DanSing Thru Broadway

I must be really getting old as this has completely slipped my mind.

I was chatting with my friend Jeremy about the upcoming musical which he will be in and knowing that my regular musical kaki and close friend will not be able to make it for the show, I was wondering if anyone out there would like to go watch this and I could just like....tag along.. you know.. haha.. it would be great to have someone to talk to during intermission :)

The synopsis is taken from Ticket2U.biz

A geeky and somewhat timid Karim meets Grey for an interview. Grey, a theatre producer who is looking for a personal assistant, is appalled with Karim’s lacklustre demeanour: no wonder the boy has not found work, just look at him! He tells Karim the story of “Hello Dolly” where Cornelius and Barnaby present themselves as millionaires to attract their dream girls; thus, our journey through Broadway begins. Featuring hit songs from musicals “Hello Dolly”, Miss Saigon, Annie, A Chorus Line and many, many more; “DanSing Thru Broadway” promises to be entertainment and fun for the whole family.

Starring Aidil (AF), Peter Ong, Radhi Khalid, Doreen Tang, Tria, Ho Soon Yoon, Nicole-Anne Thomas, Aris Kadir, Brian McIntyre and Sabrina Hassan. Also featuring the Sayang Dancers and introducing the Junior Sayang Dancers. Produced by Farah Sulaiman with musical direction by Helen Yap, DanSing Thru Broadway starts at Panggung Bandaraya from June 25 2008. Come one, come all!

The Ticket and Show details are snatched from DanSing's blog :-

Patron

Yang Berbahagia Datin Sri Siti Nooriah Ana Ab. Razak

Show & Tickets Details:

Ticket2U:

Hotline: 03-41498600 (9am-6pm Mon-Fri)

24 Hours: 03-20911666

Sponsors:

OneKL, Tradewinds Corporation Berhad

Co-Sponsors:

Lembah Sari, Kiara View, Fitters, DBKL

We must book early... so calling JW, JW (sister to JW), Casper, Dutch, Vic, Sue, anyone?? everyone??

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KAM....IN YOUR FACE

This show ah die die also I will watch.... this "KAM...IN YOUR FACE". Yup, this is a musical/comedy show and several of my friends are in this production.. heehee.. this is the part where I start to ...ahem name drop...not that this is going to earn me a complimentary seat or anything. Maybe a wave from the stage.. maybe a hug off the stage... I take anything they throw at me.... preferably a feel meal after all the $$$ they rake in at the end of the show haha. My friends Jeremy Ho (Soon Yoon) and Fang Chyi are part of the team. Hope to get to know more of the actors and add them to my friends list after the show (*smirk*). Do pop by their very own blog too and you will see great behind-the-scenes photos... and some of their photos are really goofy photos (no insult to goofy.. but come to think of it, some of them were even more goofy than goofy himself *heehee*).

The synopsis for this was extracted from The Actors Studio.

Kam…In Your Face is a musical-comedy-cabaret combining song and dance, stand-up comedy and skits with a generous amount of local wit & humour, a spoonful of intellect a dash of Bollywood, a splice of rock n roll and disco, loads of fun and just enough of risqué to spice up the show. Joanne Kam, who is supported by her stellar cast of actors and dancers, will make you kam…in your face…with laughter! Starring: Joanne Kam, Douglas Lim, Susan Lankester, Fang Chyi, Ina Fabregas, Ho Soon Yoon, Malik Taufiq, Ash Nair & Gavin Yap Directed & Written by Joanne Kam & Gavin Yap Music Producers: John Darren Morelli & Reuben Valentine Choreographer: Jane Victor Soldberg Executive Producers: Joanne Kam & Angeline Teoh Presenter: Toniq Creative Management Sdn Bhd Dates & Times: 1-4, 6-11 May @ 8.30pm Tickets: RM62, RM82, RM102 (plus RM2 ticket fee) RM62 for students (with valid ID), 20% concession for sr. citizens Venue: TAS @ BSC

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Rose, Rose I Love You ...

