Went to the S.A.M @8Q yesterday to watch a documentary about Yoshitomo Nara. His paintings are quite amazing and it reminds me of the ones that Carrie Chau (the Hong Kong artist) does. I just wonder who is copying who. Or maybe, nobody is copying nobody. They just look child-like.
I find that there is so much more that the museums here are offering now and I really feel I can just go to one of them and soak in all the artsy stuff that is around me and stay there for ages. Going to more documentaries of artists next weekend. It is all part of the Trans-Cool Tokyo exhibition that is going on now at the 8Q.
Got a discount off the documentary tix and free museum pass too! Discount coz my friend works there and free pass is due to the buying of the tix. There ARE ways and access to arts and culture in a more reasonable way :)
Here's a linke to info on Nara:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshitomo_Nara
Showing posts with label Fine arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fine arts. Show all posts
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
P.S.
The Night Festival posts will be up soon, just as soon as I get the energy to upload the photos. I am not very bright with technology/ geek stuff and blogging and going on the Net is about the only cool thing I am good at (not really). But anything geeky scars me and I approach it with much apprehension. Give me some time to upload and I can tell you about the fun things that went on that night.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Yet another rave...about Circle Line
OK. So I cannot stop talking about it. The Circle Line is getting crowded!!! It has become the new babe of everybody, until of course, when it had a glitch yesterday. But life goes on and everyone who needs it will take it. It is so fast for me to get to school now that there is a stop called "Bras Basah". I always laugh when they announce the stop though, coz they drag the word "Basah" and make it sound like "Basaaw".
Anyway, I like the new feel of the stations and new seats on the train. Don't really like the fact that I have to fight the flow of human traffic though. While I am switching from the North-South Line (red) to the Circle Line (yellow), there seems to be so many people walking against you and it is really difficult to manoeuvre my way to the escalators.
Hee, and I like that my alma mater is being announced every time as it is the last station for the moment. At least until the other parts of the Circle Line is complete.
I must say, for the first time, I am truly impressed and proud of something in my home country. They have really created very nice stations, especially the Bras Basah station. As you take the escalator towards the exit points, don't forget to look up towards the ceiling where there is a see-through pool of water. It is best viewed during the day when there is wind. This is so that you can see the ripples of water making art before your eyes. This station is rather deep too and I have noticed that they have incorporated speakers at the side of the escalators so that one will not miss out on any announcements. Neat!
At night, on the big piece of wall that reminds me of the steeples of churches (perhaps a reflection of the Catholic churches nearby), they have multimedia projections of the artistic kind. This, I suppose, is to give it an artsy feel and is in line with the arts museum that is just above it.
Well, I might just go to the museum tomorrow night as Friday nights are free nights. Now that it is so accessible, no reason why I should not go there more often.
Anyway, I like the new feel of the stations and new seats on the train. Don't really like the fact that I have to fight the flow of human traffic though. While I am switching from the North-South Line (red) to the Circle Line (yellow), there seems to be so many people walking against you and it is really difficult to manoeuvre my way to the escalators.
Hee, and I like that my alma mater is being announced every time as it is the last station for the moment. At least until the other parts of the Circle Line is complete.
I must say, for the first time, I am truly impressed and proud of something in my home country. They have really created very nice stations, especially the Bras Basah station. As you take the escalator towards the exit points, don't forget to look up towards the ceiling where there is a see-through pool of water. It is best viewed during the day when there is wind. This is so that you can see the ripples of water making art before your eyes. This station is rather deep too and I have noticed that they have incorporated speakers at the side of the escalators so that one will not miss out on any announcements. Neat!
At night, on the big piece of wall that reminds me of the steeples of churches (perhaps a reflection of the Catholic churches nearby), they have multimedia projections of the artistic kind. This, I suppose, is to give it an artsy feel and is in line with the arts museum that is just above it.
