If There Are Seasons (天冷就回来): Three Seasons of Good Music

Third staging by The Theatre Practice, and third time viewing.  The main attraction of this production would be the songs of Liang Wern Fook, a popular figure of the Xinyao movement (Singapore-penned Mandarin songs) in the 1980s / 90s.  The story was framed around the songs written by Hong Kong playwright Raymond Toh.   After the death of his girlfriend Xiao Jing, Ah Leleft for the Big Apple to pursue his love of music.  While in New York, he became friends with fellow countrymen residing there, including aspiring actress Rose.

In its third staging, The Theatre Practice did not do major changes to the script, which I found was the weak link of this production.  The struggles of the main characters were not dealt in depth, in particular Ah Le. It thus made his return to Singapore more like a loser rather than a person who had put in effort. At times, the storyline was created more to fit in the songs rather than necessity, in particular the scenes featuring the children.

A memorable Bach's St John Passion by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Decided to attend this SSO performance on 4 April at the Esplanade Concert Hall as I had not listened to this piece before and since this was a big work, why not?   One of the 2 surviving Passions composed by Bach which was performed on Good Friday in 1724 (290 years ago).

Conductor Lim Yau led the chorus well, which included the Singapore Symphony Chorus, Hallelujah Chorus and the NAFA Chamber Choir.  The choir was supported by a scaled down orchestra.  I enjoyed the male soloists more: Steve Davislim (tenor) as Evangelist, Martin Snell as Pilate and Jan-Hendrik Rootering as Christus - partly they had the more "meaty" singing roles.  The other soloists were Nadine Lehner and Lucia Cervoni.

The close to 2 hours performance (without intermission) may seem long initially, but I did not feel the length of the duration.  A good evening out.

Davit Fitrik impressed with Eat with Us at Raw Moves' R.E.P

Local dance company Raw Moves presented 2 new dance works at its annual creative platform  [R.E.P] 2014, held at the Goodman Arts Centre blackbox.

The evening's programme started with Chiew Peishan's Peeling Us, a piece that looked at communication and human relationship.   Through the video segments projected through the TV screens, we got to know the dancers better.  While it was a good attempt to fuse dance with video/ film, the piece remained a conceptual piece. From an audience's point of view, it did not have a strong dance element and the theme was not explored further.

A Singaporean in Paris: Rendvous with French classic songs

A clever production that combined Singapore-style comedy with a showcase of French songs.  An unlikely combination, but it worked.   Set in a French cabaret where our protagonist (played by Hossan Leong) had a performance engagement,  A Singaporean in Paris was about the lives of individuals living their dream in Paris.

The jokes were typically Singaporean and delivered well by Hossan.  He had good support from other singers / actors such as Vicky Williamson, Peter Ong, Mina Kaye and Linden Furnell.  The songs, sang in both French and English, fitted well into the show.

A well produced show where the cast and the production standards were high.  It was full house at the SOTA Theatre on the Saturday matinee, and the audience gave a warm reception to the production.

Review of House of Bernarda Alba by Wild Rice: Good effort and impactful

The impressive set by Wong Chee Wai awaited the audience upon entering the Drama Centre.   Wild Rice has in the past years featured an all male cast in The Importance of Being Ernest, this year the company had an all women cast in The House of Bernada Alba.  Written by Federico Garcia Lorca and adapted by Chay Yew, director Glen Goei's production was tight.  Certain scenes were too angst-sy, probably a few quieter moments would be good.

The ensemble did a good job.  It is good to see Margaret Chan again on stage, though her scenes were limited.  Claire Wong did have the authority figure on stage.

Ravindran Drama Group: Maya the Demon Architect

Two Indian civil servants were worried about the construction scheuldule of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. They went to Meerut hoping to find the demon architect Maya to get them out of trouble.  Ravindran Drama Group's Maya: Demon Architecture related the myth of this persona.

Written and directed by Hemang Nandabalan, the performance was generally cohesive in its narration.  I however would like to see how the myth of the demon architect could link with the problems faced by the Commonwealth Games.  The first part of the performance was rather drawn out - certain scenes could be replaced by a few lines of dialogues.  The last few scenes on Maya seemed to be rushed through.  A pity, since it was the crux of the story.

Romeo and Juliet: Singapore Dance Theatre kickstarted 2014 season in style

First time catching Goh Choo San's Romeo and Juliet, performed by the Singapore Dance Theatre. Kenya Nakamura and Chihiro Uchida had good chemistry in the title roles and they were convincing as the star-crossed lovers. The company had better energy at this performance compared to last year's The Nutcracker.  Goh Choo San's choreography allowed the key characters to have their moments, but certain segments, in particular the crowd scenes, may be too long. The total length of close to 3 hours could be taxing for a modern audience.  The productions standards were good, though for some scenes where the stage was bare, the lighting could have dimmed the background slightly.

An enjoyable evening, and a good start of SDT's 2014 season.

Tap Dogs returns to Singapore

Australia’s most successful theatrical export, Dein Perry’s TAP DOGS, is coming to the MasterCard Theatres at Marina Bay Sands for a strictly limited season from 27 May to 1 June for eight performances only.

The global dance sensation has performed in over 330 cities across six continents and has been seen by over 12 million people.  

The winner of more than 11 international awards including an Olivier Award (UK), an Obie Award (New York)and a Pegasus Award (Spoleto Festival in Italy), Dein Perry’s TAP DOGS is an 80-minute showcombining the strength and power of workers with the precision and talent of tap dancing.

Dee Dee Bridgewater opened the last edition of Mosaic Festival

This was my second time attending Dee Dee Bridgewater's concert, and both times at the Esplanade Concert Hall.  Her opening concert at the Mosaic Festival would also be the last edition, as The Esplanade would rethink the current format for its music offerings. For this concert, Dee Dee Bridgewater covered the songs by Billie Holiday, where she recorded an album Eleanora Fagan (1915–1959): To Billie with Love From Dee Dee Bridgewater in 2009. The album won the 2011 Grammy_Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

Dee Dee was in good mood that evening, and she chattered quite a bit and also teased the audience for not knowing the jazz standards.  She covered such tunes as All of Me, Fine and Mellow, Mother's Son-in-law and of course God Bless the Child. An enjoyable evening, and also the countdown to the end of this Festival.

Instead of refining its programming, The Esplanade chose to end the Mosaic Festival. This is possibly in reaction to the other music festivals in town, namely St Jerome's Laneway Festival, the new Jazz Festivals at the Marina Bay Sands, the concerts held in connection with the F1 event etc.  We will see what new format or ideas would come out from The Esplanade. Hopefully there won't be too many returning artists appearing at Esplanade stage.

Review of Blackout at Adelaide Festival: More dance element please

A wedding held on a cruise ship was disrupted by a storm and everyone on board experienced some kind of revelation.  This Australia/ Portugal co-production Blackout was by Paulo Castro and Jo Stone, making its world premiere at the Adelaide Festival.   The performance was held at AC Arts Main Theatre.

While this was billed as a dance programme under the Adelaide Festival, it was more like a physical theatre / drama performance to me, with spoken texts and dialogue taking up bulk of the performance time.   On the cruise ship, we had the insecure bride and bridegroom, the absent bride’s father, the drunken bridesmaid, the over-friendly best man, the unsuccessful musician-friend, the macho ship captain and the waitress with a secret.  While these characters could be stereotypical, they were handled by the excellent ensemble cast.