unusual during typhoon season.
There was also rain predicted for the night of the Ho Chi Minh concert.
The two subsequent concerts in China– Beijing’s LeSports Center on Aug. 26 and Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai on Aug. 28 – went ahead as planned. Her next show is at Guangzhou Sports Arena Aug. 30.
Tell China On A Sunday
The Really Useful Group, the company that produces various musicals composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, has struck a deal with the Shanghai Media Group Live to stage a production of Lloyd Webber’s show “Tell Me on a Sunday” in China next year.
The story, originally about a young woman who moves from London to New York, will be locally adapted by describing a woman who moves from rural China to Shanghai.
The production will tour the country. According to The Independent, the deal will also include an “initiative to develop talent in China” by means of courses in musical theater that will be taught in collaboration with Arts Educational Schools, a leading “training college.”
Lloyd Webber pointed out in a statement that Really Useful Group has been bringing his musicals, including “Cats” and “Phantom of the Opera,” to China since 2001.
“Our ambition is that Chinese audiences should enjoy musical theater productions every bit the equal in scale and quality to those in North American or Europe,” he said. “Now, in Shanghai Media Group, we have a partner with whom we can achieve this goal.”
Suntory Hall Renovations Complete
The renovation work finally finished Aug. 27 and, to commemorate the occasion, employees of the Suntory Group assembled to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in the newly refurbished hall for a select audience of other employees.
The hall reopens to the public formally Sept. 1. Much of the work had to do with making the facility “barrier-free” for disabled patrons.
Slopes were added, a new entrance was built on the west side of the hall and a new elevator was installed.
In addition, the changes made emergency evacuations in the case of earthquakes and other disasters much easier.
In fact, during the Aug. 27 performance, the 2,000 people in the hall conducted an evacuation simulation to test the new facilities. I
EDM Fest In Danger
Sunburn, which has been called the biggest music festival in India, is in danger of being canceled.
The EDM event takes place in the beach resort of Goa, and the state’s minister for water resources, Vinod Palyekar, announced last month that he may refuse to let it proceed, despite the tourism industry’s enthusiasm for music festivals.
According to Your EDM, Vinod was quoted by the Navhind Times as saying, “In the past we witnessed deaths due to drug overdose at EDM festivals … and it is my duty to oppose festivals of this kind, tooth and nail … I am for good tourism in the state and we need to have a tourism policy in order to attract quality tourists who will come and spend heavily and in return get quality time in the state. We cannot allow brand Goa’s name to get tarnished at any cost.”
The tourism minister, Manohar Azgaonkar, has pledged to fight Palyekar on the matter, which already faces some problems because Sunburn’s organizers owe money to the state.
In any case, the festival’s Facebook page does not indicate anything amiss and promises “major announcements” for the next installment. Sunburn was launched in 2011.