Hope for the Hopeless – The Musical
Event: Hope for the Hopeless – The Musical (link)
Period: 9 – 14th June 2011
Venue: NAFA Lee Foundation Theatre
Production team: Produced by Christopher Chuah; Directed by Lin Meilian & Cristina Atiga; with original music arranged by Jonathan Koh
Thanks to a friend, I managed to get complimentary tickets for the two of us to this musical produced by Oops! Asia Singapore.
Based on the true story of Angeline Yeo, it tells of a Singaporean working mother finding hope in the midst of dire circumstances. Angeline is happily married to her 2nd husband, Steven, and has 5 children, one from a previous marriage. Things were going fine and well until her husband acquired a gambling addiction. He started borrowing from loansharks and was soon in great debt. The family starts to break apart. Eventually, in a bid to clear his debts, he agrees to smuggle drugs for the loansharks, but is caught. Faced with the possible loss of a husband, a rebellious daughter who runs away, hounding by the loansharks, Angeline falls into depression and attempts suicide. Her children discovers her just in time. She seeks legal and spiritual help from a Christian counselling centre and finds hope through faith in God. Her husband finds solace in God too. Thankfully, her husband is sentenced to jail time instead of the death sentence, and she is now living a life of hope with her family, awaiting her husband’s release.
Ah, what an emotional plot this would have made for a musical. However, probably because it was a first time for Oops! Asia, the show which purported to be a musical turned out, unfortunately, to be more like a play with songs. I’ve always felt that in a musical, the songs should feature strongly and be integral to the development or character expression of the show. As the show proceeded, I had on a few occasions, forgot that I was watching a musical, until a song was brought up, like clockwork. I felt that the story was a bit “gappy”, if you know what I mean, and maybe some tightening up would have helped to weave the story together a little better. In addition, though the name of the show was “Hope for the Hopeless”, the story was told in a way that the “hope” part wasn’t emphasized as much (only the last one or two scenes began talking about hope). I’m not sure if that was the intent, but I was hoping for something more uplifting an inspiring in the 2nd act, including the songs. Maybe I had the wrong expectations. It could be they wanted to end with something like “a light at the end of the tunnel” message.
As a note, I felt there were 2 points of confusion during the show. Firstly, among ourselves and overhearing some of the audience, there was some confusion over whether Steven died or not at the end of Act I. We were shown how he was caught and brought to be hanged, but when we returned from the break, it seemed like it was just a dream that Angeline had. But then we were confused again by her husband’s dream of hell (we didn’t know it was a dream until there was a wake-up scene). So we finally came to the conclusion that he was alive. In any case, I believe the most memorable line came from here when Steven woke from his dream of hell, shouting. A police officer came in to pass him a Bible and asked him if he was afraid/worried. He tells Steven not to worry or be afraid…because it wouldn’t be of any use! It was one of the funniest moments in the play and a number of us broke out laughing. We weren’t being insensitive, but the matter-of-fact way he said it was really funny, and so contradictory to what he came to do.
Another point that wasn’t clear was identifying who the main protagonist was. We expected it to be Angeline since it’s her testimony, but the 1st act seemed to point to Steven instead. This could be due to a less than focused development of characters. I would say placing the right songs at the right places for the characters would have helped this a lot.
Despite all these, I must say they had some really good singers, especially the one who played Angeline (Cristina Atiga). One or two songs (sung by her) sounded not too bad and was quite moving (sorry, it’s been a while, so I can’t remember which ones. But if I hear them again, I would remember). And the props were done rather well too, especially the hanging platform (even though I think it was modelling after the older type). It was quite convincing with noose and all and when Steven stood there waiting to be executed, I was half-expecting the trap to open under him (which of course didn’t happen for obvious reasons). Maybe that contributed to our belief that he died!
I think with a little bit of organisation and updates, the musical could be improved to bring the message of hope out more strongly. Nonetheless, with them being new to the musical scene, I guess it was a good effort by Oops! Asia to go beyond their usual domain of just producing music.