Well, I might just go to the museum tomorrow night as Friday nights are free nights. Now that it is so accessible, no reason why I should not go there more often.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Much ado about nothing
You must be wondering why I am writing the same topic as my blog title. Well, the truth is, I went to watch a Shakespearean play at the Fort Canning Park. It was a fantastically wonderful experience.
It was a casual affair with free seating all round. Luckily we arrived early though. There was already a long queue at 6pm when gates only open at 6.30pm. When the gates finally did open, we rushed to get a spot. It was not the centre of the stage but no matter. For who was to sit near me but my local idol, DICK LEE!!!!
It seems that the area we sat in was the media section (actually there were no marked areas, just that they happened to sit there). Michelle Chia and hubby was directly next to us and there were a bunch of other actors that I did not even know who were sitting around us. How did I know they were famous? There were these squealing girls who could not stop speaking as loudly as they could before the show and during the interval.
Love the picnic thing that is so casual and yet so fulfilling. We had bought the usual, ham, cheese, country loaf and drinks. I brought the picnic mat, mosquito repellent, mosquito repellent patches and wet wipes from home. Kiasu right? Well, better be prepared than to get bitten. I even lent my repellent to this lady who forgot to pack hers.
Repellents can also act as temporary deodorants. There was this really huge person (could not make out whether the person was a guy or gal). Had really bad B.O. and so I sprayed a generous lot where the person was sitting. Worked quite well! :)
All in all, I enjoyed myself and wouldn't mind doing it all over again when the next play in the park happens. Oh yes, I will promise myself to have more picnics at one park or another.
It was a casual affair with free seating all round. Luckily we arrived early though. There was already a long queue at 6pm when gates only open at 6.30pm. When the gates finally did open, we rushed to get a spot. It was not the centre of the stage but no matter. For who was to sit near me but my local idol, DICK LEE!!!!
It seems that the area we sat in was the media section (actually there were no marked areas, just that they happened to sit there). Michelle Chia and hubby was directly next to us and there were a bunch of other actors that I did not even know who were sitting around us. How did I know they were famous? There were these squealing girls who could not stop speaking as loudly as they could before the show and during the interval.
Love the picnic thing that is so casual and yet so fulfilling. We had bought the usual, ham, cheese, country loaf and drinks. I brought the picnic mat, mosquito repellent, mosquito repellent patches and wet wipes from home. Kiasu right? Well, better be prepared than to get bitten. I even lent my repellent to this lady who forgot to pack hers.
Repellents can also act as temporary deodorants. There was this really huge person (could not make out whether the person was a guy or gal). Had really bad B.O. and so I sprayed a generous lot where the person was sitting. Worked quite well! :)
All in all, I enjoyed myself and wouldn't mind doing it all over again when the next play in the park happens. Oh yes, I will promise myself to have more picnics at one park or another.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Une belle soiree
I had a very wonderful evening last night. I went to watch Melanie Pain sing at the Esplanade. It was a belated birthday present from a very nice friend.
For those of you who do not know who Melanie Pain is, she is the lead singer for Nouvelle Vague who has this very nice whispery sort of voice when she wants to. The sort that French singers are so good at.
We even got an autographed sampler for a mere $10. Some of our friends who went for the second session, did not get any. Apparently it was a while stocks last thingy.
We were very early in the queue and got front row seats-best seats in the house! The pianist, bassist and guitarist were all so cute!! Most importantly though, she had a very good voice, and very nice shoes! :P
As the night was still young after a short one hour odd mini concert, we went to have some drinks and cakes at what I like to call "that anal place". I would not say the name now but you will definitely see it if you were taking the bus or walking to Esplanade from Marina Square.
Food and tea was good though, except my dear friend almost lost her copy of autographed of the sampler. Thankfully, a cleaner found it for her (she left it in the toilet together with some other stuff). What a relieve to have found it back!
For those of you who do not know who Melanie Pain is, she is the lead singer for Nouvelle Vague who has this very nice whispery sort of voice when she wants to. The sort that French singers are so good at.
We even got an autographed sampler for a mere $10. Some of our friends who went for the second session, did not get any. Apparently it was a while stocks last thingy.
