M1 Singapore Fringe Festival Overview

I'm just doing a little lead up to Fringe Fest '12: Art and Faith. Events kick off on 15 Feb, so get your tickets now you guys, it's definitely going to be awesome as always!

LIVE FRINGE:

Cane by Loo Zihan (R18)

19 Feb, 8pm

The Substation

This is sold out and all, but you can check out this video below for what it'd probably have looked like if you got tickets. For those of you who DID snap up those tickets within the first few days, then it's a nice preview/spoiler of what's happening at the Substation for one night only.

All Singaporeans like a good, controversial affair after all (:

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[Black Square] by the Van Huynh Company,

25-26 Feb

Esplanade Theatre Studio

Fringe seems to be heavy on the dance this year, though the dances this year seem to be more cross disciplinary. I have no idea what this is about, but it sounds explosive and energetic. The photos intrigue me.

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Tongues by Sean Tobin and Jason Wee

16-19 Feb

National Museum Gallery Theatre

I really want to watch this, because the concept is interesting (though not necessarily fresh) with corpses in a morgue wondering about the afterlife. God knows how sexuality comes into the picture or why it's called 'Tongues", but that curiosity is precisely what makes me want to catch it.

(Featuring Nora Samosir, Faizal Muhammad, Walter Hanna and Serena Ho.)

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Hantaran Buat Mangsa Lupa (Offerings for the victims of Amnesia) by Teater Ekamatra

16-18 Feb

The Substation

THIS. Teater Ekamatra's work has only gotten stronger and more thought provoking over the years, such as 2010/2011's Charged. Previously, Ekamatra staged the absurdist Bilik Ahmad Berdaki for 2010's Fringe Fest, which I seriously regret not watching because it sounded so conceptually thrilling. Hantaran is another trilogy of plays, and if anything, seems to promise to grapple with questions and issues with Islam. In a poetic and theatrical way!

Featuring Sani Hussin, Mastura Ahmad and Rian Asrudi.

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Singapore by The Necessary Stage

15-19 Feb

Esplanade Theatre Studio

First staged for Singapore Arts Fest 2011, I personally don't think this was one of TNS' best works. However, you SHOULD watch it for the cast, all of whom are superb actors. It asks a lot of questions, though doesn't answer them. It's not the deepest or most thought provoking work, but it's quite enjoyable in its own right. Necessary Stage never fails to deliver.

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Imam Hussein by Corposcopio Theatre

21-22 Feb

National Museum Gallery Theatre

So it's about violence and war, which I think are very relevant issues. This is one to watch, the premise is one of the most exciting offered from Fringe this year.

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At The Ark At 8 by Masterkaya Theatre

24-25 Feb

National Museum Gallery Theatre

On the other hand, this piece sounds extremely lighthearted. It's children's theatre after all. But that doesn't demean its quality at all. This is one to watch, I think it's been a while since Fringe brought in a children's theatre act, and WHO DOESN'T LOVE EXISTENTIALIST PENGUINS?

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The Prayer by Eng Kai Er

22-23 Feb

The Substation

Existentialist dancing! I have no idea how they would bring across existentialist themes via dance, but then again, I'm not well versed in that discipline. But hey, existentialist dancing! Who knows how it's going to play out? Exciting.

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INRI by Cie. Zerogrammi

23-24 Feb

Esplanade Theatre Studio

Cross disciplinary theatre-dance discussing Catholic issues. Why INRI as a title though? Hmm.

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Hymn of Angelology by Muse Motion

21-22 Feb

Esplanade Theatre Studio

This piece sounds very abstract but interesting. From the pictures, there's going to be BALLOONS. I have no idea what it's about, but it incorporates the Tower of Babel, and ends up talking about friendship. I'm quite strongly considering catching this if possible.

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Mighty Ballistic by Josephine Turalba

18-19 Feb

Esplanade Waterfront

IT'S FREE. Need I say more? Well, it involves sculpture and video and performance and soundscape so, it's probably going to be a feast for the senses. And it's outdoors! Always an interesting place for theatre to be held.

