Model Citizens by TNS
It’s been hard trying to pen my thoughts down as this play by Haresh Sharma seems to have many underlying messages/layers that I’m not sure where to start. Maybe I should start with something simpler.
The synopsis.
The 3 women cross paths, under an unexpected circumstance. 3 backgrounds, 3 languages, how do they communicate? Gradually, a slow convergence of the 3 women, from 3 diversities to a somewhat common ground occurred, with the use of magic realism (as so described) as they become a part of “cross-realities” that transcends language. Boundaries are blurred.
The sets. Simple as they are, I liked the way the sets (cupboards) were used to define the (confined) space representing each person. The sets were modified/”flipped”/moved around during the show to bring you to different zones physically and mentally (i.e. the characters’ personal spaces). Apt that at the end, the cupboards were closed up, marking the end of the play, like closing a chapter as each character moves on.
The disturbing scene. It’s interesting to note that 2 deaths were placed side-by-side and played out concurrently in a particular scene, one, the abortion scene of Melly and two, the moments before “Angel”, Wendy’s son took his own life as shown in a FB wall chat. 2 “youths”, one, before it has a chance to live, another finding no reason to live. Is this a coincidence or intended placement? The only problem here was that it was difficult to watch both the online chat going on and the abortion taking place.
The issues. I guess one main question is, what really constitutes a “model citizen”? Is it the person who follows the rules, but is eventually unhappy and not really getting what she wants out of life? The mother who tries her best, but ends up with a dead son? A foreigner who desires so much to be a citizen that she tries all means to get her “green card” to stay? Just perfect on the outside, but not necessarily so on the inside.
Social classes are explored with the higher, middle and lower classes converging. We see how power corrupts as it slowly manifests as a less than compassionate Mrs Chua who does it for “show” when she is on “cover duty” for her husband. An ugly side of her is revealed, true or not when she gets into an argument with Wendy and tears open Wendy’s wounds. Maybe she was ok initially, but trying to be the “model citizen” and MP’s wife took it away. For all of them, their dreams were forgotten.
Eventually, however, there was some hopefulness at the end with each finally letting go of the past (or present), and moving on. I believed it draws us back to where they all started. Their dreams – the “perfect” status, the “perfect” home, the “perfect” country.
The play ended with no curtain call…was it to maintain the tone? But there was a post-show dialogue session where I learnt some things. It’s all about the point of view.
“Model Citizens” by The Necessary Stage
Event: “Model Citizens” (as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2011)
Venue: National Museum of Singapore Gallery Theatre
Run: 11th Jan – 15th Jan 2011
Having missed last year’s run of “Model Citizens”, I definitely had to go catch this year’s staging of it, as part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival.
There is something gratifying about seeing the playwright (Haresh Sharma) and director (Alvin Tan) walking about the premises just before the play starts, knowing well that they are just as keen as we are to see the play begin, and also that they will be on hand at the end of the play to conduct the post-show dialogue session.
There is also something very gratifying about being able to purchase a copy of the play at the front of house, and I duly forked out my four dollars so that I could bring the play home with me and study the work carefully.
I will not go into detail about the plot and premise, as you can probably find it easily elsewhere, but in a nutshell, the story revolves around three fairly disparate women living in Singapore and how they are being brought together by a singular incident of a man stabbing an MP.
The most obvious thing that hits you the moment the play starts is the use of different languages to illustrate the inherent differences in the characters.
Mrs Chua (Goh Guat Kian) is the archetypal Chinese-ed type, Melly (Siti Khalijah) the Indonesian maid, and Wendy (Karen Tan) the English-reliant mother of her deceased son Tony.
And thus, with this device the playwright cleverly brings out the stark differences in class and social background without even having to rely too much on choice of words.
The acting was even throughout, and I thought all three actresses deserved warm commendations for delivering such remarkable performances.
