Sunday, October 14, 2012

National Broadway Company

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Today my mum and I attended a musical at the Esplanade called "National Broadway Company". It's a Musical conceived, written and directed by Ong Keng Sen who is the Artistic Director of TheatreWorks.

To be honest, I'm not the kind of person who likes to attend nor appreciate musicals but this one was different. It was different because my best friend was one of the performers and we went to show our support even through it was the closing performance. It started on the 12th of October. 

It was a good excuse to get out of the house. I really needed it with everything else that has been going on in my life. I needed the time away from work, stress and worries. So excited as we were, my mum and I both forgot our phones! We were in the taxi, quarter of the way of my journey when I realized I had my still charging on the desk. I needed my phone as I needed to contact my pals and their numbers were all on there! So we asked the taxi driver to turn around.  Wanted to use my mum's phone to call my husband to have him run my phone downstairs to pass it to me but realized she had forgotten hers too! Ha! Talk about how excited we were to be able to go out and distress!

Not that it really mattered whether we had our phones or not, there wasn't any service in the theatre and I've learned that the engineers and architects did this on purpose when building the theatre. Wow! I guess this will teach people a lesson...the people who likes to talk during movies and plays, the ones who don't switch their phones to vibration mode when supposed to.... those inconsiderate ones! 

Nonetheless, our seats were great! The Stall seats, fourth row. We could see everything!

The show started on time at 8pm and I loved how they made this musical a way to showcase our local talents and gave the people of Singapore, the public, a chance to vote for the new Artistic Director of National Broadway Company. Although we didn't get a chance to vote since we were at their last performance, we sure managed to witness the results. And who would have guessed who the winner would be? Dick Lee! Even he was surprised! Wonder why? Haha.

This was a story of the pioneering musical theatre in Singapore as it unfolds as they sing their hearts to the top.

This production featured characters inspired by some artists’ personal stories and recollections. Artists such as Dick Lee, Jacintha Abisheganaden, Koh Chieng Mun, Najip Ali, and Hossan Leong. It was performed by a cast of both young emerging talents as well as established artists.

I enjoyed it most because they featured songs from Singapore’s favourite musicals such as Beauty World and Fried Rice Paradise. It was very insightful,...it showed us that personal tragedy, individual strife, comic turns and artistic triumph are the stuff of dreams.

My BFF Leena Salim played the role of Gani Abdul Karim. She is a true star. She always shines when she is in the limelight. Watching her on that stage, I felt so proud. So proud of her and her accomplishments and so proud to be a part of her life. Seventeen years of friendship. Can't believe how it all started. I was only just a fan! (yes believe it or not...from the Under One Roof and Boom Boom Room days) It's just so hard to describe the feeling of what I feel for her when I see her up on that stage! Girlfriend, if you're reading this...thanks for coming in to my life when I needed a big sis the most and thanks for always being there for me. I am so proud of who you are and what you've accomplished in this lifetime.

Anyway, after the show, my BFF introduced us to Chua Enlai. My mum had met him before so this would be my first encounter with Chua Enlai a.k.a. Jacques Ooi a.k.a. B. B. See a.k.a. Pornsak Sukhumvit! Great first impression! He was a sweetheart.

And one last thing....How the hell does Dick Lee keep his youth? How come he hasn't aged? What's his secret? Is he the Peter Pan of Singapore? I am going to have to get my BFF to put me in touch with him so I can ask him! Haha.

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