By Amir Hafizi Urgh. For some reason, when the arts community decides to embark on a production that have frogs who dream of singing, they get all “cheesed out”. All that reservoir of cheesiness, all that pent-up corniness. Yes, that corny energy, unleashed upon the unsuspecting public. Just look at “Frogway” ‘s television spot — […]
By Juliet Jacobs Little Mission Impossible: should we Expect the Impossible? Tell us more about the musical. Little Mission Impossible makes the impossible possible on stage. It’s a children’s musical adventure that sees the journey of Ai Ya-Ya, a little pixie, in a quest to maintain the colours of the world. She runs into numerous […]
By Jess C Those who are familiar with classical Chinese literature will have heard of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the legendary, ill-fated ‘Butterfly Lovers’ of yore. When Dama Orchestra — almost synonymous for their high quality and unique presentations of Shanghai-style shi dai qu — decided to stage this well-loved tale as the group’s […]
By Nigel Skelchy 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 […]
By CH Loh Long long ago in a galaxy far far away there was a land whose people enjoyed a good twist or two, and whose womenfolk wore tight fitting kebayas that accentuated their curves, and original songs and movies were peppered with naughty fun. It was a bygone era — when it was all […]
By CH Loh Twenty years ago in a small basement room in a school in Singapore there was a piano, and on weekends a secret gathering took place around it. Young aspiring divas would convene and live out their dreams of stardom, emulating their favourite Broadway heroines belting out show tunes with attitude and imaginary […]
By Sharaad Kuttan It is near impossible to write about Lelaki Komunis Terakhir without dealing with the immediate politics of the affair; the circus of the UMNO-directed banning (including the Arts Minister’s intervention) as well as a divided media, caught between anti-communist hysteria and liberal breast-beating. So perhaps the only thing to do in order […]
By Zedeck Siew After watching Amir Muhammad’s Lelaki Komunis Terakhir l remembered I had a copy of In Search of the Revolution: A Brief Biography of Chin Peng, by historian CC Chin. I rescued this from a pile of dusty paper in my room several days later. It begins with a flourish: “There is no […]
By Antares M! The Opera, staged at Istana Budaya from Thu 23 Mar to Sun 2 Apr 2006, is arguably the most ambitious and esoteric piece of music theatre ever conceived and produced in Malaysia. I’m awed by Saidah Rastam’s perseverance and stamina, and gratified that after such a protracted incubation, her monumental vision has […]
By Shanon Shah Judging from the last two big budget Malaysian musicals I caught at Istana Budaya – Hang Li Po & Rubiah the Musical – I was ready to dismiss its latest offering, Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical, as yet another patronising and jingoistic production that is spending a lot of money and clichéd […]
By Sherry Siebel Tiara Jacquelina has always wanted to play the immortal enchantress-princess of Mount Ophir, that most mystical creature of all Malay legend. And what Tiara wants, Tiara gets. So when the bijoux gem that is Puteri Gunung Ledang was released by Enfiniti Productions with great pomp and circumstance in 2004, the resultant recherché […]
By Cheryl Tan On first impression, Pygmalion the musical seems larger than life. Just look at it, for goodness sake. It’s humongous. The sets and costumes themselves are almost enough to make you go watch it. They’re certainly enough to make any performer wannabe (ie. me) drool, so kudos to Loo Jia Wei and Loh. […]
By Maya Tan Abdullah What makes a Malaysian musical Malaysian? It’s written by a Malaysian even though it could be about a bunch of Italians It’s set in Malaysia with Malaysian characters and traditional Malaysian music It’s a musical from somewhere else but wholly performed by Malaysians It’s written by a foreigner but is about […]
By Zulkifli Mohamad Sewaktu melangkah masuk ke Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, lampu panggung masih terang dan kita seperti dilindungi lelangit kayu yang bertaburan lampunya seperti bintang-bintang. Sekilas terkenang saya pada sajak Usman Awang “Bintang Di Langit Zaman” yang saya baca sewaktu di sekolah rendah. Drama Musikal Uda dan Dara pula adalah asalnya sebuah sajak Usman Awang […]
By Shanon Shah Everyone knows this folklore, so there is no ending to be given away. On the day of her engagement ceremony, just as the ring was about to be slipped onto her finger, Rubiah vanished mysteriously. The end. The character of Rubiah is based on the myth of the “keramat anak dara” which […]
By Lee Jia Ping Riding high on the commercial success of their last production Siddharta, the producers of Above Full Moon had billed this new production as a show that would take the local musical theatre scene to a ‘newer level’. In my view, it succeeded in that respect, as it showed that with the […]
By Shanon Shah To turn a historical figure or moment into a musical, one needs a cult of personality, a particular chain of events unfolding an incredible destiny, that certain larger than life quality that only the sweep and pomp of musical theatre can justify. In The King and I, it was the clash of […]
By Yap Sui Lin It is raining torrentially. We – my eagerly-awaiting-Irish-dancing-of-any-kind aunt, my game-for-everything mom and I – are caught in the typical bumper-to-bumper scenario. Can we make it? It seems bleak. Perhaps our burning desire to see ‘Dance of Desire’ at Genting moved the weather gods to stop the rain at last. As […]
By Antares Some things you never forget. Like learning to French-kiss and finding yourself on Cloud Nine with a sore tongue and simply adoring the sensation. At 15 I was in the habit of “borrowing” my dad’s car and going to parties where some of the couples danced joined at the loins through the night. […]
By Antares There’s a website where you can answer a few questions and determine precisely what your belief system is. I got 100% for Unitarian Universalism, 98% for NeoPaganism, and only 8% for Roman Catholicism. Gardner and Wife Productions claim they debated the theological correctness of NUNSENSE with prominent Catholics before deciding to Malaysianize and […]