One good point of observation which an audience member brought up after the show was that in this play, even though there are no men visibly present on stage, the story is in actual fact moved along by the actions of the men in the respective women’s lives.
Another point which someone else brought up had to do with the title “Model Citizens”, which I had been wondering about too.
I know I’m splitting hairs here, but I often wondered about the relevance of the title – could a better title have been chosen?
The whole notion of being model citizens didn’t exactly jump right out at me throughout the play.
Haresh Sharma was cool about it, and casually joked that it could have been titled “Three Women” or even “Friends Forever” (which brought out some laughs).
Another point to mention was the use of what Haresh and Alvin call “Magic Realism”, whereby at around the mid-point of the play, the characters, namely Mrs Chua and Melly were seemingly able to communicate with one another even though they were using their own indigenous languages, coupled with the fact that Mrs Chua doesn’t understand Bahasa and Melly doesn’t understand Mandarin.
It was a very clever touch which I thought worked brilliantly, and served to add just that one more dimension to the play.
I was a little troubled by the portrayal of Mrs Chua as the Chinese-ed MP’s wife, who laughed when she talked about her critically-injured husband in hospital, who was more concerned about what to wear and how she would look when she first received news of her husband’s stabbing, and who often made it look as if she really couldn’t care less whether her husband was dead or alive.
That felt, to me, a bit unrealistic and I just couldn’t bring myself to accept such a portrayal of such a wife…regardless of her social position.
But that is just me being narrow-minded.
And while the play gave ample room for Karen Tan to depict her mourning and grief over the loss of her son, I felt that there were details in that aspect of the plot which could have been fleshed out, e.g. why and how did Tony die?
I just felt that the mother-and-son story needed a bit more body to it.
In conclusion, this play does not make for easy viewing, but then again, good plays are meant to provoke and stimulate thought.
And in “Model Citizens”, Haresh Sharma, Alvin Tan and the gang at The Necessary Stage have provided us with an impeccable production that provides plenty of food for thought.
Rocky Horror Show
Before I say anything, don’t expect a conventional musical story. The Rocky Horror Show is a “crazy” show that really isn’t in for the storyline but really for the entertainment factor taken at face value. Judging from how some of the audience joined in the fun, dressed up to match the show, you can expect a participative audience (although not so wild here in Singapore). We saw use of flashlights, rubber gloves and playing cards “raining” down. Jeremy already gave a synopsis of the show, so I shall not go into that.
From the name of the show, you can expect a rock-and-roll feature (of the 60s & 70s), and indeed it was, a raunchy one at that, in a retro setting. Well it’s “rock-and-roll” if you know how the phrase came about. It’s supposed to be a parody of science fiction and B-movie horror films (at least that’s what’s said for The Rocky Horror Picture Show), which I felt it did the job.
As a note, one must appreciate how the show opened. For someone who didn’t really know anything about the show beforehand (except a review by CNA), it prepares the audience of how the musical was “set”, like watching a movie double feature. Despite the difficulty in deciphering what was sung, one could catch the gist that it had something to do with science fiction and about a couple’s, Brad & Janet’s, strange encounter. If you have watched the old-school science fiction series of the 50s and 60s (think Twilight Zone), you’ll appreciate the way it’s directed or played out and why you even had a narrator as well. Well, at least that’s the way I saw it as I came out of the theatre. And ya, if you’ve watch those horror films too, it’s almost like the classic portrayal of such a couple.
The musical saw an excellent cast who performed very well. And a ‘performance’ it was. I couldn’t catch what they were singing for some parts, probably because the music was loud and also the echo mix? Nevertheless, there was great singing and acting all round as each was pretty much “in-character”. Riff Raff (Kristian Lavercombe) was amazing in the range he displayed. I was especially impressed by his ability to reach so high a pitch in the last scene when he appeared to ‘zap’ Dr Frank-N-Furter. The song list featured many a good songs too.