We were very early in the queue and got front row seats-best seats in the house! The pianist, bassist and guitarist were all so cute!! Most importantly though, she had a very good voice, and very nice shoes! :P
As the night was still young after a short one hour odd mini concert, we went to have some drinks and cakes at what I like to call "that anal place". I would not say the name now but you will definitely see it if you were taking the bus or walking to Esplanade from Marina Square.
Food and tea was good though, except my dear friend almost lost her copy of autographed of the sampler. Thankfully, a cleaner found it for her (she left it in the toilet together with some other stuff). What a relieve to have found it back!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Beat box rules!!
To round off my very sedate Sunday, I went to watch Break Out: Extreme Dance Comedy from Korea with a good friend of mine.
We had our first experience with Yegam Theatre & Production Company when we went to tour in Korea. I am very glad that watching Jump was part of our itinerary. We got so hooked that we jumped at the opportunity to watch it here in Singapore.
This time around, there were beat boxers and b-boys and b-girls doing all that popping, locking and breakdancing to the sound of beat boxers such as Park Seon-Jun. I am still very amazed at how he could put the mic at his throat and produce such loud, fantastic sounds!!
There was never a dull moment in the show and there was so much comic relief that I had bad cramps from all that laughing. All in all, it was a fantastic experience. This fantastic experience was also preceded by a very good dinner at Al Dente.
I had wanted to eat at Al Dente quite a few years back. In fact, I wanted to hold my birthday there. I wanted to sit at the balcony and enjoy the bay view. At that time though, the whole balcony was booked for a private function and I never really got back to it.
Today, I finally set foot and had beer battered calamari, lasagna with wagyu beef and prosciutto ham pizza. It was coupled with a glass of house pour Merlot that went very well with the beef. I was so full I could hardly walk after that.
What was more, after the show, we went to Max Brenner's for some chocolaty stuff. I had a strawberry milk chocolate shake with yogurt. Yum, yum, yummy!! Service was very, very, very bad though. Unless you really have the patience or is not very hungry, I do not recommend you to go there at all.
Monday, February 9, 2009
An almost artistic afternoon.
Went to watch the much talked about Taiwanese play, "The Village" yesterday at the Esplanade. Dad watched it the night before as he had another show to catch and so I went alone.
It was a very good performance with a stellar cast. It was these tv personalities walked out of the tv set and we were meeting them in real life. Yes, most of them are stars that we see in Taiwanese tv drama serials.
The story is about a Dependents' Village, a very real part of Taiwanese history. These people went over to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-Shek, thinking that it will be temporary and that they will be going back to China after a short stay. The short stay turned into years and from one generation, they have their second and even third generations in Taiwan.
It was a play that made me laugh and cry, cry and laugh some more. At the end of it all, we were treated to 'bao' (buns) as in the play, this old lady from Tianjin taught this Taiwanese girl how to make Tianjin 'baozi' (buns).
I had a leisurely stroll through the Esplanade and even caught some Visual Arts exhibition. I must applaud Esplanade though for they are able to make art accessible to the general public. Only thing is whether the general public are willing to go there to see it for themselves.
What I did not like was some of those obnoxious people who went for the show. There was this man dressed in nicely ironed shirt and pants. I was queueing up for drinks during the interval and he just walked right into me to walk to the other side while he was on his phone. No word of "excuse me".
Then, as I was going to order my drink, he cut the very long queue and got his drinks first!!!! The worst part was that the bartender did not even bother to ask him to follow the queue. Someone else in the queue had to point it out.
I was already giving him daggers and sword stares but really did not want to lower myself to his level to tell him off. He did not even apologise and just walked away. I really didn't know who to be madder with: the bartender or the obnoxious man.
All in all tbough, the experience was generally good. I went home feeling a little more....ahem...artistic.
It was a very good performance with a stellar cast. It was these tv personalities walked out of the tv set and we were meeting them in real life. Yes, most of them are stars that we see in Taiwanese tv drama serials.