My friend JW has asked me if I wanted to watch Chicago with her and her sister. Nah.... not that I don’t think that Chicago is good but I would rather put my time and money on Rose, Rose I Love You the musical. Why? Firstly, I have heard much of Rose Chan from my late father and his friends and her life story would be a whole lot more interesting to watch. Besides, I am an ardent supporter of our local artistes.

Getting back to Rose Chan (1925 – May 26, 1987). She is one of Malaya’s truly original Rose. She was a cabaret dancer who became the legendary striptease Queen. She was born in Soochow, China as Chan Wai Chang to acrobat parents.

She arrived in Kuala Lumpur in 1931, at the age of 6 with no formal education. Being a very enterprising kid, she started making a living at the age of 12 by working in a button-making shop. When she was 16, her (adopted) mother arranged for her to marrying an elderly Chinese Singaporean harbor contractor to become his 4th wife. But the marriage did not work out and she returned to Malaysia.

Later on due to her financial issues, she traveled to Singapore in hope that her husband would take her back. Unfortunately, he refused and being stranded in Singapore without money, she took a job as a cabaret dancer at Happy World, Singapore. Her career took off there as she won several championships and even the coveted Miss Singapore title.

Her career from a cabaret girl to a Striptease Queen actually took off accidentally at the age of 27. Whilst performing at the Majestic Theater in Ipoh, her brassiere snapped. The audience was naturally very appreciative and this set her thinking: "Here I dance all night and sweat so much, and nobody claps. My bra breaks and they clap".



Hence, the Striptease Queen took off like a rocket. Rose Chan traveled through Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Alor Star. Tickets for her shows back then cost RM10 to RM15. While she was raking in the money by the buckets, she never forgot about those in need. She was always donating part of her proceeds to charitable concerns, benefiting children and old folks' homes, institutions for the blind, and tuberculosis patients.

Her marriage life was not as smooth running as her career life. She went through 4 marriages, none lasting very long. Very sad.

Rose Chan’s last striptease show took place in Kuala Lumpur in 1976, after which she retired for good. She tried her hand in numerous ventures after her retirement but all of them failed. The final blow in her life would have been when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1980. The doctors informed her that she had only 18 months to live. She managed to fight this cancer for 6 years but she finally succumbed to it on the 26th of May, 1987, leaving behind a husband, a son and three daughters. She was interred at the Beow Hong Lim Columbarium in Air Itam, Penang.

To read more about the Live and Times of Rose Chan Wai Chang, click here.

I was mucking around Kakiseni sometime back before they even announce Rose, Rose I Love You the musical when I found this very interesting article written by Pang Khee Teik. It was an article posted in 2004 but highly entertaining coversation between the author of the piece and Patrick Teoh. Humourous, tongue-in-cheek, thought provoking.



At the same time, both my friends JH and MH told me about the Rose Musical production. They told me to check out the blog to try to win tickets to watch the musical.

It must have been due to either the Law of Attraction or the people organizing the Rose, Rose I Love You competition at the blog are really very nice people, they announced me as their 2nd winner to win 2 tickets to watch the musical. YIIIPPPPPEEEE! Sooo.. here I come Rosie.. to watch you enshrined on stage.

The organizers informed me of the packages available for this musical and they are:-

Platinum Rose Package (RM3,888)
10 x RM118 ticktes
5 Rooms at Resort Hotel
Dinner for 10 worth RM1,000 or 1 x RM1,000 worth of dinner

Golden Rose Package (RM2,888)
10 x RM118 ticktes
5 Rooms at First World Hotel
10 x Food Vouchers up to RM800

Silver Rose Package (RM418) - SOLD OUT

Love Rose Package(RM388)
2 x RM88 tickets
1 x Room at First World Hotel
1 x Breakfast
1 x Dinner for 2

Friends of Rose Package RM1,288
10 x RM88 tickets
4 x Rooms at First World Hotel

For bookings of the above packages, please call Cindy at 012 292 3803.

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Campfire feelings....

Circlesongs... how does one describe the feeling of being at a campfire, with some friends and simply letting your hair down whilst seated on a comfortable cushioned seat, with airconditioning and none of the mosquitoes and bugs? That was exactly how I felt when I watched The Philharmonic Society of Selangor's presentation of the Circlesongs last nite at the Bangsar Actors Studio.

