Buttons In The Bread

Event: Just So (as part of SMU’s 10th Arts Festival)
Venue: Victoria Theatre
Run: 22nd Jan – 23rd Jan 2010

I recently attended the musical “Just So”, staged at the Victoria Theatre by the students from SMU as part of the school’s 10th Arts Festival 2010.

I’d never heard of the musical “Just So” before, but because my friend was one of the musicians in the band, and because it’s currently my goal to be exposed to as much musical theatre as possible, I gave it a shot.

First, the plus points.

I’d have to highly commend the entire cast and crew for putting up such a fine show.

I thought the talent on display was just astounding.

SMU can certainly boast of a number of fine musical theatre performers in their own right.

I was truly impressed by the quality of acting and singing on display.

Special mention must go to Ann Summers Lek, who played “Kolokolo Bird”, and Tay Zhenqian, whose introductory song as the “Rhino” (“Thick Skin”) was worth the price of admission alone.

The band, led by Elaine Chan, was faultless as well.

The only issue I had with the musical was the book itself.

(But this is no fault of anyone in SMU, simply because the musical was not written by them. It was written by Anthony Drewe and George Stiles in 1984, and was based on the “Just So Stories” by Rudyard Kipling.)

I don’t know about the rest of the audience, but I struggled to even grasp the main thrust of the story, and I found myself lost for the entire duration of the show…and as a result, I had absolutely no emotional involvement in the story whatsoever.

I just didn’t get what the plot was supposed to be all about.

It all seemed very weird and confusing.

Which is the number one thing a musical cannot afford to do – a musical cannot afford to have the audience become indifferent to the story, because no one will fully enjoy a musical in which he or she cannot get emotionally involved with the characters.

That’s the easiest way to lose an audience.

I thought the first one-third of “Just So” was terribly confusing and nebulous, and at times it just seemed like it was about two characters going on some sort of strange adventure, meeting new characters along the way, and doing the obligatory song-and-dance at every scene.

I mean, the songs were okay I guess (though very few tunes actually stood out for me), but there were many instances whereby it seemed like they launched into a song just for the sake of launching into a song.

(Another no-no for musical theatre, in my opinion.)

I think the best way is to ease into a song, and make the transition into a song seem like the most natural thing to do…and not talk half-way and then suddenly start singing and dancing.

It was a bit too contrived, I felt.

I must say though, that a lot of the lyrics were excellent.

I remember many instances whereby I heard some of the rhymes and I just shook my head and went “Wow, that’s amazing stuff right there.”

All in all, I was highly disappointed with the show, not because of anything the SMU students did.

I thought they did a fantastic job in the production, staging and presentation.

It’s just a pity I felt the book let them down.

I just caught this musical put up as one of the SMU Arts Festival 2010 items, of which I would never have known about if my friend hadn’t told me about it.

Incidentally, I think I managed to enjoy it a little tad better than him (who didn’t like the show…mainly because he found that the plot was weak) due to the fact that I didn’t have high expectations of it to start with, because:

1. It was a school production. (I have never had high expectations of school musicals)
2. I didn’t think it was going to be a serious musical, i.e. I thought it was a “just for fun” kind of performance.
3. I have totally forgotten what the story was about or the origins of the musical (I only recalled it was an adaptation from a supposedly well-known musical of the same name). But after tonight, I found out that it was an award-winning musical originally produced by Cameron Mackintosh, and based on Rudyard Kipling’s stories, although I never knew the writers for the show (ok, maybe George Stiles sounded slightly familiar). Also, this particular SMU rendition was directed by Sebastian Tan, with Jimmy Ye as vocal director.
4. I have never heard of “Just So” before, so I expected it to be “just so” (pun).

Anyway, a post-mortem of the show over gelato gave us an overview of each of our impressions of the show (btw, “discovered” that Sappore Italiano was not just a coffee place, so must eat there some day. It’s run by Italians!).

Here’s my honest opinion. I wouldn’t say it was a fantastic musical, but I wouldn’t say it’s all that bad.
First and foremost, I was actually very surprised that the cast was very good, even though they were SMU undergrads. They could sing and act quite well. So that kind of raised my opinion of the performance…by a lot.
Secondly I felt the setting interesting, which was fictional (fulfills 1 criteria), especially with all the animals. Although it felt a like a show for kids (which I think it was partly meant to be), with some educational element, but in a more adult manner. I think it related to the story of how the animals got their skins and patterns, which we might have heard before as a child. Another interesting part was it took on the style of a storytelling session even though the storyteller (the magician) also played a role throughout the story.
Thirdly, the words/lyrics were actually quite witty.
Fourthly, there were minimal props, but I liked the way they used umbrellas and ladders in different ways.

“So, what (do you think) the story was about” was a question my friend posed to me, to see if the plot was really “there”. Well, briefly, I would say it’s the story of the coming of age of the lead character through a quest that he sets out to complete, with a slight touch about friendship. I think the story was mainly focused on some moral, like how with perseverance and a fearless spirit (and innocence) will one be able to achieve one’s goal despite what other people say. Also, each of us are unique and we need to develop this characteristic through self-discovery and finding one’s place in the whole system of things.