The story is about a Dependents' Village, a very real part of Taiwanese history. These people went over to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-Shek, thinking that it will be temporary and that they will be going back to China after a short stay. The short stay turned into years and from one generation, they have their second and even third generations in Taiwan.
It was a play that made me laugh and cry, cry and laugh some more. At the end of it all, we were treated to 'bao' (buns) as in the play, this old lady from Tianjin taught this Taiwanese girl how to make Tianjin 'baozi' (buns).
I had a leisurely stroll through the Esplanade and even caught some Visual Arts exhibition. I must applaud Esplanade though for they are able to make art accessible to the general public. Only thing is whether the general public are willing to go there to see it for themselves.
What I did not like was some of those obnoxious people who went for the show. There was this man dressed in nicely ironed shirt and pants. I was queueing up for drinks during the interval and he just walked right into me to walk to the other side while he was on his phone. No word of "excuse me".
Then, as I was going to order my drink, he cut the very long queue and got his drinks first!!!! The worst part was that the bartender did not even bother to ask him to follow the queue. Someone else in the queue had to point it out.
I was already giving him daggers and sword stares but really did not want to lower myself to his level to tell him off. He did not even apologise and just walked away. I really didn't know who to be madder with: the bartender or the obnoxious man.
All in all tbough, the experience was generally good. I went home feeling a little more....ahem...artistic.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Rush what: The stupid thing about technology
I hate things that rush me. I used to loath the CashCard that beeps whenever it hits $5 and below. It irritates the hell out of me. I used to 'praise' the SMRT EZlink card, which allowed one to use till it is negative and still go for one more journey if it is within a certain time period.
All this is going to change with that stupid SEPAS card. It blinks every time you flash it on the card reader of a bus or MRT barrier. It will remind you that the value in your card is low and today, it was even worse. I still had $1.85 in my card and the barrier refused to open for me and told me to top up my card!!!!!!!
I think all these stupid reminders create unnecessary stress to our already stressful lives. It does something to my nerves every time the CashCard reader beeps in my car or when that card reader flashes the light to remind me to top up.
Another very irritatingly stressful piece of shit is that timer that you get whenever you purchase something online, especially film or performance tickets. I am talking specifically about Cathay website and that stupid Sistic website.
It would remind you of how much time you have left before your seat would be given up. You see, it is a countdown clock. Makes one really stressful and go really crazy. What is worse is that it has this option of whether you would want to continue browsing and if you had more than one ticket to buy, of course you would! See, the system works in this way that if you make several purchases all at once, you only need to pay for the collection fee once. If not, you would have to pay $0.20 for each transaction.
Of course, if I wrote in a complaint letter to Sistic, they might probably politely blame it on my Internet speed, which I think is utter nonsense. I think that 10 minutes is hardly enough time for anyone to browse through anything else except t quickly get their ticket.
The countdown clock just stresses one out by making them jump like a mad person, grabbing their wallets, taking their credit cards out and trying to check what that whole bunch of numbers on their credit cards are. Ridiculous!
Why all these ranting?? Because I am sick and tired of being pushed to do something (especially buying tickets online) and I AM the customer so why rush me??
All this is going to change with that stupid SEPAS card. It blinks every time you flash it on the card reader of a bus or MRT barrier. It will remind you that the value in your card is low and today, it was even worse. I still had $1.85 in my card and the barrier refused to open for me and told me to top up my card!!!!!!!
I think all these stupid reminders create unnecessary stress to our already stressful lives. It does something to my nerves every time the CashCard reader beeps in my car or when that card reader flashes the light to remind me to top up.
Another very irritatingly stressful piece of shit is that timer that you get whenever you purchase something online, especially film or performance tickets. I am talking specifically about Cathay website and that stupid Sistic website.
It would remind you of how much time you have left before your seat would be given up. You see, it is a countdown clock. Makes one really stressful and go really crazy. What is worse is that it has this option of whether you would want to continue browsing and if you had more than one ticket to buy, of course you would! See, the system works in this way that if you make several purchases all at once, you only need to pay for the collection fee once. If not, you would have to pay $0.20 for each transaction.