I thought it would just be me and a girlfriend going for it but when I got there, the MODians were also there. I used to sing Buddhist songs with this group called the Messengers of Dharma MOD but as my life was getting so chock full of the numerous activities that I was involved in, I had no choice but to take a sabbatical leave from singing. Anyway, it was great to meet up with them again.





I am so proud of my friend, Melvin, the Artistic Director for the presentation. He really showed his mettle in the area of improvisation and his energy was fantastic. I have always known him to be a "acappella" prince. He loves all forms of acappella and his favorite has always been the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" guy... who is none other than Bobby McFerrin. He's been doing lots of music stuff for the longest time. If anyone want music pieces done, I can connect you :)


The MODians were totally inspired with what they experienced last nite as I heard them planning to do the same with their group of kids from the dharma centre in Malacca. My friend had to leave early as her mum was waiting for her but I reckon she must have enjoyed herself too as she was clapping and singing along during the presentation.

Ahhh a different kind of musical from my normal sort but very inspirational.

CIRCLESONGS

Just got a com ticket from my friend Melvin for the latest musical presentation by the ....

Philharmonic Society of Selangor entitled CIRCLESONGS.

Oct 1 & 2, 2007, 8:30 pm, The Actors Studio Bangsar

• Choral Improvisation • Dynamic Vocal Exploration • Rhythmic Energy •

• Universal Sounds • Musical Celebration of Spontaneity •

It's choral jamming without reliance on music scores, with no lyrics to remember, and with no rehearsed choreography to fumble about.


It's just us, a bunch of singing musicians, creating spontaneous musical moments through group vocal exploration and improvisation.


Come and share our tribute to an oral tradition of communal singing!

Artistic direction by Melvin Ho

In aid of Independent Pet Rescuers Malaysia

Admission by minimum donation of RM30 / RM20 (students)
Tickets: Zalina Lee (012 320 8090) / Melvin Ho (012 303 7184)

*There will be a free Circlesong jamming session at Central Market, Kuala Lumpur on Sat 22 Sept and Sat 29 Sept 2007, 12pm-1pm. Do drop by!*

www.thephil.org.my

selangorphil.blogspot.com

This short vid was taken by another friend during one of the earlier rehersals.

Musicals;Metaphysics;Exhibitions;Death & a Wedding!

The weekend has just passed and it was kinda of a mixed emotional bag.

I started Friday with a wonderful time at Bangsar Actor's Studio, watching the KL Young Singers at the 5th Anniversary Performance. It was light; it was nice but really... I am biased. I have always enjoyed YKLS, whatever they have thrown at me in the past and whatever they will throw at me in the future. Having excellent seats and getting them on time to go in also helped the mood a lot :D. The songs which they did were from their past performances but I totally melted when they sang that "lum" song, Autumn Leaves. (lum here means romantic :>). Fantastic arrangement. I was rather disappointed when there was no encore. Don't know what happen? Guess the audience was totally mesmerized by the singers that they didn't wake up until the house lights were all turned on.

Saturday was the first day of the National Feng Shui Congress at KL Convention Centre. Being the cheapskate that I was, decided to save on 6 bucks parking next to the KL Convention Centre by parking at my office and walking there. Really regretted it when I walked back in the evening, lugging 4 thick books with me :(.







The conference was so interesting. Students, friends and audience coming in from 4 continents and for the 1st time, Joey Yap, the Master gave his senior student lecturers some stage time. They covered several topics related to Feng Shui for the Housebuyers. There is so much to share and I am now trying to compile all the inputs into logical buckets for postings.





