There is always that moment of\ntrepidation when a curtain rises on a musical for the first time. If the impact\nof the first scene is less than a sonic boom, it muffles the rest of the\nmusical. What more an all Malaysian musical written by two untried and untested\nneophytes? It is the rare one that lives up to the promise of their glossy\nliterature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Broken Bridges<\/em>,\nrunning at KLPac – Pentas 1 right now, opens humbly enough with a beggar woman\n(Fang Chyi) shuffling quietly onto stage. Then the sepia toned frames, doubling\nas backdrops, are whisked apart as the townsfolk enter singing “Lively\ntown, lovely town, Where it’s bound to astound… ” From the sweet solo\nstrains of Fang’s voice as she wanders the streets at dawn to the Ah Sohs\ngoing, “how’s the kalian, not so nice, get some tau foo,” to the men\njoining in with their baritone, the opening number builds to a big, rousing\nbroadway finish, and nicely segues into the introduction of the protagonists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Set in Ipoh of 1959, Ming and Leong are teens who have just completed their Senior Cambridge. Leong is content to eventually take over his father’s business and make a brand out of Chan Durians. But Ming, son of a coffee shop owner, Wong, is full of dreams and is chomping at the bit to leave Ipoh and make a name for himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chan and Wong, the boys’ fathers,\nhowever have other plans. They waste no time in arranging the marriage of Ming\nto Chan’s 17 year old daughter, Siew Yee. With great reluctance, Ming goes on a\ndate with her. The three aunties, Yat Soh, Yee Soh, and Sam Soh (although she\nhas a Chinese title, she is, in Muhibbah Malaysia, an Indian), coach the\nadolescent girl in the arts of attracting a man (men are like char siew pau,\n“white and clean on the outside but red and meaty on the inside”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the two youths return from\ntheir date, the fathers joyfully announce their intentions much to Ming’s\ndismay. It is this conflict of interests that drives the plot to its unexpected\nbut appropriate end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Likeable small town folks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Broken Bridges<\/em>,\nas directed by Joe Hasham and produced by Datuk Faridah Merican, is structured\nin typical musical theatre style from start to end and makes no pretensions to\nbe anything other than a piece of great entertainment. And as entertainment, it\nnaturally stars some heavy hitters. Douglas Lim, of Kopi Tiam fame leads the\ncast of very seasoned veterans in the role of Ming. Other notables include the\ncabaret comedienne Joanne Kam Poh Poh as Yat Soh and popular TV actor Tony\nEusoff as Ringo. Choir trainer Colin Kirton plays Ming’s father, Wong. Ming’s\nbest friend Leong is played by Ho Soon Yoon and his father, Chan, is played by\ncomedian Monti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The leads have their coming timing\ndown pat and the one-liners are delivered with much aplomb. The audience is naturally\ndrawn to the likable small town folks. The loyal friend is played to great\neffect by Ho Soon Yoon who injects his performance with empathy, and frivolity.\nDouglas Lim PERFORMS — as opposed to just SINGS — his role to perfection. His\ntheatricality, the larger than life gestures, and the emotive singing are\nperfect for musical theatre. And Yes, Douglas Lim can sing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kudos to Colin Kirton who acts with\nsuch nuance that although he plays this tradition bound father who is overly\nstrict with his son, you feel for his pain and bewilderment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yat Soh, Yee Soh, and Sam Soh, the\ndragon ladies, played by Joanne Kam Poh Poh, Chan Wen Li, and Pangasaanii G,\nadd much colour to the fabric of lpoh society as portrayed in Broken Bridges<\/em>. The trio are reminiscent\nof the mice in the movie Babe<\/em>. Unlike\nthe mice however, they are active participants in the plot and sub-plot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do the right thing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tony Eusoff does his usual star pirouette but his role begs more development. We don’t know enough about him for a character who is the catalyst for Ming’s decision to leave home. Same problem with Ming’s girlfriend, Mei Ling, played by Janice Yap, in the second half. She is introduced as a smart, modern girl with a penchant for reading and thinking — a stark contrast to the girls introduced to Ming by the intrepid trio of dragon ladies. Without much explanation however, she is eventually reduced to being the small town Ipoh girl stereotype. These two seem to have interesting back stories which could be explored further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another question mark is Ming’s\nargument with the townsfolk over Mei Ling’s fate. While it is obvious that the\ntownsfolk blames Ming, his retort that it is their fault is not explored,\nleaving a feeling that the townsfolk have too readily accepted his judgment in\nthe matter without any discussion. It feels glossed over, this issue of\npersonal responsibility and how people need to do the “right thing”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it’s unlikely that the\ncomposer and writer are intending to create a musical with issues, it’s the\nissues that make a story interesting. In a sense, everything that Ming’s father\nwas driven to do — arrange the marriage, dismiss his son’s aspirations as\nfrivolous, and ultimately deliver an ultimatum that becomes too hard to retract\n— stems from his own desire for his son to be secure and protected. The issue\nof the father-son relationship is at the heart of this musical and to a large\nextent any aspect of the plot that has an impact on it deserves some\nexploration. For example, what does Wong think of Ringo, Ming’s cousin, for example?