BT ARTS The smartphone way to see a tropical jungle / 27 The Business Times, Pg 28, 10 February 2017 MUSIC A different Metallica on Source: The Business Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. new record / 26 Permission@BTLifestyle | BTLifestyle required for reproduction 28 Lifestyle The Business Times | Friday, February 10, 2017 | Kicking off the bumper year for musicals are (clockwise from top left) February’s school comedy Detention Katong, March’s nursery rhyme fantasy Itsy, April’s Swinging Sixties homage Tropicana, followed by feathers-and-sequins satire La Cage Aux Folles. PHOTOS: DREAM ACADEMY, THE FINGER PLAYERS, TROPICANA THE MUSICAL, W!LD RICE THE S’PORE MUSICAL BOOM Seen a local musical lately? You should. The scene is thriving, with hot new talents and international dreams. BY HELMI YUSOF LEN Goei recalls the challenges Meanwhile, local theatre companies recog- Though she is accustomed to producing of the music scene such as Wilson David, pay-offs can be huge. Besides Pangde- of directing the local musical nise the ready pool of talents and have sketch-based shows like the Dim Sum Dollies, Larry Lai and Vernon Cornelius, as well as monium’s musicals, Dream Academy’s revues Kampong Amber in 1994: “My ramped up the number of musical produc- Meenah & Cheenah and Happily Ever ex-Tropicana staff.” and W!ld Rice’s annual pantomimes are ex- goodness, it was so hard to find tions. This year, there are at least nine music- Laughter, Tan wanted to challenge herself to Meanwhile, Chong Tze Chien, the com- tremely popular and big money-spinners for the cast. We needed people who als by Singapore companies big and small – create a more traditional musical that brings pany director of The Finger Players, is work- the companies. Some musicals from the could act and sing, and be able to come for re- from established ones like Dream Academy the audience through the “highs and lows of a ing with composer Darren Ng to write the 1980s and 1990s, such as Beauty World and G and Pangdemonium to younger firms like Fried Rice Paradise, have entered the canon hearsals at specified times. And it was almost single plot that comes to a satisfying conclu- story and lyrics of an original family musical impossible. No one was doing it full-time. Glowtape Productions, and even independent sion”. titled Itsy. and are revived frequently. “In the end, I had to co-produce it with the producers like Tan Kheng Hua. She’s not alone in rising to the challenge of Inspired by nursery rhymes, Itsy tells the These also include Singapore Repertory Singapore Armed Forces Music & Drama Com- Striking the right chord the complex form. Seasoned playwrights story of a boy (Oliver Chong) tormented by Theatre’s Forbidden City, a 2002 musical pany, because it was the only place I could such as Haresh Sharma and Chong Tze Chien, the evil Itsy Bitsy Spider (Sebastian Tan) and centred on 19th century Empress Dowager Dream Academy kicks off the year’s string of find full-time performers with those skills.” both acclaimed for serious dramas, are mak- his army of spiders. His grandfather (Lim Kay Cixi, which has developed something of a cult original musicals with Detention Katong, a Fast-forward 23 years later where Goei is in- ing their forays into the genre. Siu) comes to the rescue and, along the way, following among musical fans. The com- spirited school musical about good girls go- pany’s artistic director Gaurav Kripalani re- volved in not one but two musicals by W!ld Sharma, a Cultural Medallion recipient, is befriends other children’s book characters ing bad – but in a good way. veals: “We have had the most requests to Rice: he’s directing April’s La Cage Aux Folles, writing the book for Tropicana The Musical such as Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill. Dream Academy’s founder Selena Tan dir- restage this. And based on the amazing a hilarious caper about liberals versus conser- scheduled for an April debut. Set in the Chong explains: “It took us three years to ects and writes the book and lyrics with a take-up rate for tickets since we launched vatives, and performing in November’s Mama swinging 1960s when Singapore was in many create this. But it gave us a chance to work team of composers headed by Elaine Chan. sales last week, there are lots of people who White Snake, a pantomime inspired by the ways more permissive than it is today, Tropic- with people outside of our usual circle of col- Her lead actress is Valerie Choo, also a Lasalle want to watch it or watch it again.” Chinese legend. ana imagines life in the city’s real-life cabaret laborators ... As a creative, it’s fun for me to alumna. The 30,000 tickets to the show which re- When