Beauty Kings
A smart ass dude. A dumb himbo. A henpecked fiance.
These were the three main contenders for our votes on a night of flesh and flex. In true Dick Lee fashion, one can expect a play with the glitz and glamour that was as entertaining as ever (though without song and dance), with hilarious dialogues that had me and many others laughing out loud, if not roaring with laughter. And as Jeremy mentioned, these were mostly delivered by Don, the himbo who seemed so unaware and blur about everything, that it was unbelievable. And it did become a bit too incredible that someone can be so clueless as to not understand some things.
The show actually started pretty promising with an opening scene where Gary (a contestant) strips nude, ending with a suggestive note, 5 years ago. But he committed suicide following an involvement in a scandal related to the pageant then. Adam (Rodney Oliveiro), a journalist who takes part in the pageant, is his brother, who comes to find out the truth behind Gary’s suicide and dig into the “dirt” of what actually goes on behind the scenes. Were the organisers the one who drove Gary to suicide? Can he find anything to expose them, if matters were as what was rumoured? Unfortunately, the suspense behind what happened to Gary wasn’t sustained as the play went on, which became more like an afterthought; it wasn’t developed deep enough.
Another point was that I felt that having the contestants to represent “districts” wasn’t really necessary. Maybe I was too sensitve, but it felt a little contrived, included just for the sake of making reference to the recent general election, which somehow didn’t work here. I didn’t really see a major correlation of the districts with the contestants. I felt maybe that could make for something, but probably it might asking a bit too much in this context, given so many things to work on, and to keep things light.
I believe the biggest twist came was regarding Don’s person, but I shan’t reveal it here, yet, at least not until the show’s over. Don’t want to spoil it for those who’ve yet to watch it. Anyway, my friends and I found it rather impossible for something like that to happen. Too exaggerated! Also, as a friend pointed out, why would Adam go verify it for no rhyme or reason? That wasn’t his focus or scoop he was looking for. The only thing I can think of would be that maybe they wanted to create some form of irony if Don won, that the winner of Mr. Man was not what he seems to be. But if Don didn’t win, this theory would fall through.
Talking of which, the winner for my night, was Don. We had expected more drama, like maybe Adam exposing the truth behind Don or something, but unfortunately, the ending was all glossed over. Maybe due to the lack of time. And all I can say is that both my friend and I had this response to the ending — “you mean that’s it??” — leaving us “high and dry” for a more impactful end. Heard Jeremy also had the same results for his night.
Just in case you’re wondering if all nights have the same ending, I had another friend who caught a night when Benny won. Heard it was also kinda rushed and concluded just like that. Pity. Wonder how it would be like if Adam had won? For one thing, the final conclusion of Adam not having any scoop on the contest, but with new plans for a cover story of the upcoming presidential elections didn’t quite cut it, nor the Kate Spade joke.
I guess we shouldn’t analyse too much over the show and enjoy it purely for its entertainment value. Just relax and enjoy the eye candy (oops, did I just say that? :P).
Dick Lee’s “Beauty Kings”
Event: Dick Lee’s “Beauty Kings”
Venue: Drama Centre Theatre
Run: 6th July – 17th July 2011
Romp and Pageantry
Sex, lies, scandals…all within the context of a male beauty pageant.
What’s there not to be intrigued about this play?
Credit to Dick Lee and his team for coming up with such a scintillating premise for a play (with a great title to boot!), because I think that it would not be very difficult to market a play as intriguing to the layperson as this one.
It’s probably going to be one of the more commercial and easily-marketable local plays we’ve had in awhile.
Truth be told, “Beauty Kings” delivers with aplomb the two most important elements which make a local play successful – sex and comedy.
And boy did it deliver them in bucketloads.
Be forewarned, “Beauty Kings” markets itself as a male flesh parade and it delivers on all accounts.