Of course, if I wrote in a complaint letter to Sistic, they might probably politely blame it on my Internet speed, which I think is utter nonsense. I think that 10 minutes is hardly enough time for anyone to browse through anything else except t quickly get their ticket.
The countdown clock just stresses one out by making them jump like a mad person, grabbing their wallets, taking their credit cards out and trying to check what that whole bunch of numbers on their credit cards are. Ridiculous!
Why all these ranting?? Because I am sick and tired of being pushed to do something (especially buying tickets online) and I AM the customer so why rush me??
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Knees go weak for wicker pinic baskets
Okie...I have been wanting to get me-self a wicker picnic basket for a while. I envy my friends who have one. My EHM was even better. She picked it up from outside of someone's bungalow while taking a stroll somewhere around Singapore! It was in very good condition.
Another friend's wicker picnic basket came with the husband as he is, after all, British in origin and had to have one of those. Ironically, it had never been in use until she married him and brought their daughter out for picnic some years later.
Of course, the cheap and easy way out is to buy a chiller bag from Carrefour and dump the rest of the non-chilled stuff in a bag and go. Hee. When it comes to 'events' like that, I would like to have the proper utensils and gear. Just like how I would dress up to go watch a theatre performance, even if it at a very old theatre like Victoria Theatre. Maybe there is a bit of colonial in me that was passed down by teachers from young.
I have found out a few websites which, for my own convenience, I will list here:
1.http://www.picnicbaskets.com/
2.http://www.picnicbaskets.com/
3.http://www.picnicfun.com/
(Sorry guys. Link doesn't seem to be appearing on actual post so if you want to take a look, please cut and paste.)
The one offering the best price so far is number 1 and number 3. Site number 2 seems to offer things at a higher price. I have not asked about the shipping prices though. It may end up being the same. Only site number 2 offered an estimated shipping price and it is not cheap.
Not even sure if it would be worth it using Vpost either as it charges for shipping from the States to Singapore , by weightage. With the stuff weighing at least 10 lbs, I think I might be paying a bomb. Will have to find out more from Vpost.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Only just realised how lousy I am at labelling/tagging my posts as I never used to think that one should put so many complicating labels. I was trying to find my past posting on Vpost and it took me a good two to three minutes!!!!! Hahaha! Will be more careful and diligent in labelling next time.
Another friend's wicker picnic basket came with the husband as he is, after all, British in origin and had to have one of those. Ironically, it had never been in use until she married him and brought their daughter out for picnic some years later.
Of course, the cheap and easy way out is to buy a chiller bag from Carrefour and dump the rest of the non-chilled stuff in a bag and go. Hee. When it comes to 'events' like that, I would like to have the proper utensils and gear. Just like how I would dress up to go watch a theatre performance, even if it at a very old theatre like Victoria Theatre. Maybe there is a bit of colonial in me that was passed down by teachers from young.
I have found out a few websites which, for my own convenience, I will list here:
1.http://www.picnicbaskets.com/
2.http://www.picnicbaskets.com/
3.http://www.picnicfun.com/
(Sorry guys. Link doesn't seem to be appearing on actual post so if you want to take a look, please cut and paste.)
The one offering the best price so far is number 1 and number 3. Site number 2 seems to offer things at a higher price. I have not asked about the shipping prices though. It may end up being the same. Only site number 2 offered an estimated shipping price and it is not cheap.
Not even sure if it would be worth it using Vpost either as it charges for shipping from the States to Singapore , by weightage. With the stuff weighing at least 10 lbs, I think I might be paying a bomb. Will have to find out more from Vpost.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Only just realised how lousy I am at labelling/tagging my posts as I never used to think that one should put so many complicating labels. I was trying to find my past posting on Vpost and it took me a good two to three minutes!!!!! Hahaha! Will be more careful and diligent in labelling next time.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Higher standard of living OR paying more and more
Recently, there has been an increase in cab fare because apparently, the fuel has gone up so bad, they need to cover costs. There has been an increase in bus fare, for the same lame reason. Flour prices have gone up. Egg prices have gone up. Sugar prices have gone up. Therefore hawker food and coffee prices (at hawker centres in general) have gone up too.