In a ra-ra moment, the show ended with the cast leading the audience in the “Time Warp Dance”, and before 10pm at that.
“Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”…Oh, The Horror!
Event: Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show”
Venue: Esplanade Theatre
Run: 5th Jan – 16th Jan 2011
Raunchy B-Movie Meets Musical Theatre
Perhaps it’s because it was a Friday night, and that’s why there was a full turnout at the Esplanade Theatre for Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show”, despite a relative lack of publicity and the rather steep ticket prices.
Apart from the fair number of local theatre celebrities spotted, it was apparent that many of the audience members came readily-dressed for the show, all decked out in outlandish clothing and accessories, ready to participate in the show, as is the fine tradition of audiences of Rocky Horror shows around the world.
As such, expectations were running naturally high just before the show started, and there was a palpable sense of anticipation in the air.
Unfortunately, the sense of anticipation soon deflated as quickly as Brad’s flat tyre ever could.
And sorry to bring up a sports analogy at this moment, but the sense of letdown could be comparable to the Lakers-Heat game last Christmas Day – massive anticipation, but little payoff.
I apologise if I offend any hardcore Rocky Horror fans out there, but I genuinely found little enjoyment from watching the musical.
There always comes a point at a bad show where you suddenly sit up and start to slap yourself in the proverbial forehead and go “Man, this show isn’t going anywhere!”
And sadly, for Rocky Horror, that moment of realisation came rather early, at around the 25-minute mark.
And the fact that I uncontrollably cracked a little smile when the curtains came down on the first act at the 50-minute mark (which is really early compared to a full-length musical) only confirmed my suspicions that I was in for a long night.
Don’t get me wrong, the performers were brilliant.
I thought the acting was commendable, and if I had to pick out some of the great voices, it would be “The Usherette” (Kara Lane), “Dr Frank-n-Furter” (Juan Jackson) and especially “Riff Raff” (Kristian Lavercombe), whose limitless range reminded me of Adam Lambert and timbre of voice reminded me of Axl Rose.
(If ever Guns N’ Roses needs a new lead singer, I reckon he would be a shoo-in. Serious vocals, I tell ya.)
The sets were beautiful, and incorporated some nifty ideas as well.
I loved how they rolled the increasingly larger models of the castle across the stage at the beginning of the show to simulate Brad and Janet’s approach toward the castle.
And the monitor screens effects in the second act were very clever as well.
Many of the songs in the musical were highly enjoyable, and I dare say that “The Rocky Horror Show” boasts of a set of songs which are better than a number of other musicals out there.
The main issue I had with the musical was that the story was very weak.
There is a good reason why books usually state that a proper musical plot should have a protagonist with an overarching ambition, and in Rocky Horror that was no such thing.
It started with the couple of Brad and Jenny who get lost and end up in the castle, and then the story shifts to a certain cross-dressing Dr Frank-n-Furter and his band of bizarre characters…and after awhile you just start to ask yourself what the whole point of the story is.
I’m a big story-person, so musicals with weak storylines tend to make me feel a bit unsatisfied.
And don’t get me started on the whole saga about the aliens and their laser ray guns and all that stuff towards the end of the show. (*shakes head*)
One more point to add was that the book itself wasn’t particularly outstanding, with mostly forgettable lines and few that genuinely made the audience laugh.
I mean, truth be told, the sight of the near-perfect physique of “Rocky” (Lucas Glover) might have perhaps given almost all of the female members in the audience close to their money’s worth, not to mention the immensely gratifying participatory song-and-dance segment at the encore, which pleased not a few people, especially those who came dressed up for it.
And the fact that the cast received three curtain calls must have been a clear indication of the audience’s level of satisfaction.
So I guess it leaves one to conclude that “The Rocky Horror Show” ensures ample entertainment if one is looking for a visual spectacle (of the risqué variety) coupled with solid rock and roll music.
However, plot-wise, it leaves plenty to be desired.