There is the opening scene which features complete male back nudity, and another scene somewhere in the middle which also features the same.
This is not to mention the many gratuitous displays of the male form throughout the play.
Plenty to feast your eyes on, if that is your kind of thing.
Comedy-wise, “Beauty Kings” features some of the most laugh-out-loud lines you’d find anywhere, mostly in the form of clueless himbo Don (played by Eli T.).
Don was literally a one-liner machine, churning out hilarious line after another, and often drove the audience into fits of laughter.
But beneath the veneer of the sultry displays of masculinity and the impossibly funny moments, one finds that there is rather little substance to actually keep the play going.
In the way that beauty pageants typically glorify all that is superficial, for all its hilarity and entertainment value, “Beauty Kings” seemed to lack a certain sense of depth.
At times it almost seemed like it wanted to be a musical.
Almost like “A Twist Of Fate” for male beauty pageants, if you will…minus the songs.
And at a run-time of 2 hours 40 mins (which is the average duration of a full-length musical), “Beauty Kings” felt like it was an hour too long.
The issue I had was that there was insufficient conflict and tension within the play, and that the plot seemed to drag too long before gaining any form of traction.
As such, it was hard to generate any form of genuine sustained interest in the play.
Yes, we knew that Adam (played by Rodney Oliveiro) was on a mission to uncover something, but why did it take so long before he started to get anywhere?
It seemed like the play did not allow the audience to be emotionally involved in Adam’s quest to find out the truth, partly because there were few hints given throughout the majority of the play, other than the fact that he seemed to be an undercover journalist attempting to get the inside scoop on the organisers.
Karen Tan and Lim Yu Beng, great actors that they are, didn’t seem to have too much chemistry going on between them.
Karen Tan seemed to be a bit too motherly and lacked that seductive cougar-ish edge, and Lim Yu Beng seemed to lack that sinisterism, or that scheming, sordid edge that made you wonder how many dirty secrets he had actually kept.
And as a result, you didn’t really know whether to side with them or hate them.
Lastly, with regards to the audience voting gimmick – was it truly necessary and did it actually have any form of bearing or significance on the denouement of the play?
Or maybe I’m taking this all too seriously.
In the way that people watch beauty pageants to admire the superior exterior qualities of the contestants, perhaps we should appreciate “Beauty Kings” for being essentially a wonderfully entertaining and satisfying night of fun and laughter at the theatre.
Even if it might have only been skin deep.
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
Event: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change
Venue: Drama Centre Theatre
Run: 9th Jun – 19th Jun 2011
“I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” was everything I had expected it to be – hilarious, witty, comical, tongue-in-cheek, entertaining.
I felt it very similar to last year’s “Water Coolers” for some reason, maybe because like “Water Coolers”, it was a musical collection of hilarious little vignettes tackling a certain overriding theme.
You could say “I Love You” is to love and romance what “Coolers” is to office life.
“I Love You” loosely follows the chronological order of the many highs and lows in one’s love life, in the way that the first act deals with the concept of blind dates, dating and relationships, while the second act deals with later-in-life concepts such as marriage, parenthood and old age.
And truth be told, the first act of “I Love You” seemed much more entertaining and engaging than its second act.
There was a certain sense of the laborious in the second act in the way it seemed to plod along, whereas the first act felt more fleet of foot.
You could perhaps draw some parallels here with real life – how everything seems so much more exhilarating when one is falling in love (first act), and how things seem to start to drag along once one goes into marriage and starts raising a family (second act).
The book and lyrics were excellent – stuff that we’ve come to expect from hit Broadway productions basically, although sadly, the same could not be said for the music.
I thought the rhymes were very clever and witty, and I enjoyed many of the lines in the book.
Sadly, I didn’t feel that the music was all too memorable, except for perhaps the last number (of which the production derives its title from).