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(Not going to cover the visual arts exhibits, they all sound pretty cool though, so go see for yourself what they're like. Also, they're al FOC, so knock yourselves out.)

One thing I do lament is the lack of Sonic Fringe, which brought in exciting fringe acts like Taiwan's katncandix2 and Malaysia's flica (2010) and South Korea's Oldfish (2011). Still, this year, Fringe's offerings look to be as interesting and thought provoking as ever, and I can't wait for it to get started.

P.S. Personally, I'm planning to catch Imam Hussein, At The Ark At 8, Hantaran Buat Mangsa Lupa and Mighty Ballistic, as well as all the free exhibits. I still need to save money for Spring Awakening after all, and I'm trying to find a date so I can take advantage of the 2 For 1 Student Deal. Despite Pangdemonium!'s tacky name, I can't express how thankful I am that there are always significant DISCOUNTS.

W!LD RICE Presents - The Re-staging of Sell-out Hit Show; Cooling Off Day 22 February - 11 March 2012

 
Why do you vote?
What issues influenced you?
What does citizenship mean to you?
In the electrifying months leading up to the watershed 2011 General Elections, and in the tumultuous months after, playwright Alfian Sa’at interviewed Singaporeans to discover their responses to these searching questions. Boldly putting aside concerns about secrecy, the interviewees opened their hearts to share what they honestly felt and what they truly believe.

Covering a wide social and political spectrum, the candid interviews capture the GE experience through the voices of individual Singaporeans – from election candidates to pro-establishment civil servants; from taxi-drivers to teachers; from diehard opposition supporters to young people casting their virgin votes. From the transcripts of these reallife interviews emerges a script that chronicles the momentous event that not only rocked the boat, but created startling ripples that are still widening even now.

The private clashes behind the public debates... the personal convictions behind the party politics... even that unforgettable moment as they finally stood alone in the polling booth with pen in hand, poised to make their mark... These interviews – some hopeful, some fearful, some hilariously frank, some achingly honest – form a portrait of Singaporeans confronting the real meaning of democracy and rediscovering their roles in shaping the country’s future.

An ensemble of our most versatile actors, playing characters aged 17 to 70, takes on these Singaporean voices – in a playful and poignant piece of testimony theatre that proves how political views are not just the hot air of coffeeshop talk.

Dates: 22-Feb to 11 Mar
Venue: SOTA Drama Theatre
Time: 3pm (sat, sun), 8pm (wed, thu, fri, sat, sun) *No performance on Mondays & Tuesdays
Ticketing: SISTIC
Prices: $44, $49, $54 (Wed, Thu, Sun 8pm)
$49, $54, $59 (Fri, Sat 8pm & Sat, Sun 3pm)

EARLY BIRD SALE starts 9 Jan to 1 Feb:20% discount with OCBC Cards
15% discount for General Public

iChestnuts15 by STAGES

written and directed by Jonathan Lim, music by Bang Wenfu

Hmmm... perhaps it was the lukewarm matinee crowd, or perhaps it was the last-weekend-before-chinese-new-year jam that I had to endure (it took me an hour to get to Raffles Hotel), or maybe perhaps it was the hospital which ate up every element of fun within me, or maybe it was just the annoying guy sitting behind me trying to impress his friends who he knows (or rather not know) about Chestnuts, but I didnt find iChestnuts very outstanding this time round.

Don't get me wrong, Jonathan Lim is still a genius, or what I like to call our-Singaporean-Hokkien-Sondheim. He tackles relevant issues this chestnuts as well, hitting the audience hard with much-taboo topics like Tony Tan and general elections. In fact, I thought the entire 'Into the Woods' parody of general elections and his adaptations of the Sondheim lyrics were wonderful! But therein lies the saaaaaaaad saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad part about this performance... this audience dont know sondheim at all. During the whole arc, the annoying guy behind me was telling the friends, "I don't know where is this show from." Maybe it was really the audience that I was with. Practically no one laughed at the Into the Booth segment. SIGH.

