My favourite arts performances for 2012

2012 has come to an end.  The following is a list of performances that I like:


(1) Zhang Hui Mei's AMeiZing World Tour (Jan). After so many years, she still gave a good performance.  Not all segments were enjoyable, but her acoustic and her non-stop ballads segments definitely were memorable.

(2) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf directed by Nelson Chia at the Huayi Festival.  A good cast, good scrpt and tight directing.  There is definitely hope for Singapore Chinese Theatre. http://clumsycompass.blogspot.sg/2012/01/huayi-festival-2012.html

(3) Lao Jiu: The Musical by The Theatre Practice (Jul).  This restaging was a triumph.  The script, the music, the cast, the directing - all have improved leaps and bounds.  Maybe they could relook and restage Liao Zai Rocks!

http://clumsycompass.blogspot.sg/2012/07/lao-jiu-musical.html

(4) Soul Journey - Cicada Zen by Siong Leng Musical Association (July).  Taking an old art form and giving it new life.  The group succeded this time in fusing various elements into this performance: multimedia, sand artist, Indian music.  Awaiting their next production. http://clumsycompass.blogspot.sg/2012/07/soul-journey-cicada-zen-by-siong-leng.html

(5) The pop concerts at F1 (Sep):  Big names, good performances from Maroon 5, Katy Pery and Noel Galliger's High Flying Birds.  But can the organisers do something to the audience area please? 
 http://clumsycompass.blogspot.sg/2012/09/noel-gallaghers-high-flying-birds-katy.html

(6) Philip Genty's Voyages to Nowhere (Nov).  A return to Singapore after more than 20 years. The visual theatre group still gave a surreal yet touching performance.  http://clumsycompass.blogspot.sg/2012/11/philippe-gentys-voyages-to-nowhere.html

(7) God of Carnage by Singapore Repertory Theatre (Nov).  With a great script, nothing can go wrong.  Of course, a good cast and good staging helps.  2 sets of parents arguing over their children's fights in school turned out more than just that.  http://clumsycompass.blogspot.sg/2012/11/god-of-carnage-singapore-reperory.html

(8) Jersey Boys @ Marina Bay Sands (Nov).  The story of 4 boys becoming world famous band may look too formulaic, but the script was well written and the staging was good.  Good singing definitely. http://clumsycompass.blogspot.sg/2012/11/jersey-boys-marina-bay-sands-singapore.html 

(9) Roots by The Finger Players (Dec).  Possibly the best local production this year.  Oliver Chong wrote, directed and acted in this play where he talked about his travels to China in search of his roots.  Simple theme, but done well.  http://clumsycompass.blogspot.sg/2012/12/roots-finger-players.html





Here's to more good shows in 2013!

Love's Trials 华染状元红

Chinese Opera Society staged Love's Trials at Drama Centre on 30 Dec 2012, featuring Cultural Medalion Lou Mee Wah playing the male lead Ru Feng Sheng 茹凤声, Aw Yeong Peng Mun as the step mother Si Jie and Gary Kong 龚耀祥 as Xia Ziqi.  The opera was directed by Christopher Choo.

The opera was about a scholar Ru who promised to marry a courtesan Hua Yanhang when he finished the scholar examinations.  Ru's sister found out the love affair and caused the breakup of the two.  Nonetheless, all's well that ends well. 

Meeting the Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys, the Musical, is currently playing at the Marina Bay Sands Singapore.   I had the opportunity to speak to the 2 lead cast members recently, and they are: Grant Almirall (Frankie Valli)  and Daniel Buys (Tommy Devito).  The other 2 were Kenneth Meyer (Bob Gaudio) and Emmanuel Castis (Nick Massi).

The cast hails from South Aftica.  So how was the arts scene there?  Well, it was good enough to earn a decent living.  There were not many musicals being staged in South Africa and both had to audition for the roles.  Grant initially auditioned for another role as he felt that his vocal range was not the same as that of Frankie Valli's.  But he eventually got the lead role.

Daniel was just finishing the South African run of Mama Mia! and auditioned for the musical.  He was offered the role of Tommy Devito but the producers were initially sceptical whether he was the right choice.  So while the actors playing the role of Frankie Valli would traditionally go for a "Frankie camp" in New York, Daniel also went along.

Besides familiarised themselves with the role, the few of them had the opportunity to visit the Belmont Tavern in New Jersey, where the bartender had a few tales about Tommy Devitto and the band.  Grant also had a personal session with Bob Gaudio, the key songwriter of The Four Seasons and one of the producers of this musical.