And to be cheeky about it, I suppose you could say that the word “horror” in the show’s title isn’t exactly misplaced…depending on how you choose to interpret it.
Ilkosa’s “Buttons in the Bread” Theatre Nods & Shakes 2010
Yes, it’s almost the year end and active viewing warrants some active ratings and summaries of the year gone by.
I’ll just cast my personal votes on what’s been playing here. All based on my own personal opinion, any similarities (or differences) in opinions are all a matter of perception. They are in no particular order, really.
The Good…
(Shows I enjoyed, whether it’s a good script, acting or just pure entertainment)
1) “Poop” – This was one of the best plays I’ve watched for the year. A thought-provoking piece and done in a rather innovative way, which drew tears from me.
2) “Boeing Boeing” – when a show makes time fly, you know it’s good. Loved Miss Cathay Pacific.
3) “Chestnuts 3D: Yeah yeah yeah” – this was hilarious!
4) “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” – was rather surprised at how well this turned out.
5) “The Water Coolers” – could relate to the scenarios played out. Enjoyed myself.
The Bad…
1) “Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral” – this did not evoke any emotional response from me and even though I’m not a guy, the heavy emphasis on “castration” didn’t go down too well. Not to mention the poor turnout, which is a sign. What was the main parallel they were trying to draw? The focus?
2) “Thoroughly Modern Millie Junior” – this was mainly affected by the cast whom couldn’t speak their lines clearly. We left at intermission.
and the “Huh?”s…
1) “suitCASES” – this completely flew over my head.
2) “Unlike Some People” – I guess I ain’t ready for Albee. Some characters were over-played though.
… and “Hmm”s.
1) “Blackbird” – I can’t decide on this, but it was very intense, which left an impression. A complex plot that left questions and many possible interpretations.
…AND some Special Mentions (or those that should be mentioned but not-up-there list)
1) “Awake with Nenek” – coming from a relatively new company (We Colour People), this was a rather engaging play, well-written and played out. I think the company has good potential if it can keep up with it. Heard there’s been some delays for them, but I do hope to catch more of their shows!
2) “Those Who Can’t, Teach” – A familiar play by all, I think it still packs a following.
3) “The Full Monty” – A commendable inaugural production by Pangdemonium Productions.
4) “Pinocchio: The Musical” – magical
Crazy Christmas
Event: “Crazy Christmas” by Dream Academy (featuring Vocaluptuous)
Venue: Drama Centre Theatre
Run: 2nd Dec – 19th Dec 2010
I remarked to Ilkosa that I usually find it quite difficult to review shows like “Crazy Christmas”, cos it’s music heavy and there’s not too much else to talk about in terms of writing and plot and characterisation and stuff.
First off, I think the moniker “crazy” in “Crazy Christmas” is a tad out of place, as the general tone of the show isn’t really one of craziness…but if you really had to choose an adjective to alliterate with “Christmas”, then yeah, I suppose “crazy” is probably the way to go.
Not a big issue.
I suppose “classy” or “charming” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, although both would have made a more appropriate description.
This is Dream Academy’s second attempt at staging “Crazy Christmas” (the first was in 2008), and the first thing that strikes you about the promos is the fact that they’ve roped in so many talents into one 90-minute show.
How can you go wrong with the collective talents of local theatre luminaries such as Selena Tan, Pam Oei, George Chan, Sebastian Tan, Denise Tan, Karen Tan, RJ Rosales, Robin Goh and the like?
Not to mention the other-worldly talents of local a cappella group Vocaluptuous.
If this isn’t bang for your buck, then I don’t know what is.
The voice that impressed me the most throughout the night was definitely that of RJ Rosales.
He starred as The Beast in W!ld Rice’s “Beauty and the Beast” in 2009, but it seems to me his singing has improved by leaps and bounds since then.