Expounding more on the incorrect target audience, it was lonely and sad for my friend and I to be the ONLY two people laughing when the curtain blinds rose in the opening of merlion king. Or when Tin Pei Lin said to Nicole Seah, "I want to make you my new project."

The usual crowd pleasers were still retained from the previous chestnuts. Revival of 88251, Kit Chan's schizophrenic performance, Pondan News Asia, Ivory Low brought the house down for the Chestnut virgins, but for oldies like me, I wished to see more.

Judee Tan showed me 2 years ago and last year at Broadway4Suakus that she is a small girl with a phenomenal voice. This chestnuts, while I got snippnets of her awesome voice, seeing her repeat Ivory Low left me rather hollow. Someone talent-spot her already and let her do bigger roles!

Is it a show worth catching? I have to say it still is. Chestnuts always give me a nice concluding feeling to the past year of local theatre, maybe this year much lesser than the previous years because it lacked the new umpf. But for the chestnut virgins or the infrequent chestnuts-goers, it is definitely still worth the exposure to Jonathan's annual masterpiece. But for those hard-core theatre finantics, perhaps it would be wise to pick a good timeslot to watch the show, so that you won't be embarrassed when you're the only one laughing in the theatre.

Is it because we have had a quiet year in theatre so there was no new thing for Jonathan Lim to spoof? Or could it be that everything last year was so well done that it was impossible for Jonathan Lim to spoof? Or maybe its just because the guy behind me KEPT TALKING. But one thing for sure, Karen Tan is indeed one of the most overworked actress last season!

Justwatchlah score: 3/5

Wicked: The Untold Story of The Witches of Oz 7/1/12

First post of 2012! Happy New Year (and upcoming CNY) to everyone! Here's to another great year of theatre ahead of us! :D

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Ok, so Wicked was one of the musicals I was first introduced to. Nevermind that it’s entered pop culture as one of the most well known recent musicals, with hits like Defying Gravity and For Good featured on various TV shows, Wicked has certainly created a legacy. Despite losing the Tony Award for Best Musical in its year to Avenue Q (which is just as amazing, albeit in different ways), Wicked is a magical extravaganza that promises much and delivers it too.

Well, I’m a little biased I guess, but I’ve been waiting years since I discovered it to catch a staging of the show. Thank god for the construction of MBS, because the Esplanade or National Library would never have allowed for the setting up of a hugeass dragon or the complicated clockwork inspired set.

Wicked has a lot of things going for it, so much that it helps mask the thin plot it follows. In all honesty, Wicked is a chick flick (play?) playing on the familiar ‘unexpected friends’ twist. It doesn’t matter that it’s a little shallow though, fast descending from a question of what is good or wicked to a battle over a boy. Gregory Maguire’s original novel tied all the Oz-ian elements in perfectly, and people who know the original Wizard of Oz mythos will be delighted at how cleverly everything is woven into the timeline.

In any case, the plot hardly matters when you have a fantabulous and catchy soundtrack, intricate and heavily designed set and costumes, and a great fanbase. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, even if Elphaba couldn’t hold her Defying Gravity note and lost a lot of energy in the second act. She still was alright though. Glinda on the other hand, despite heavily mimicking Kristin Chenoweth, managed to bring so much energy to the stage, completely amping up the blondeness to 11. One friend commented that he thought they were lip synching during Popular, considering how Glinda was jumping up and down and still singing well. I’m amazed. Fiyero has a great pop voice, but I felt his voice didn’t meld well with Elphaba’s in As Long As You’re Mine. Oh well. It’s a great cast, but kudos really goes out to the ensemble. The extended choreography was really well synced, and you can tell they’ve been doing this for a long time. I’m a little sad that For Good felt somewhat low energy, maybe it’s because the staging was a little flat, and I didn’t really feel the chemistry between Elphaba and Glinda. Still, as a whole, everything played out a lot like the Broadway version (watched a bootleg copy on YouTube), and of course, EVERYTHING is bigger and better live.