While it looked as if the 4 main cast members were performing effortless on stage, they found certain section of the choreography challenging.  In particular, they singled out the Sherry/ Big Girls Don't Cry/ Walk Lik A Man segment as the most challenging, as they need to remember the moves, sing and also play the instrument.   For Grant, singing like Frankie Valli involved doing lots of vocal exercises.  And as in other Jersey Boys productions, he only did 6 performances (out of 8) a week.  Their favourite tracks included Beggin and Bye Bye Baby.
The cast were busy with the performances and do not have time to explore the city much.  They are bringing the musical back to South Africa, and possibly a tour to Hong Kong in the near future.

For more information: http://www.jerseyboys.com.sg/

Theatre Review: Roots, The FInger Players

The production Roots written by Oliver Chong of The Finger Players staged at the Drama Centre Black Box must be one of the most memorable performance in Singapore this year.

Theatre Review: Jersey Boys @ Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Jersey Boys the Musical was based on the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, four blue-collar blokes from New Jersey who found success as one of the biggest band in the world.  The Singapore production at Marina Bay Sands was brought in by BASE Entertainment Asia and featured cast from South Africa.

The musical, which won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Musical, traces the rise and the eventual splitting up of The Four Seasons, told from the point of view of each band member, representing  each season.  Tommy DeVito, who formed the band (and its previous incarnations), started with "Spring" and he elaborated on how the 4 key members came together.  In this segment, we also met Joe Pesci who played a role in connecting Bob Gaudio, the key songwriter, to the group.

In "Summer", it was Bob's turn to talk about his version of the story.  In this segment, 3 No 1 singles were introduced in quick succession: Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry and Walk Like A Man.  It also talked about how The Four Seasons fared and reacted during the British Invasion.

The Magic Brush 神笔马良, 23 - 24 Nov 2012

Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan Arts & Cultural Troupe restaged the children's musical The Magic Brush at the Marina Bay Sands Theatre.  The performances were in conjunction with the worldwide Hokkien people gathering in Singapore. 

Review: Wi!d Rice's Hansel & Gretel

Welcome to the Sebastian Tan and Siti Khalijah show!  The 2 actors stole the show in Wild Rice's latest pantomine Hansel and Gretel.

Hansel and Gretel, played by Dwayne Tan and Denise Tan respectively, lived in Queenstown with their widowed father (Dwayne Lau).  In came prospective stepmother (Vernetta Lopez), who was more keen on shopping and be a singing star, and of course got rid of them in the Mandai jungle.

Ah Boys to Men

The good news.  Ah Boys to Men is now the second highest grossing local film and managed to recoup the costs.  A relief to the Singapore film industry.

But did I enjoy the movie?

Decimal Points 5.1, Cake Theatre Productions

From the flyers, "5.1 refers to the 6 channel surround sound multichannel audio system - the most commonly used layout in both commercial cinemas and home theatres.  It is also about the search of self in a densely populated space, a space with a population that is reaching 5.1 million". 

God of Carnage, Singapore Reperory Theatre (Singapore)

A play written by Yasmina Reza and translated by Christopher Hampton would definitely be something audience would look forward to, in particular if it won both the Tony and Laurence Olivier Award.  And God of Carnage did not disappoint.

Philippe Genty's Voyages to Nowhere

After over 20 years, Philippe Genty brought another production Voyageurs Immobiles (Voyagers to Nowhere) to Singapore, as part of the French Festival Singapore 2012. This should be his second visit to Singapore, the first for the Singapore Arts Festival in the late 80s. 

I also caught his earlier work Derives at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1990, its visual and sensual elements still lingered in my mind.

Makan Place, The Republic Cultural Centre Theatre

It was with great anticipation that I attended Tueday's evening musical performance of Makan Place, the first musical in Singapore.  It was first staged in 1988 and did not have a full staging till 2012.  Makan Place was part of REFLECTIONS, Republic Polytechnic's Community Arts Festival.













This musical talks about chasing your dreams and was set in roadside hawker stalls, a place that was disappearing from Singapore street scene except in touristy areas.  The 2 protagonists were Siew, a school student, and Zil, slightly older than Siew.  We did not see many instances of chasing their dreams: Siew was more infatuated with his tutor, and we were only left with Zil dreaming of show business.

We were introduced to the life of Singaporeans at that time: hawkers trying to make ends meet, and charging tourists higher price, the debt collectors, the Convent girls versus the boys' schools etc.   Playwright R Chandran (Act3 Theatrics) managed to incorporate these storylines well.

The cast consisted of students, staff and alumnus.  The stage definitely belonged to Lim Teck Kiang, who played Zil hilariously and managed to hold the show on his own.  And the staff members who played the hawkers did a good job, in particular Hafidz Abdullah who played Rahim the teh tarik man and Thng Poh Huat who played Pakcik Hassan.  The ensemble also did a competent job in the supporting and dancing roles.