The highlight of the night must have been the way RJ Rosales totally nailed the high note in his solo number “O Holy Night”, when he dug deep to hit the climax lyric “night” towards the end.
He is blessed with a beautiful voice that one can listen to forever.
Vocaluptuous wowed the audience with their spiffy suits (as would befit a group billed as “Singapore’s premier a cappella group”), solid vocals and sophisticated arrangements (thanks to member and arranger John Lee, who is also the brother of Dick Lee).
Sebastian Tan’s solo gig had to have been one of the more enjoyable segments of the night, as he was simply a riot with his usual “Ah Beng” routine, coupled with a fine singing voice to boot.
Pam Oei’s segment as the troubled bat with an identity crisis was amusing, but it was more a case of “it’s funny because it’s Pam Oei doing it”.
I just didn’t really get the whole “I want to be part of Christmas” thrust that the writer was trying to bring out, and when mixed together with the other thrust of “It’s tough being a bat”, the segment just started to become a little bit convoluted.
And even though the entire segment was trying to build up to the “Chinese New Year” punchline, I felt that it didn’t make that much of an impact and the payoff just wasn’t really there.
Likewise for a few of the other comic sketches, such as the two girls fighting over a new guy named “Elvis”.
Generally the comedy was serviceable, helped in large parts by the talented comedians who delivered it…though not entirely hilarious.
However, in terms of the singing – which was what we all ultimately came for – there was absolutely no way in which one could find fault with the production.
I think the “Crazy Christmas” franchise has established for itself a fine place in the local theatre calendar as a charming, classy production which you’d go to if you were looking to spend Christmas with beautifully-rendered songs and a touch of local comedy.
Jeremy’s “Buttons in the Bread” Theatre Accolades 2010!
The year-end always lends itself well to a time of reflection and of stock-taking.
Between Ilkosa and I, I would say we’ve caught quite a fair bit of theatre works this year.
This is actually the first year that I’ve been seriously following theatre, and I don’t think I’ve ever attended that many shows in any one year before.
Anyhow, without further ado, let’s begin with my own quirky theatre picks for the year 2010.
(I believe Ilkosa will come up with her own set of accolades some time soon.)
As always, these choices are utterly biased as they represent my own honest tongue-in-cheek views and nothing else.
No offence to anyone, ok! =)
Most Enjoyable Productions:
1) “Cinderel-lah!” – Oldie but goldie. Call it version 2.0 if you will, but “Cinderel-lah!” at its core remains W!ld Rice’s crowning achievement in the field of musical theatre, with the finest set of Elaine Chan songs to boot.
2) “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” – Strength of material coupled with competent execution made this tiny little production put up by the Lasalle College of the Arts Musical Theatre Programme a true joy to behold.
3) “Chestnuts 3-D: Fried Monty aka A Nightmare on Glee Street” – Cutting-edge satirical humour from Jonathan Lim and gang that is at times almost too clever for its own good. Still the wittiest comic writer around.
Least Enjoyable Productions:
1) “The Cabinet” by The ETCeteras – An all-out cringefest replete with banal off-colour jokes and double entendres that grew tiresome from the get-go, with a non-existent plot to top it all off.
2) “Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral” – The actors put up a fine portrayal of a sense of being collectively trapped and lost in many of the scenes, but I think the audience might have been the ones who were truly disoriented by this entire production.
3) “Ma Goes Home” – Something just wasn’t right about this production. On paper it would have made a good play (heck, it won Best New Play at “Theatre Idols”), but somehow something got lost in the execution.
The Weirdest & Most Surreal Play Award:
“Unlike Some People” – The entire premise and denouement of the play (essentially “The Lady from Dubuque”) was utterly strange and left me really uncomfortable throughout. The weird sets and erratic acting didn’t help matters much. Highly disturbing experience.