My favourite scenes include the one where Richard Meek and Leanne Ansell were flirting after a game of tennis, and also the scene where Cynthia Lee MacQuarrie did her solo turn in front of the video camera filming a dating profile video.
And while all four performers were commendable (RJ Rosales is the fourth performer), I would have to single out Richard Meek as my favourite performer of the evening.
I thought he was the funniest actor of the group!
The scenes were hit and miss, and while many of them were largely entertaining, there were the few scenes that just didn’t quite work.
And in the same way that “I Love You” had its fair share of imperfections, we know all too well that just like in real life, love is never always a bed of roses either.
Mind Magic
Event: “Mind Magic” by Nique Tan
Venue: Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel
Date: 8th June 2011
Having been a keen student of the art of Magic for the greater part of my adult life, it was with great anticipation that I attended Nique Tan’s “Mind Magic” show last Wednesday evening at the Jubilee Hall.
The event was well-attended, the majority of whom I presumed were associated with the local magic scene in one way or other.
But an encouraging turnout, nonetheless.
Full-fledged ticketed magic shows by local magicians don’t come our way very often, so “Mind Magic” is a very pleasant surprise, though it must be pointed out that in recent years we have seen a number of local magicians gaining greater and greater prominence, with magic duo JC Sum and “Magic Babe” Ning leading the way.
Back to Nique Tan.
Nique’s show was purely a mentalism show, whereby all the acts had to do with magic of the mental variety.
The immediate personality that comes to mind might perhaps be popular UK mentalist Derren Brown, whose TV shows a number of years back captured the imagination of millions of viewers.
Nique started off slightly tentative, and one might suspect it had to do with a case of the nerves, which is completely understandable, but as the show wore on he started to get more comfortable in his own skin and charmed the audience with his humour and charisma.
His impromptu joke about “contact juggling” (when he unfortunately lost his right contact lens toward the end of the show) was easily the best line of the night!
Nique performed a good variety of effects, from floating table to “Russian Roulette” (involving staple guns!), which was nerve-wrecking to say the least.
His cold reading segment was astounding, as he even successfully “read” the thoughts and desires of a random audience member, while being blindfolded and sitting on a chair up on stage.
The audience member kept shaking his head in disbelief and saying “No way!” every time Nique successfully read his thoughts.
The prediction effects which probably drew the most “wows” were the one in the first act where he correctly induced an audience member to guess the total amount of money in the glass box hanging on stage, as well as the incredible finale act at the end of the show whereby he correctly predicted the word an audience member would choose after a long series of random actions (known as the “book test” in mentalism speak).
It was quite simply one of the most incredible book tests I had ever seen performed live.
At the end of the trick I turned to my friend next to me and we kept saying “No way!” to each other repeatedly.
It was that amazing.
All in all, I thought Nique Tan put up an impressive performance, and it is highly encouraging to see that more and more local magicians are stepping up and taking on bigger challenges by performing in larger venues.
I believe Lawrence and Priscilla Khong will be staging their magical theatre extravaganza “VISION” at the Esplanade Theatre next month, which would be yet another milestone for Singapore magic. (I’ve already got my tickets to that one!)
Here’s to a bright future ahead for the state of magic in Singapore.
Soul Capture 金沙·找魂
Event: Soul Capture 金沙·找魂
Series: The Singapore Arts Festival 2011
Performed by: T’ang Quartet (Singapore)
Composed by: Hu Xiao-Ou
Dates: 31 May & 1 June 2011
Venue: SOTA Concert Hall
In line with the “I Want to Remember” theme of the Arts Festival, “Soul Capture“, or the more aptly put Chinese title 《金沙·找魂》, attempts to bring us back to the lost civilisation of the Shu kingdom more than 3,000 years ago, and to capture the soul of the lost age, found in the ruins of Jinsha.
I’m not sure if you remember the “Mystery Men: Finds from China’s Lost Age” exhibition held in Singapore at the Asian Civilisation Museum in 2007. The piece was inspired by this same civilisation that was discovered in 1986 by some brickyard workers in Sichuan. The site called Sanxingdui, was located about 40km from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. I shan’t go into archaeological details since you can probably google more about it.