A major limitation everyone I’ve asked agrees with is the size of the stage. The amazing set is so huge that everyone looks squished. The problem would probably have been solved if the stage were bigger, but I guess, MBS has its limits too. It’s nice and deep, so the set can look bigger, but it’s just too narrow in terms of width, which is ok when one or two actors are onstage at once, but when the ensemble is out there dancing away, it’s a little claustrophobic. But hey, at least the set was gorgeous, from the flying monkeys, to the entire One Short Day scene (IN THE EMERALD CITYYYY), to…everything really. I want a personal bubble to travel on, a la Glinda. If you’re up close, you can really see the intricate detailing they put into the set, such as the Wizard’s giant mask and the cogs and things behind it.

One other thing I have to say again and again is the amazing soundtrack. Ok fine, it’s really pop and appealing, but isn’t that what makes us love it? All the refrains and reprises link it up nicely, such that even without watching the musical, you can kind of tell what happens by listening to the soundtrack alone. Bitch please, Defying Gravity is hands down one of the best showtunes written, I was practically bursting with joy when the scene started. They did a great job of it, even if it wasn’t Idina Menzel standard

All in all, GO SEE WICKED BECAUSE IT IS AWESOME. Screw the chick lit plot, go there and have a magical time, and suspend all disbelief and criticism to really kick back and have fun, I KNOW YOU CRITICS ARE OUT THERE.

Justwatchlah rating: 5/5, considering how everyone told me that the Australian cast would suck. I was blown away.

P.S. I feel really bad for not remembering any of the cast members names, but I’m a poor person who can’t be bothered to spend $20 on the programme booklet. On a side note, I recommend buying the VIP box tickets if you’re going in a group; seems to be much more worth it than the $150 tickets I bought :)

Spring Awakening by Pangdemonium! Productions

PANGDEMONIUM! Productions is proud to present the highly-anticipated Singapore premiere of the hit Broadway musical SPRING AWAKENING. Featuring a dynamic cast of exceptional young talents, under the direction of Tracie Pang (The Full Monty, The Pillowman), get ready to be awaken by the powerful, poignant music and life-affirming story of love and hope.

SPRING AWAKENING tells the tale of a group of teenagers embarking on a turbulent journey of self-discovery, each one experiencing a dramatic, psychological, emotional, spiritual, sexual awakening. Meet The Misfit, The Innocent, The Rebel, The Mamaʼs Boy, The Runaway, The Abused…and for these youths growing up in 1892, the only means of expressing their confusion, frustration and passion is music. Rock music.

SPRING AWAKENING is the electrifying, exhilarating Broadway musical adaption of the explosive play by Frank Wedekind. Set in the late 19th century, the repressed emotions of these tormented youths find a voice in the rebel yell of rip-roaring rock anthems and haunting, heart-wrenching ballads, offering the young characters a cathartic release and confessional channel into the realm of the 21st century. The genre-busting, time-shifting structure of this musical underscores the tragic timelessness of themes that everyone can relate to – the fragility and transience of youth.
 

The Broadway production was nominated for eleven Tony Awards, winning eight, including Best Musical, Best Direction, Best Book, Best Score and Best Actor. The show also won four Drama Desk Awards, while its London production won four Olivier Awards. Glee stars Jonathan Groff and Lea Michelle played the lead in the Original 2006 Broadway Production.

Preview: 3 February 2012
Show Dates: 4 – 26 February 2012
8pm: Tuesdays – Fridays
3pm & 8pm: Saturday & Sundays
No show on Mondays
Venue: Drama Centre Theatre, National Library

www.sistic.com.sg
Hotline: (65) 6348 5555

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Hikaru's note: TONY AWARD. What else need I say? The platform is already set up for a great show, and as long as we manage to pull it off (I am really hoping that we will!) this is going to be a great show. I think the DC stage might be a little too huge for Spring Awakening though, cos from I remembered, the show anchors on having a very small intimate relationship with its audience. But I'm really looking forward to it nonetheless. 

FIGHT

I remember I was quite shocked when I read the news on ST 2 weeks ago.. today, random facebook surfing made me stumble upon Otto Fong's blog. So I shamelessly copied this. Singapore already does not have enough theatrical talent. Please don't lose one more.