The “This Actually Turned Out Much Better Than I Thought It Would” Award:
“Metamorphoses” – It could have been a combination of the cast (rookie ensemble COLLAB theatre), the subject matter (Greek mythology), and the venue (Substation Theatre) that kept my hopes admirably low before the show, but I ended up lapping up the entire production.
The “Why Is Everyone Falling Head Over Heels With This? Am I Missing Out On Something Here?” Award:
“Poop” – No offence, Tze Chien. It’s a thorougly fascinating and provocative play, but “Poop” seems to have achieved some sort of cult-like status whereas I just wasn’t able to fully connect with it. As Sting would say, “it’s probably me”.
The “Surely They Could Have Done A Better Job With That Kind Of A Budget” Award:
“Fried Rice Paradise” – You could just tell that it was backed by a pretty huge budget, but the quality of writing (both book and songs) left a lot to be desired.
The “Nah, There’s No Way It’s Going To Grow Any Longer Than Tha…Whoooaa!!!” Award:
“Pinocchio” – Talk about stretching an idea to its extreme. I don’t think there was a single person in the audience who expected Pinocchio’s nose to grow that long! One of my fondest theatrical moments of the year.
The “This Gives Me Hope That Musicals Don’t Always Have To Be Gazillion-Dollar Productions To Be Thoroughly Entertaining” Award:
“The Water Coolers” and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” – The good news is that both offerings were relatively small-scaled, low-budget affairs whereby the strength of book, lyrics, music, and talent were the main driving forces that carried the show along. The bad news is that neither productions were put up by a local theatre company. Anyhow, it renews one’s faith that money alone doesn’t always guarantee a good musical.
The “There’s Just Absolutely No Way This Production Is Going To Turn Out Badly Even If It Tried” Award:
“Emily of Emerald Hill” – Could a production of Stella Kon’s revered text, starring the irrepressible Margaret Chan, in what was the final performance at the venerable Victoria Theatre possibly ever go wrong? You couldn’t jinx it even if you tried.
The “So Intense You Couldn’t Even Cut The Air With A Knife” Award:
“Blackbird” – Daniel Jenkins and Emma Yong face off in a room for 75 whole minutes, enacting David Harrower’s award-winning play. The tension was so thick you hardly knew when to breathe.
The “If This Isn’t Pure Comedic Talent, Then I Don’t Know What Is” Award:
Judee Tan – For her glorious turns as Ivory Low in “Chestnuts 3D” and as TCM in “The Hossan Leong Show Episode 2”. Pure comedic gold.
“A Single Tear” by Dr K K Seet
Event: “A Single Tear” Book Launch
Venue: TheatreWorks @ 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road
Date: 11th Dec 2010
Dr K K Seet – theatre doyen, NUS senior lecturer and often dubbed as “Singapore’s most glamorous academic”, and who is also a dear friend of mine, has recently published a book entitled “A Single Tear”.
Of all the 13 or so books that Dr Seet has written in his lifetime, you could say that this is the most personal of all his works, as it is a form a tribute to his late mother whom will always retain a very special place in his heart.
Described as “a fairy tale for all ages”, “A Single Tear” is an exceedingly moving love story that has been adapted from one of the many Chinese myths which Dr Seet’s mother had told him as a child.
It is written in the style of a fable, and chronicles the tragic love story of a pair of lovers over a few lifetimes and reincarnations.
The poignant underlying theme of the story is that of unappreciated love and subsequent missed opportunities at being able to repay one’s debt of being unappreciative, which explains Dr Seet’s tagline at the end of the story: “Have you told anyone today that you love them?”
It’s a story which, after reading, makes you want to immediately go up to your loved one and give them a warm hug and say “I love you”.
The book is also filled with lovely hand-painted accompanying illustrations and swatches (such as can be seen on the cover above), on every single page of the book, which were all lovingly and painstakingly painted under the deft hand of artist Susanna Goho-Quek.
One wonders how many man-hours had gone into the creation of all the lovely visuals for the entire book.