Soul Capture comprises six movements: 1) “Sun Birds 《太阳鸟》”; 2) “The Voice Faraway 《遥远的声音》”; 3) “Birds, Masks and Qing 《飞鸟、面具和磬》”; 4) “Rotating Totem 《旋转的图腾》”; 5) “A Drinking Song of Sacrifice 《祭祀酒歌》”; and 6) “Secret Voice 《弦外之音》”.
The T’ang Quartet, one of the most recognised Singapore string quartet, put up an excellent performance with their virtuosity, even doubling up as percussionists when the score called for it. As pointed out during the post-show dialogue, some parts were actually open for improvisation (I would say similar to a cadenza?), like the solo portion played by Leslie on his cello, not to mention the feeds that were mixed and reproduced into new sounds that fed back into the performance. As one of the viewers said, she couldn’t tell which were the parts improvised and which were not. In any case, I felt the quartet infused part of their own interpretation of the piece, but still kept to what the composer intended.
Now, about the music. I’m still learning to “appreciate” fusion music and may not be a good judge of it, and so this performance was to me, a form of new Asian music. An interesting blend of of western and Chinese instruments, including instruments from minority groups. Example, there were points that the cello was played almost like a pipa. From what I gathered during the dialogue, the composer Hu Xiao-Ou did not seek a particular “resemblance”, except the use of sound samples for reference. For a fact, the actual music played in the lost age was unknown, and could only be expressed in his own interpretation. The first few movements provided me with a sense of mystique. You could almost imagine the spirits of the past being conjured up and as unknown as the people of this lost age were, so the music depicted the sense of mystery surrounding this race. I did encounter some familiarity in the Drinking Song, where a somewhat familiar folk song was played…at least a distinct rhythm and melody was heard. Only in the last movement did I somehow fail to be engaged as I lost my concentration and drifted off to another land.
(side note: I was very grateful for the upgrade of seats (quite centralised), mainly because the circle seats entrance were not opened for the night. And , no offense, but the facilitator for the post-show dialogue was a little disruptive at points)
Imagine Toi
- photo by Franck Fife
Event: Imagine Toi
Series: Flipside 2011 (an ‘Esplanade Presents’ festival in conjunction with The Singapore Arts Festival)
Performed by: Julienne Cottereau (France)
Dates: 28-29 May 2011
Venue: Esplanade Recital Studio
Imagine a fantasy world, where wild beasts lived, and “damsels” get distressed.
No props, nothing, just the man and his voice, or rather his ability to ‘create’, with the voice effects he makes. Soon you forget that the objects (balls, guns, brooms, chewing gum, etc.) and animals he conjured up are purely imaginative and you’re easily drawn into his world.
And drawn into his world (literally) were some of the audience whom he picked to ‘perform’ with him. He provided the voice effects while they tried to imitate what he asked them to do, like play ball, pose, act as beasts, etc. And the chosen audience were a good sport, drawing much applause and laughs. Pretty convincing too.
That was how good he was. Julienne Cottereau, formerly from Cirque du Soleil, is a virtuoso clown and mime artist who keeps you engaged with his acting, expressions and voicing. He fires up one’s imagination as we visualise his “creations”.
In this creation, he plays a servant to a giant beast, keeping the place clean and quiet for the beast to sleep. While the beast sleeps, he sweeps, plays with gum (you could hear constant “eww”s from the kids), catch flies, tame dogs, kill a duck (sadly), etc. All of which were invisible, yet visible (in our minds). At one point, in his fantasy, he is a hero/knight, saving a princess from the beast. But not all was sweet and bright, and some parts were likely a bit too loud and scary for kids (especially when beasts “appeared”), for a child started crying. But all was well soon enough.