Broadway Show Review #5: How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying

This marks the last entry I make for Just Watch Lah before the year ends, and though the review is 2 months late, at least it's a few days shy of Daniel Radcliffe's departure from the role, before Glee's Darren Criss takes over, followed by Nick Jonas.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect when I booked tickets way back in March / April, a couple of months before the Tony Awards showcase. Yes, I'd read all the Harry Potter novels and seen most of the films, but remained skeptical about DR's stage presence, never mind his singing and dancing skills.

Of course, the producers were cashing it in, thanks to hordes of Harry Potter / DR fans who thronged the Al Hirschfeld Theatre every night. Still, The New York Times' Ben Brantley sniffed at his efforts, giving the performance a "6 out of 10", not to mention using the term "blankness" to describe the poor boy's facial expression.

If there's one valuable lesson I've learnt in recent years, it's never to trust the critics. Usually, this applies to film and TV show reviews. Now, I can also include theatre. Because Brantley is waaaaay off base in his assessment - my mum and I had the best time at this musical! :)

Like The Book Of Mormon, I managed to get my hands on the soundtrack months before seeing the show, so I became very familiar with the songs - a collection of energetic, upbeat pieces which parody office politics.

Unlike The Book Of Mormon, however, most of the jokes are left out of the cast recording, which added a lot to the overall enjoyment. The zippy punchlines came fast and furious from all directions, taking me by surprise and causing me to laugh so hard I needed a tissue to wipe tears from my eyes.

Every number is expertly executed, but a few definitely stand out. Grand Old Ivy is my personal favourite, featuring DR's J. Pierrepont Finch sucking up to his boss, J.B. Biggley, by pretending to be a fellow alumnus. It is a lengthy scene but full of wit and physical gags, perfectly timed despite its high level of difficulty. At the end of the segment, everyone was clearly out of breath, but the audience's rapturous applause and deafening cheers brought huge grins to all the actors' faces, and no doubt kept them going till the end.

DR may be the main draw, but his co-stars shone just as brilliantly. Tammy Blanchard, who plays ditzy redhead / Biggley's mistress Hedy La Rue, was a hoot as she tottered around in her tight dress and high heels, almost causing a riot every time she bent over to pick something up.

John Larroquette, who won a well-deserved Tony for his role as Biggley, is exceptional in his first Broadway role. I've seen him on The Practice - playing a vicious yet elusive homosexual serial killer ( yes, you read correctly ) - and watching him on Broadway as a completely different character was no less enjoyable. His comic timing is flawless, and his chemistry with DR is wonderful to watch.

Then, of course, we have DR. I totally disagree with Brantley's comments suggesting his performance is mechanical ( or more accurately, "automaton" ). In fact, I am so impressed with what I saw that I now have new-found respect for his work ethic, and have become a loyal fan. The Harry Potter films are way below what he's actually capable of!

Can he sing? Very well! Can he dance? Absolutely! Is he funny? Extremely! Is he likeable? He's adorable!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Broadway is the toughest test of any actor's mettle, so when someone can make an easy, comfortable living from doing movies exclusively, yet chooses to spend a prolonged period on stage, taking a significant pay cut in return for a gruelling schedule, I give him/her 2 thumbs up.

[ For Kevin Spacey, I give him countless standing ovations. :) ]

Hugh Jackman will end his solo show run in January, but fret not, there's a continuous stream of A-list actors honing their craft at the New York theatres, among them Alan Rickman in Seminar ( currently playing ), then Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield ( aka the new Spider-man ) in Death Of A Salesman ( opens in February ).

My appreciation for theatre, though hardly on par with my enthusiastic fellow bloggers', will continue to grow. All I'd like to say to our loyal readers is: Keep supporting the arts, and as Mr. Spacey wrote in his autograph for my cousin's daughter - "go to more theatre!".

p.s. One wish I have for 2012 - can the cast of The Noose do a play together, as characters from the show? I would LOVE to see that! :D

On that note, Happy New Year! :)