The book launch was held at the TheatreWorks premises at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road, and was hosted by Loretta Chen, and also featured a beautiful reading performed by Nora Samosir, Serene Chen, and Beatrice Chia-Richmond, which was directed by director Chong Tze Chien.
There was also a presentation of an original song by Timothy Wan, written specially for the launch of this book.
Priced at $20 before GST, this represents a steal in my honest opinion, as it is a gorgeous hardcase book filled with colourful hand-painted illustrations and with a touching and well-written story at the very heart of it.
In fact, I had commented to Dr Seet that $20 seemed rather low for a hardcase book of such a nature, but he decided to price it as such anyway.
Makes a great gift for someone you love this Christmas.
“A Single Tear” (S$21.40) can be purchased at Page One bookshop and the Earshot Cafe (Arts House).
A book signing session for “A Single Tear” will be held at the Earshot Cafe this coming Thursday 16th Dec ’10 from 5pm to 8pm.
Cinderel-LAH…lah
And that’s what to expect of the modified, but still funny Cinderel-LAH! (though I didn’t watched the earlier one)…love your ride through the familiar but localised version of Cinderella. Armed with star light batons handed out before the show, it was not difficult getting into the mood for the magical musical pantomime and a tinge of Christmas.
I must admit that it’s been 2 weeks since I watched it, so with my fading memory, I shall try to recall my thoughts on the show as much as I can.
I guess most people are familiar with this tale of a poor girl ill-treated by her stepmother and stepsisters (I believe this was one of the causes of suspicions cast upon stepmothers). Set in a HDB estate (Sengkang) and revolving around a Crab Prince Char Mee (Sebastian Tan) and Cindy (Emma Yong). Although set differently, the gist of the story remains the same, but with the difference of the 2 lovers meeting before the ball, though how he didn’t recognise her at the ball was as usual, baffling. But somewhere in his heart, he did. However, he needed to realise his true feelings before finding his true love, who had been following him all the while, literally, albeit on the moon. I guess the role of Mercy (Siti Khalijah Zainal) was like the mice which helped Cinderella in the original story. But they did keep the sawing of feet part of the sisters who tried to fit in the shoes.
I was laughing pretty much due to the various references (although I won’t say the show was hilarious), e.g., from my opening line, you can guess the ride Cindy got to the ball was from our beloved MRT carriage (not pumpkin). On a few occasions, the actors came down to the audience as part of the show. Interestingly, they didn’t make as many political jokes as before, which I think it’s better for the children and also keeps it more fairytale like. The overall effect was great, with mid-air dangles, colourful sets and “popping” magic where some real tricks were performed!
In terms of actors/actresses, I believe they all performed well. Quite notable were Najip Ali as Fairy God Makcik and Gurmit Singh who played Ali & Jeya, a man-wife pair, so he was always changing costumes switching between 2 characters. He acted as the “connector”/narrator of the show, directing the audience and providing the bridges between scenes, “ra-ra”ing. And of course, being a fan of Sebastian with his boyish charms and versatility (he’s like the resident “boy-next-door” for productions or 小生), he didn’t disappoint with his singing and acting, although I don’t think I can ever shake off his excellent performance as the Queen in Snow White.
Ah, the music. This time round, the music was a little different from what I have heard of Elaine Chan in the past few pantomimes, which was good, although I’m trying hard to remember which song(s) stood out. I believe the reprise songs did and maybe “When I’m Happy”.
I look forward to next year’s!
“Cinderel-Lah!” by W!ld Rice…A Modern Day Classic!
Event: “Cinderel-Lah!” by W!ld Rice
Venue: Esplanade Theatre
Run: 25th Nov – 11th Dec 2010
A musical to fall in love with
If Lerner & Loewe had their “My Fair Lady”, and Kander & Ebb their “Cabaret”, and Harnick & Bock their “Fiddler on the Roof”, then it would be fair to say that W!ld Rice can boast of “Cinderel-lah!” as being one of their finest achievements in musical theatre to date.