I have been receiving sms from my Dharma Centre regarding an exhibition which they have been invited to participate in and we have been urged to go support. Being the "blur like sotong me", I did not really register in my mind the actual location of the exhibition until I met a friend from my Dharma Centre JP at KL Convention Centre. I said "Hi..What are you here for?". He said "Why.. for our Centre's Booth exhibit of coz!". Opps... pretended I knew that all along and said "Of coz. Well, see you in abit. Going to the loo first!". What a dumb arse (me). Anyway, during the Congress lunch break, I grab a quick bite and went over to the EXPAT exhibit Halls 3 & 4 to go look for the Kechara Mystical Treasures booth. Met so many people over there. Bought a nice miniature altar for my beautiful Vajrayogini. She is going to love it :).

















Sunday morning.... received a very sad sms. My friend Adrin's beloved father passed away in the morning. I felt so sad for him. And I hate to say this... being Adrin's MSN pal for so long & he is also a member of my Dharma Centre, I did not even have his mobile number. Could not say how sorry I was to hear of his father's demise. Can't expect the man to be on MSN like right now, I felt really like the dumb arse that I am. Anyway, quickly changed and went off to the Congress. This time, parked next to KL Convention Centre. Paid RM6 for the open air parking space but that sure beats walking 15 mins back to the office to collect the car. Joey's talk was as always, informative, humorous and impactful. But couldn't wait for lunch time to happen so that I can run over to the Kechara Mystical Treasures booth to ask for Adrin's number.

Brought some friends from the Congress over to the booth along the way and managed to get Adrin's number. So many friends at the booth so did not get a chance to sms Adrin. Hung around and chatted until it was time to go back to the Congress. During the later part of the Congress, one of the speakers spoke on Yin House Feng Shui (feng shui for tombs). A very experienced speaker, an engineer by profession who took us to a virtual trip to China to view some of the famous emperors' tombs. Fantastic speakers... if only I see more of these kind of high caliber speakers at work.

Congress ended at about 6pm, took a quite bite and rang off to a colleague's wedding at The Concorde. It was more like a reunion for me. Met up with so many ex-colleagues there. The food was excellent and the company was great.


3 handsome eligible young men at the wedding dinner last nite:)


Amidst all this, I suddenly thought of Adrin. Sent him an sms with words of comfort and really from the bottom of my heart, May he always be guided by the wisdom of Buddhadharma. May his father have a swift and positive rebirth.


Got home, showered, read a little and finally got to sleep at 1:30pm.

Looking for Aladdin or the thieves??

The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre is presenting Aladdin (a pantomime) from 17 Dec 07 - 6 Jan 08. We are looking for 10 chorus members.

Audition Date & Time: Sept 24 (Monday) from 8pm - 10:30pm

Registration : Academy, Level 2, KLPac

Audition Venue: Studio 5, Level 3, KLPac

Requirement: Age: teenagers 16 yrs & above and young adults (Male & Female)
Ability: Sing and Dance

Preparation: Those attending the Audition must prepare a song by The Beatles. There will be a pianist to accompany. Also prepare a 1 minute dance routine for a song by The Beatles. (Can be the same song). & nbsp;


Those interested are to contact Nala Nantha to fix an appointment.
E-mail: nala@klpac.com or tel: 03-40479060.

Young KL Singers 5th Anniversary

The Young KL Singers (YKLS) turn 5 this year and we want to celebrate with YOU! Come move and sing with us at our 5th year anniversary concert – a celebration of music not to be missed!


Directed by YKLS’ Artistic/Music Director Susanna Saw and visual artist/theatre practitioner, Chee Sek Thim of the Five Arts Centre, in collaboration with renowned dancer/choreographer, Mew Chang Tsing, as our guest choreographer - we will bring back all time YKLS favourites including, ‘One Day More’ from Les Miserables, ‘Light At the End of the Tunnel’ from Starlight Express, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ from Carousel, ‘Magnificent Horses’, ‘Yang Indah’ from M! The Opera and ‘Yver, Vous N’etes Qu’un Villain’ performed by the YKLS Chamber Choir.
This year also celebrates the opening of the YKLS’ new home, under the Young Choral Academy (YCA) - an umbrella of the country’s first academy for choral music.
So, make a date to catch us in our element and join in our revelry of five wonderful years together!

Details

Dates:
27-29 September @ 8.30 p.m.
29 & 30 September @ 3.00 p.m.