W!ld Rice held an audition this week nightspot which opened in 1968 and closed in work on a different genre, although the para- Tan herself is a musical pioneer. In the turns on Aug 8 are selling fast. Pop singer Kit 1989. meters of what makes good theatre are still for one female role, 45 actresses showed up. 1990s, she starred in musicals such as Twist Chan, who originated the role of the Empress Sharma, who is the resident playwright of “And they were all good!” says Goei. “They of Fate and Chang & Eng, singing the ballad very much the same. Itsy has given me a and is reprising it, is part of the draw. The in- The Necessary Stage (TNS), says: “This is per- were trained, talented and doing this Mai Phen Rai which many musical lovers still chance to challenge the common idea that mu- clusion of new songs and West End star Earl haps the biggest drama production I’ve been full-time.” happily hum today. sicals are fluffy shows meant for the masses, Carpenter (Les Miserables) and Broadway sen- involved in. And while I admit to my sheer In just two decades, the industry has un- She says: “In the old days, we were all when in fact some of them deal with very sation Steffanie Leigh (Mary Poppins) doesn’t lack of experience in this genre, I’m bringing dergone a sea change. Art schools and col- part-timers. When we sang and danced, it was weighty issues.” hurt. to it the TNS style of devising scripts, research- leges like Lasalle College of the Arts, Nanyang self-taught and instinctive. In comparison, Though populated by children’s book char- Meanwhile, Forbidden City has blazed the Academy of Fine Arts and School of the Arts the eight girls I’ve cast in Detention Katong are ing and improvising scenes with the artists, acters, Itsy contains dark themes such as fear trail for The Great Wall: One Woman’s journey, have produced a stream of young talents. mostly trained in theatre and music schools. talking for hours about the marriage of song and sickness. “We think it is a timely produc- another homegrown musical centred on a Lasalle, for instance, launched its Musical They bring to the stage a variety of skills that and dialogue ... We even had a particularly tion considering the political climate of the Chinese legend set to open in July. Written by Theatre course in 2004, the first in Asia. It has amaze me.” meaningful afternoon where we met pioneers world right now,” adds Chong. Jean Tay in collaboration with British com- graduated 76 students to date, among them poser and lyricist David Shrubsole and Aus- High costs, high rewards Elena Wang who’s starred in West End and tralian director Darren Yap, The Great Wall Broadway musicals, as well as Mina Kaye, Itsy is one of The Finger Players’ biggest and centres on Meng Jiang Nü who, as legend has Seong Hui Xuan and Benjamin Chow, all three most expensive productions to date. A mod- it, brought the Great Wall down with her tears of whom have nabbed awards at the ST Life! Gotta sing, gotta dance est drama production typically costs between for her dead husband. Theatre Awards for stage musical perform- S$80,000 to S$100,000. But musicals are Tay is well-known for serious dramas such as Everything But The Brain and Boom, but ances. DETENTION KATONG THE GREAT WALL: ONE WOMAN’S much more complex and expensive, possibly says that it was musicals that paved the way Meanwhile, other talents such as Julian Esplanade Theatre, Feb 17 to March 5 JOURNEY costing between 10 and 15 times that for her becoming a playwright: “I used to Wong and Nathan Hartono have returned Dream Academy’s original musical about Drama Centre Theatre, July 14 to 30 amount. listen to the soundtrack of Les Miserables to home from prestigious foreign institutions good girls gone bad – but in a good way. Glowtape Productions’ musical about the Tracie Pang of Pangdemonium has built a such as Berklee College of Music to lend their legendary Meng Jiang Nü and the Great reputation for being adept at directing both sleep. My love of Broadway and West End mu- talents here. ITSY Wall of China. dramas and musicals. Pangdemonium’s sicals eventually led me to a wider appreci- There are now numerous young “triple Victoria Theatre, March 24 to April 2 year-end musicals have become one of the ation of theatre.” threats” – folks who can act, sing and dance – The Finger Players explores the dark side FORBIDDEN CITY – PORTRAIT OF must-see events of the theatre calendar. This She adds: “The best part of writing a mu- sical is the extremely collaborative nature of such as Siti Khalijah Zainal, Audrey Luo, Ebi of nursery rhymes, with live performers AN EMPRESS year, it is staging the 2015 Tony Award win- Esplanade Theatre, Aug 8 to 20 creating the story.