This being the 10th anniversary of the theatre company, W!ld Rice has decided to restage this charming musical pantomime that first made its debut in 2003 at the Jubilee Hall.
The book by Selena Tan and songs by Elaine Chan are largely untouched (save for a few current-day updates), but it is apparent that this 2010 version has been tweaked (both in scale and duration) to befit the grandeur of the Esplanade Theatre.
In the many years that I’ve been following the delightful productions of W!ld Rice, I remain adamant that “Cinderel-lah!” has always been my favourite W!ld Rice production, bar none.
You would be hard-pressed to find another W!ld Rice production that boasts of as many beautiful original Elaine Chan songs as can be found in “Cinderel-lah!”, and I personally feel that this is still her best work to date.
It’s been 7 years and counting, and songs such as “What Good Is A Man?”, “When I’m Happy”, “A Waltz To Fall In Love With”, “Everybody Needs A Little Magic”, and “Around The World” still remain as fresh as ever in the memory, as if they were just only heard yesterday for the first time.
Of course, slight tweaks have been made to the songs as well, to make things more pertinent and relevant to our current context.
For example, the “Feed the luohan! Feed the luohan!” bit in the song “You’re Nothing But A Maid”, while relevant in 2003, has been given the boot as it would obviously carry little significance in today’s context.
Whereas the lead role of Cindy (played by the lovely Emma Yong) and the role of the evil stepmother (Neo Swee Lin) remain unchanged, there is a slew of cast changes to the other roles.
Prince Char Mee is now played by Sebastian Tan, and the caricature roles of the ugly stepsisters are now helmed by Darius Tan and Chua Enlai (who has sort of brought the art of playing drag to unparalleled levels of perfection).
While Sebastian Tan’s role as Prince only required him to play it straight most of time, Darius Tan and Chua Enlai were simply a riot in their over-the-top portrayal of the crass and ugly stepsisters, in which the words “tastefulness” and “decency” were far from anyone’s mind any time the both of them took to the stage.
Gurmit Singh was brilliant in his role of providing comic relief during scene changes, and easily held his own against the high standards of comedy set by Kumar in the 2003 production.
As mentioned, there were a number of current-day references thrown in for good measure, most notable of which would be the self-deprecating dig on the “Train is coming!” jingle during the MRT train scene, because obviously, both Selena Tan and Emma Yong were complicit in the whole “fiasco” involving the Dim Sum Dollies.
I thought it was a very refreshing bit of humour there.
The musical did suffer a bit from over-staging at times, and it did feel that perhaps the total playing time of 2 hours 45 minutes (including intermission) was somewhat unwarranted.
Perhaps it was a conscious effort by director Ivan Heng to give the audience a certain sense of its money’s worth, I dunno.
For example, I felt the whole “Sri Lankan crabs” scene was perhaps unnecessary, as it hardly added to the movement of the plot, and did give the slight impression that it was merely an opportunity to let all the cute little children in the cast perform a song & dance item in their impressive-looking crab costumes (which must have cost quite a fortune to create, just for that one scene).
Apart from that, I have no other major issues with the musical and I do believe that it is as good a wholly-made-in-Singapore musical theatre experience as you can find anywhere.
As long as you go with the intention of being entertained, rather than witnessing lyric or book-writing of the standard of Broadway…then you’ll be fine.
For what “Cinderel-lah!” may lack in sophistication in terms of lyrics and book, it more than makes up for in terms of entertainment value and feel-goodness.
If you have children, I strongly recommend you bring them to go catch “Cinderel-lah!” as it promises hours of spectacular entertainment that somehow cleverly manages to give both the children as well as the adults something to laugh, marvel and be enthralled at.
This may have been one of W!ld Rice’s earliest attempts at a full-length musical, but it still remains one of their very best.
Buttons In The Bread 