Ticket prices:
RM47 & RM32 (adults)
RM32 (children aged 12 years and below)
Tel: 03-2094 0400/1400
E-mail: tickets@theactorsstudio.com.my

Venue:
The Actors Studio
Bangsar Shopping Centre
Jalan Maarof
Bukit Bandaraya
59100 Kuala Lumpur


The KL Young Singers


Celebrity Fitness memberships worth RM1,000 to be won and 14-day FREE trial passes to be given out at every show!

Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya

As usual my weekends are always a mad, hectic rush, packed with activities. One of the highlights of the weekend past was going to watch a dance performance called Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya. This was a first full-length project in 8 years by controversial choreographer and pioneering "dance terrorist" Marion D'Cruz. It was a rather strange experience for me as I was expecting a regular conventional type dance presentation. I actually had no idea what I was getting myself into (I only read the interview from the star-ecentral this morning when I got into work :p)

We got there late (what’s new, if you have been following this blog) and missed about 10mins of the performance. Oh by the way, people were sitting on our seats when we got there but at least these blokes were well-mannered enough to move back over to their allotted seats. We were told later that we missed a video presentation and a short song.



Anyways, the performers were singing a children mandarin song when we got in. That was followed by a girl singing Negaraku, solo. Then the next performer sang and did her slow routine on top of what seemed to be a long dining table. After that, all hell broke loose. Haha.. what I meant to say was the song and dance routine presented was depicting our KL traffic. The performers were just making lots of noise on the stage, movements everywhere, they made like buses, cars, traffic cops, pedestrians. This went on for about 5 mins? If I am not mistaken, this piece started out with a lady performer clucking like a chicken.



The next piece was a song in a Chinese dialect (could have been Hokkien, Teochew…not sure). The singer held up placards with key words like “impermanence”, “come with nothing”, “leave with nothing”, “my country”. My friend said that she was singing about her “Negara ku”. All the while when she was singing, there was this performer cycling around the stage. Bizarre!!

After that was an item on the various races in Malaysia. Performers came up one at a time and call out their race (China.. DLL*…Melayu...Indian) and they all congregated onto the dining table (this was the main prop of the entire show). Rather wacky but interesting. By the way, I know that when you are of Indian Chinese parentage, people call you a Chin-dian… but what if you are of a Melayu Chinese parentage. There was one performer who called himself a “Chi-layu”.



Subsequently, another chaotic piece…a bit disturbing as each performer was chanting “Will you please be quite, Please” at their own pitch, at their own pace. All this while, a performer was reading a police report of a robbery case. I gathered this piece was about the surpression of truth and justice?



At the end of the entire performance, all I could think of is “wow...what happened back there?" I wouldn’t say that it had been a fantastic dance performance. I would say that it was a rather curious performance. Mmm.. this had to be experienced personally to be appreciated ;)



The motley crew of performers featured in this project include diverse, award-wining individuals such as:

1. Ahmad Firdaus Che Yahaya dancer, choreographer
2. Anne James actor, educator
3. Edwin Sumun actor, writer, producer, director, designer, political scientist
4. Elaine Pedley choreographer, performer, facilitator
5. Ezdianie Hayatie Omar dancer, choreographer
6. Fahmi Fadzil performer, writer, designer, ex-chemical engineer
7. Gan Chih Pei dancer, choreographer, teacher
8. Hari Azizan reporter
9. Jacqueline Ann Surin award-wining journalist
10.James Lee film & movie maker
11.Janet Moo Tein Ni dancer
12.Janet Pillai arts educator
13.June Tan biologist
14.Karen Tan actor
15.Leow Puay Tin playwright, performer, educator
16.Liew Kung Yu visual & performance artist
17.Mac Chan award-wining lighting designer
18.Marion D'Cruz dancer, choreographer, educator, producer
19.Mark Teh arts worker
20.Neo Swee Lin actor
21.Vernon Adrian Emuang consultant, writer, actor
22.Wyn Hee stage manager, personal assistant, performer

But sorry folks, their run has ended yesterday! Maybe they might reprise the show if the demand is there.