As a college production, Makan Place was a polished performance and engaged the audience.  It was great to see a musical milestone in Singapore being restaged and hoped that the audience need not wait for another 25 years to see it again. 

Theatre Review: The Spirits Play

The last major production for the Kuo Pao Kun Festival 2012 was The Spirits Play - Rituals to Soothe the Unsettled Spirits.  It was in fact 2 versions of The Spirits Play - the first half was directed by Makoto Sato (Za-Koenji Public Theatre, Tokyo) and the second half by Danny Yung (Zuni Icosahedron, Hong Kong). 

Flamenco sin Frontiers by Paco Pena Flamenco Dance Company



Well, I had to admit, the initial reason for attending this performance was to see the flamenco guitarist Paco Pena and not the dance. 




But of course, I got more than what I had wanted.....

This time, in addition to the Spanish musicians, we also had Venuezulian musicians joining in the music making, providing a different but yet harmonious sound.  The 2 bands blended very well.  In the usual flamenco dance performance, the musicians tend to play second fiddle.  Here, however, the musicians at times stole the lime light away from the dancers.  I have to add that the dancers were equally impressive, in particular Ramon Martinez.  Daniela Tugues's flamenco was markedly different from those of her Spanish counterparts.

In the first half, the musicians and dancers were arranged to look like they were performing in a theatre.  In the second half, they looked as if they were performing by a campfire, and the atsmospher was lighter and more relaxed.  Paco Pena was also featured as a soloist here.

The evening ended with most dancers and musicians taking turns to do a solo. This was definitely an enjoyable evening, great music, good dancing.  A good way to close the Esplanade Dance Festival.

POP! in the City II, Ion Art Gallery

While wandering around at Ion Orchard, I visited an interesting exhibition, featuring prints of famous pop artists.  The exhibition was organised by Pop and Contemporary Fine Art from 20 - 30 Oct 2012.

The exhibition featured artists such as Andy Warhol with his Campbell Soup prints










Burton Morris

Yayoi Kusama, Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring and Damien Hirst

I like this exhibition as it had good write-up on the artists and their works.  Hopefully more galleries should follow suit.  I gained more knowledge on these artists after this exhibition.

TributeSG - Celebrating Life in the Arts

As part of its 10th Anniversary, Esplanade organised an exhibition (physical and online) to showcase the contributions of Singapore pioneer artists and arts activists. 

The walls on the basement leading to the MRT station were lined with photos of these arts personalitis.  The Jendella gallery showcased more detailed descriptions of the achivements of them.

David Cook at Ion Orachard, Singapore

By 6:30 pm, there was already a sizeable crowd gathering by the stage, most of them waiting for David Cook to perform.   David Cook was a past winner of the American Idol.

Aspects of Love: An evening of Ballet

This was another production under the Esplanade Dance Festival, held at the Esplanade Theatre on 23 and 24 Oct 2012.  The evening featured 5 pairs of dancers in 10 items.  As a non-dancer,  I felt that the second half definitely was the highlight.














Gillian Murphy and Qi Huan opened and closed the show with The Man I Love (George Balanchine) and Black Swan (Marius Petipa).  The first piece did not register a deep impression.  The Black Swan pas de deux showed the duo in good form.

 Daria Klimentova and Vadim Muntagirov danced Bedroom pas de deux from Manon and Tchaikovsky (Balanchine).  I liked Daria's movement and she was expressive.  Of course, Vadim impressed with his leaps.

I like Excerpt from The Little Mermaid (John Neumeler) and The Lady of the Camellias, performed by Silvia Azzoi and Alexandre Riabko.  The pair had very good chemistry and look comfortable on stage.  The choreography for The Lady of the Camellias was really beautiful. Of course pianist Lim Yan accompanied the two beautifully.

Tan Yuan Yuan is another expressive dancer and partnered Davit Karapetyan well.  I personally liked the Balcony pas de deux in the first act, compared to Among The Stars (Jessica Lang) that opened the second half.

Ana Maria Scheller and Gonzalo Garcia were the "flashy" pair, with all the twirls and leaps.  Their technique was good, but somehow I felt the pair lacked chemistry.

It was a lovely evening for audience, ballet lovers or not.  The dancers deserved the warm applause from the crowd.

Tobari - as if in an inexhaustible flux

Sankai Juku's butoh production opened the da:ns Festival 2012 organised by Esplanade Theatre on the Bay. It was the group second visit to Singapore.  From the house programme, tobari is a "veil of fabric hung in a space as a partition".

Leo Hee Tong Solo Exhibition – Flight of Fantasy

Second generation locally born Singapore painter Leo Hee Tong 梁其栋 held his solo exhibition “Flight of Fantasy- 梦幻之航”at the Dahlia Gallery at Pagoda Street.