Ok, after the post-mortem, I did give it some thought again, and I realised that besides the point that the music was kind of hazy to me, you can actually eliminate or change the scenes in between (which as my friend described as quite meaningless) as they did not serve as a catalyst or push in some way to the ending. So maybe that’s why the links within the plot were lost…i.e. no buildup, and no identification with the lead character as a result.

And this was what gatecrash wrote of the synopsis:
“Based on the immortal short stories of Rudyard Kipling, the musical Just So is set at the beginning of time when animals were first created. This fantastic journey takes audiences along the banks of Africa’s great Limpopo River, together with an amazing collection of weird, but wonderful creatures.
Resonating with themes of individuality, discontentment, and eventual self-acceptance, the musical celebrates the uniqueness of life and the power of questions as the animals find out who they really are, both inside and out. Coupled with humorous character personalities and catchy numbers, Just So is a treat for the young and the young at heart.”

And here‘s on the original production.

So that explains the ‘weak’ storyline since it’s based on short stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, but one useful information I gleaned from the programme booklet (which curiously didn’t include any synopsis) was that there will be a re-staging of 《雨季》 (December Rain) in August, Singapore’s 1st large-scale Chinese musical (1996) co-written by Jimmy Ye and Liang Wenfu. Will be looking forward to that.

I caught Wi!d Rice’s Beauty and the Beast pantomime with my mum yesterday and rather enjoyed it. As it was considered “family entertainment”, it was more light-hearted and interactive, with less need to try to understand the “jokes”, although they did try to put in some elements/subtle references from the likes of the “beauty queen saga”, pole dancing restrictions, etc. I won’t say it’s exceedingly funny, but it was entertaining, with the song & dance.

Now, about the music. There were some more memorable ones like “Cold Feet” and “A Big Girl Now”, but I think they were reminiscent of last year’s Snow White (I was reminded of “Love at Second Sight”). Maybe because it was Elaine Chan again. Not that it’s a bad thing or anything, but I guess it’s her style for the pantomimes.

Event: Beauty and the Beast
Venue: Drama Centre Theatre
Run: 25th Nov – 19th Dec 2009

I recently caught this year’s installment of W!ld Rice’s annual year-end pantomime “Beauty and the Beast”, currently showing at the Drama Centre Theatre till 19th December and starring the likes of Karen Tan, Emma Yong, Chua Enlai and Lim Kay Siu.

I shan’t write an overly lengthy post on this, so let me just try to be as succinct as I can.

W!ld Rice has been at it for many years, and their experience and competence in staging a musical production of such a nature is easily evident the moment the musical starts.

The production was a constant feast for the eyes, thanks to the glorious costumes and props being used.

There are few finer experiences in local theatre than watching Chua Enlai in drag.

He has been at it for a number of productions now, and he’s in danger of bringing the art to perfection.

Laughs aplenty.

And of course, as is the trend in almost all local comedy productions lately, there was the inevitable poke at our dear “boomz” and “shingz” lady.

The songs to the entire musical were fully original, with lyrics by Alfian Sa’at and music by Elaine Chan.

I thought the songs were generally well done, but the one that stood out for me in particular was one which I believe goes by the title of “Come Closer”.

(It’s the one where Beauty sings together with The Beast…the one about “two left feet” or something.)

I think Elaine Chan excels at the slow, lyrical songs.

Perhaps I found it hard to shake off the overbearing memory of Disney’s own version of “Beauty and the Beast”, the gold standard which looms menacingly over all other noble attempts at retelling this enchanting tale, such that I couldn’t help but keep comparing this W!ld Rice production to the Disney cartoon-movie.

(And it didn’t help that “Beauty and the Beast” is one of my favourite Disney movies of all time!)

So there were parts at which I had half-expected Belle…er, I mean “Beauty” (as she is called in the W!ld Rice production) to break out into:

“Little town, it’s a quiet village
Every day like the one before…”

or:

“There’s something sweet, and almost kind
But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined…”

If you’re a fan of the Disney movie, you’d know what I’m referring to.

I just couldn’t shake it off.

But that is a fault that is completely my own.

In conclusion, if you’ve got kids or if you’re looking for good family entertainment this holiday season, you’d do well to go catch the folks at W!ld Rice doing what they do best…and that is stage a funny, colourful, and enjoyable musical that entertains one and all.

I caught the musical “Lost in Transit” tonight and well, I found the songs quite nice, except that it seemed there were too many reprises (at least I thought they were reprises).
The storyline was a bit too predictable and you know right from the start what is going to happen. It might have been done better if there were an interval.

The lead female singer/actress was not bad, but 1 of the male leads (the boyfriend character) seemed a bit awkward in his acting, even though he sang quite ok.

A good effort nonetheless by Musical Theatre Ltd.