*dan lain lain (other races)

Free Tickets to Tunku the Musical

Had a rather busy weekend.. doing quite a few exciting stuff (my standards lah haha). But quickly, I just want to say that I really enjoyed Tunku the Musical. A few of my friends like Jeremy Ho Soon Yoon and Fang C were fantastic. Wish I knew Douglas Lim and Tony Eusoff personally. I can only claim to know them through my friend Melvin.

Photo "borrowed" from Fang's friendster's album. Jeremy's 5th from the left (standing row)

Borrowed this one too.. Fang is 3rd from the right

Anyway, I had a much much better time at Tunku the Musical.... not only because nobody took my seat haha.. but really, it was very well done. The songs were great, the effect of having the projection of various events in the past were interesting. I like the one which they had Tunku dancing. But the most impactful one was the rape scene. I was asked how I felt about it, was it too much, too shockingly real. Well, I am of the opinion that it has to be that "real" for it to sink in and make us realize the truth of that incident.

The ending was a mite abrupt but hey, it is a musical and they do have limited time. I would have loved to stay another 3 hours for them to bring the closure of the musical in a smoother manner, but I don't think the rest of the folks, actors or audiences would be able to "tahan" (endure).

Well, those who thought that they have missed the running of the musical, fret not. YTL Corporation has so generously offered to sponsor free passes to Tunku the Musical. They will be sponsoring five performances to held from the 12 Sept to 15 Sept at the KL Performing Arts Centre (KLPac). To get your free pass, please register at www.ytlcommunity.com. You should.... You must. Might see me there for my second dose.

Going for Frogs but waylaid by W(B)itches!

Last nite I went out to treat myself to a Frogway musical. A little damper at the first half of the nite and it had nothing to do with the musical. It was caused by 2 very rude girls who took our seats.

The slowpoke (well known for his consistent tardiness) was having the tickets (since he is one of those BC judges) and because of this, two of our seats were taken by two girls. As we were late, we had no choice but to scoot to the far end of the row and since it was a packed nite, we ended up seated on normal chairs instead of the theatre style seats. I didn't enjoy the first part of the act as I was fuming mad and coupled with the fact that I could not really see well past the side stage props.


After intermission, I virtually ran in to take my seat and sure enough, the 2 girls came in and accussed me of sitting at one of their seats. She was trying not to let me see her seat number but I saw it. It clearly showed F35 whilst mine was F29. I told her that she should go back to her allotted seat. But she was rather insistent by saying that she was seated at F29 during first act. Luckily 3 girls (strangers seated next to me F30, 31 and 32) came in and told these 2 to shut up and just return to their own seats. I think they helped me coz those 2 were about to sit on their seats. No choice, they had to move back to their seats but looking rather pissed. Too bad. So I sat down and tried to enjoy the 2nd part of the show but was a bit difficult. Still annoyed coz I could only see half the show in comfort after having paid RM70 (luckily discounted).

Nevertheless, my friends enjoyed the musical. Vince (Eddy the Frog) was fantastic, with his good voice and his natural acting ability. I personally loved the voice of Helen (Ina Fabregas) the Fish.. the love interest of Eddy the Frog. The storyline is highly simplistic but entertaining. There was nothing to bring the house down.

Took this storyline from their website.

"Eddy, a singing frog, is rejected by his pond community because frogs aren't supposed to sing! He leaves the pond, and the love of his life, to seek his fame and fortune downriver at the Swamp. Here Eddy's singing talent propels him to stardom with the help of two cunning agents, a Snake and a Stork. He reaches the top of the entertainment world when he gets to perform on 'Frogway'.

But fame, fortune and riotous living take their toll on our star. Blinded by pride and rejection, he turns to the dark side and dumps his best friend Freddy the Toad. To his horror, Eddy stumbles upon a dastardly plot by his agents to rob him of his fortune before killing and EATING him.

Will melon seeds save the day? Will Eddy be reunited with the love of his life? Find out this August, in FROGWAY!"



Looking forward to a better time with "Tunku the Musical" this Friday and the one holding the tickets had better not be late or growl....