\nIt’s possible that Wong despises Ringo. It’s also possible that he thinks the\nworld of his sophisticated nephew. Would he have been more willing to listen to\nreason if approached by Ringo about Ming’s leaving for Kuala Lumpur?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thankfully, however, none of these\nunsolved mysteries affect my enjoyment of the musical. They remain as\nintriguing questions that could be answered in part or in full in the next run,\nperhaps?<\/p>\n\n\n\n And for completely personal reasons,\nI think another portion deserving of more time is the cabaret boys scene. They\ncome out looking like outtakes from a Chippendales show and before you can\nblink, it is over. In a musical, any excuse for a cheesy, corny, sexy number is\nALWAYS welcome. Choy Le Roy, nice arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No pretensions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pacing is superb. There is not one\nmoment when the story drags. The singing is polished. The ensemble is well\nrehearsed by Mervyn Peters, timing is tight and the mood is nuanced. The music,\ndirected by James Boyle, sounds obviously computerised in parts. But given the\nbudget and the small orchestra, the music is pretty okay. Some voices sound\ntight and do not have the polish of Broadway performers (in a manner of\ncompliment, I don’t think it is unfair to compare them to the industry’s best\nat all).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The choreography by Pat Chan is not\nspectacular but is nevertheless serviceable. Look out for Joanne Kam’s\nfour-fingered instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The production designers deserve\nspecial mention. Loo Jia Wei and Arica Chia outdo themselves with the clever\nuse of mobile sets and those sepia toned photos of straits settlement shops on\nthe hanging frame. Discordance, disharmony, and discontent are visualised by\nskewing the hangings and using projectors to display images of cracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a musical that moves forward\nalmost 47 years in 2 hours, costumes can be particularly challenging. But Chin\nKhin Yeow deserves much praise. From pleated A line skirts to the drainpipe\ntrousers of the men, Broken Bridges<\/em>\nis certainly well-dressed for its times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In musical theatre, plot is secondary to the music. The music needs to be singable, clever, and able to advance the plot. No matter how cheesy or corny the plot could be, the music needs to reflect the mood of the scenes while a central theme tie the entire musical together. The opening number “Ipoh Town” seems to be the theme song but it is not reflected in the interludes. Hence it seems like the song is repeated 3 times rather than being used as a central motif binding the musical together like a ribbon on a present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The melodies are catchy and the\nlyrics original. The “question and answer” format of the conflict music —\nwith the singers “arguing” with each other — produces some of the\nslickest and cleverest songs I’ve heard in a long time. Look out for\n“Proud,” “Why,” and “No More” to catch this\nexciting bit of musical creativity. You will never have guessed that the\ncomposer and writer, Teng Ky-Gan and Lim Chuan Yik, are first timers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the whole, Broken Bridges<\/em> is accessible, empathetic, and ultimately\nentertaining. Everything a good musical should be. It has no pretensions to be\nanything other than what it is. Like a good Malaysian food court, it has\nsomething for everyone. Fun songs delivered well, interesting conflict to make\nthe audience root for the characters of their choice, poignant relationships,\nlove, anger, and blind ignorance. In short, people will find it very easy to\nrelate to, whether you are a child, a parent, a sibling, a best friend, or even\na well meaning neighbour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Huge claps on the back for everyone\nespecially to Teng Ky-Gan and Lim Chuan Yik. When’s the next one coming out\nboys?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Broken Bridges<\/em><\/strong> is running at KLPac- Pentas 1, from Sat 19 Aug – Sun 3 Sep 2006. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ~~~ <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nigel Skelchy is from the small town of Petaling Jaya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n First Published: 24.08.2006 on Kakiseni <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is always that moment of trepidation when a curtain rises on a musical for the first time. If the impact of the first scene is less than a sonic boom, it muffles the rest of the musical. What more an all Malaysian musical written by two untried and untested neophytes? It is the rare […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"iawp_total_views":5,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7758,7773,7774,7762],"tags":[3906,3905,3903,3901,573,3904,4077,3902,574,493,3908,1173,2136,3635,233,3750,49,3907,46,2695],"language":[7785],"writer":[7937],"class_list":["post-27588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artikel","category-muzikal","category-ulasan","category-teater","tag-arica-chia","tag-chin-khin-yeow","tag-colin-kirton","tag-douglas-lim","tag-faridah-merican","tag-ho-soon-yoon","tag-james-boyle","tag-joanne-kam-poh-poh","tag-joe-hasham","tag-klpac","tag-lim-chuan-yik","tag-loo-jia-wei","tag-mervyn-peters","tag-monti","tag-musical","tag-pat-chan","tag-review","tag-teng-ky-gan","tag-theatre","tag-tony-eusoff","language-inggeris","writer-nigel-skelchy-ms"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27588"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39166,"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27588\/revisions\/39166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27588"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=27588"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myartmemoryproject.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/writer?post=27588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}