As a parting gesture, he “sent” ‘memories’ of the performance to the audience on a “bicycle”, with the imaginary photos he took (that’s how it looked to me). An apt ending as the audience is brought back to reality.
Pas Perdus
- photo by P. Borasci
Event: Pas Perdus
Series: Flipside 2011 (an ‘Esplanade Presents’ festival in conjunction with The Singapore Arts Festival)
Performed by: Les Argonautes (Belgium)
Dates: 23 – 25 May 2011
Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio
Are you lost in a world of rigid routine? Where a maze leads you round and round? “Pas Perdus” or “Not Lost” (in French) teaches you to move those walls and brings you through the lighter side of life full of creativity and improvisation.
4 people seemingly captive (in an asylum?) among wooden walls of infinite possibilities display amazing skill of juggling, balancing, music, precision…one could not keep his/her eyes off the “tricks” they were doing even amidst the constant reminder of a booming “Calm…Calm…Calm”.
Juggling whatever they had on hand, cuboid blocks, balls, etc., balancing big wooden walls (as above) and balancing on them, as well as redefining the way you play music. Balls are manipulated over the body even as they played pool using themselves. There was a point when the ball was simply moved across the floor with just a tap on the ground (probably some special flooring). And there were the leaning wooden wall blocks as well as balancing each on only 1 short edge. They had to be really precise and have a good feel of the materials as well as good calculations of how to balance humans as well as huge objects. There was one part when 1 of them “climbed” to balance his whole body on stilts. This was very dangerous because any wrong move and he’ll fall and hurt himself, or even be poked by the stilts.
And I was also impressed by their multi-talented display. They could play various instruments as well, like the violin, saxophone, trumpet and drums and in fun ways, e.g hitting the drum from 2-3 metres away by bouncing drumsticks off the drums. And if you’ve heard of piano four-hands, well, here you have violin four-hands! It’s the 1st time I’d seen something like that. Having learnt the violin when I was small, this left 1 of the deepest impressions for me during the show.
It’s a bit difficult to describe everything. You’ve got to see it to experience it.
Dick Lee’s The Adventures of the Mad Chinaman
When I first got wind of this from a poster at Esplanade, I mistakenly thought it was going to be a musical. But on a more careful reading of the synopsis, realised it wasn’t. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out actually. Was it his greatest hits concert? Not really. Instead, it was like a biographical performance by Dick Lee. And so began the tale of one of our most acclaimed pop composers.
Set up as a living room, we are invited into his world. A world of his influences and inspiration. Dick Lee shared about how he got involved in music that led to a lifetime of composing music, his family, the musicians that inspired him, people who helped him, etc…basically, it’s something straight out from his book of the same name “The Adventures of the Mad Chinaman”. As he jokingly puts it, “I know some of you can’t read, so that’s why I’m putting up this show” (well, something like that). Actually, it was like the talk he gave at the library@esplanade some time ago, but a bit more complete and this time, with him playing the piano and singing his songs. Even though it was a repetition of history, it was still engaging as Dick has his own sense of humour and charisma to hold your attention. However, I felt he did not play enough songs! I would liked to have watched him perform more of his songs, which were good songs with stories behind them.
Don’t expect the pop songs we’re all so familiar with that he wrote for others, but really, his personal songs from his own albums, and also from his musicals. As the story was in chronological order, you can quite distinctly hear how his music evolved as he moved through the years and the influences he had like Elton John, Joni Mitchell, etc. A sad point of the programme came when he shared about the death of his sister, which I believed moved many, including myself. When he finally came to terms with her death, he wrote “No Goodbyes” which can be found in his 1993 Life Story album.
On a lighter note, you thought you had heard it all but even though the material has been used (and over-used) a dozen times, he still managed to make a dig at politics in fresh new way in the effortless sense with his songs, as if it were not too intentional (although it was).
However, I don’t know if it’s only my perception…although I’ve heard “Life Story” a number of times, it was not until this show that I began to feel that “Home” actually bore some similarities to it. Not that it’s a bad thing, as they are both good songs.
