Theatre review: Glass Anatomy The Musical 搭错车

The good thing first.  Della Ding Dang sang and performed well.  So did most of the cast: Julius Foo as the mute father, Jeffrey Low as the owner of record company, Judee Tan as the protagonist's neighbour.  What was disappointing however
was the weak script which did not allow the actors to give their best.  This production assumed you had seen the movie - most scenes were staged briefly without going in depth.  For example, the audience saw the father, a former soldier, held his neck in pain.  Those who watched the movie knew that his throat was slit by the opposing side during a battle.

While the director attempted to apply a contemporary approach to this musical, the script and the direction did not gel.  The dialogue was quite melodrama whereas the contemporary stage design and the use of Greek-style chorus seemed to alienate the audience, and even the actors.

And of course the songs. It is always risky to tackle those classic songs.  I felt that the music arrangement really killed most of the songs, either slowing down the tempo or in different presentation.  The use of certain portions of the songs repeatedly did not really help.

If you hold the classic Julie Su Rui songs close to your heart, you should consider giving this musical a miss.