The Adventures of the Mad Chinaman
Event: Fantastic Entertainment Presents “The Adventures of the Mad Chinaman” (starring Dick Lee)
Venue: Esplanade Recital Studio
Run: 24th May – 26th May 2011
It’s hard to believe that Dick Lee, by far Singapore’s most accomplished and well-known singer-songwriter and composer of musicals, has not performed in a formal concert setting since his Kallang Theatre concert in 2004.
In the past few years, he has been busy with musicals such as “Fried Rice Paradise”, “Beauty World” and “P Ramlee”, creative directing for NDP, as well as being a judge on three seasons of that TV show known as “Singapore Idol”.
This year, he even found the time to set up his new entertainment company “Fantastic Entertainment”, of which tonight’s show is its inaugural production.
And it seems as if “Fantastic” is off to a great start, because word is that all three nights of this inaugural production have been sold out.
The show could just as easily been named “Life Story” or “Life in the Lion City”, but I guess these just do not pack the same punch as “The Adventures of the Mad Chinaman” does.
Indeed, the show was both an aural and visual enactment of his latest book of the same name, which chronicles the fascinating life and times of a certain Richard Lee Peng Boon.
It’s the man himself, sharing the intimate details of the first half of his life story (the second half will be told in a subsequent production) right in the comfort of his own “living room”.
Credit to Dick – inasmuch as he is a great musician, he is also a wonderful storyteller, possessing generous doses of warmth, humour and effortless charm to keep the crowd entertained for the two whole hours (even if not all the songs were able to sustain the equivalent level of interest).
His lines were delivered so naturally that sometimes you didn’t know where the script ended and where spontaneity began.
Not to mention his effervescent a go-go dance steps, which were highly impressive coming from a man who has passed fifty.
He can still move like the best of them.
A true entertainer in every sense of the word.
Those who have read his autobiography would be familiar with all the anecdotes of his life story, from his early SJI days, to his MDC days, to being discovered by Vernon Cornelius, to his early career, but nothing can replace the experience of having Dick Lee himself sit at the piano, regaling us with beloved tunes such as “Bunga Sayang”, “Life Story”, “Fried Rice Paradise”, “Rasa Sayang” and “Home”.
Dick’s piano-playing chops were in fine form.
Singing-wise, he has lost none of the singing tone which we are all so familiar with by now, although he did strain to reach some of the high notes.
Not that it was a big issue anyway, because I’ve always seen Dick Lee as songwriter/composer first, entertainer second, and singer third.
I think it’s his legacy of songs which will always hold a firm place in the hearts of many Singaporeans.
I guess the most entertaining portion of the evening was the medley of “most detestable tunes” or something to that effect, comprising songs such as “Chotto Matte Kudasai”, “500 Miles” and “Count On Me Singapore”, which is a segment that was more or less lifted wholesale from his ’04 Kallang concert, albeit with a few minor updates.
But extremely entertaining, nonetheless.
One of my favourite portions of the show was when Dick paid tribute to three legendary singer-songwriters who influenced his music greatly (namely Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Elton John) by playing a song by each of them – Young’s “Heart of Gold”, John’s “Tiny Dancer”, and Mitchell’s I-forgot-what.
All in all, “The Adventures of the Mad Chinaman” is a rare chance to see the master himself render his greatest works, although one has to note that this production only covers his life story till 1989, with the remaining portion of his career being covered in a subsequent production.
Dick Lee may have been around since the days of 7″ vinyl singles and The Quests, but there is no doubt that as an entertainer, he is still in top form.
…
P.S. Mr Dick Lee, if you’re reading this: A humble suggestion to please not sing “this is my life stoREE” anymore, which is the way you have been singing lately. Would love to hear you sing it the original way, because the emphasis on “stoREE” just sounds weird. Just my two cents worth. =)
Buttons In The Bread 