Just a few days back, SISTIC, one of the ticketing companies that sells tickets for performances and such, increased its administrative charges. When it first introduced this administrative charge, many members of the public had already made lots of noise. They did not see the need to pay extra, but with all things here in this sunny island of Singapore. All things will go ahead as planned.
This is how it works. If you buy a ticket that is $20 and below, you will only need to pay $1 administrative charge on top of your ticket price. Anything that is above that would have an administrative charge of $2 tagged to the ticket prices.Now, instead of $2 SISTIC is going to charge $3.
It may not seem like a lot to some, but small things do add up. If I watched 10 performances in a year, it will be $10 more that I will have to fork out. Let's say I pay $3 for each meal, $10 can feed me for a day.
I am very upset as I am a lover of the arts and I try to support it as much as I can. The government did say that it wanted to make the arts more accessible and get more of its people to appreciate it. This is just not the way. What sort of an administrative charge is there, when we need to collect the tickets on our own from the counter (even that has a $0.20 charge!) and the Internet system is so slow that you may not get your desired seats simply because the browsing period expired.
I think the cheaper alternative would be to stay at home to watch t.v. programmes. Better yet, read a book. In that way, I only need to pay for energy usage for the lights.
I don't mean to sound like a complainer. I don't think there is much use in complaining. It will fall on deaf ears anyway (which is why I have not bothered to write to the Forum page in Straits Times). I will just bitch about here and get on with life.
Just a few days back, SISTIC, one of the ticketing companies that sells tickets for performances and such, increased its administrative charges. When it first introduced this administrative charge, many members of the public had already made lots of noise. They did not see the need to pay extra, but with all things here in this sunny island of Singapore. All things will go ahead as planned.
This is how it works. If you buy a ticket that is $20 and below, you will only need to pay $1 administrative charge on top of your ticket price. Anything that is above that would have an administrative charge of $2 tagged to the ticket prices.Now, instead of $2 SISTIC is going to charge $3.
It may not seem like a lot to some, but small things do add up. If I watched 10 performances in a year, it will be $10 more that I will have to fork out. Let's say I pay $3 for each meal, $10 can feed me for a day.
I am very upset as I am a lover of the arts and I try to support it as much as I can. The government did say that it wanted to make the arts more accessible and get more of its people to appreciate it. This is just not the way. What sort of an administrative charge is there, when we need to collect the tickets on our own from the counter (even that has a $0.20 charge!) and the Internet system is so slow that you may not get your desired seats simply because the browsing period expired.
I think the cheaper alternative would be to stay at home to watch t.v. programmes. Better yet, read a book. In that way, I only need to pay for energy usage for the lights.
I don't mean to sound like a complainer. I don't think there is much use in complaining. It will fall on deaf ears anyway (which is why I have not bothered to write to the Forum page in Straits Times). I will just bitch about here and get on with life.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Over expectation: Beauty World
Like I said in my previous posting, I was sooo looking forward to watching this musical. In fact, I was already humming the songs when I drove myself to the Esplanade. Well, can't blame someone who has waited 20 years to see it again!
Well, all that anticipation has turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. That will teach me not to have such high expectations and anticipation in the future. I guess it is also because the original cast did such a good job that it has become a hard act to follow.
The cast was weak. They were not in-character for the good first half of the show. It was like, they were just going through the works. The supporting role, Lulu, was sluttier than the one I saw 20 years ago. The Lulu of 20 years ago, though was a cabaret girl, still had a bit of class. This one just reminded me of a 'Chao Ah Lian".
The show was given a much more localised flavour with tons of Singlish used. Not that dialect and Singlish were not used before, but the actors were much more articulate than this group. The very obvious character was that of Ah Hock. He had an accent that wreaks "Neighbourhood School" (I am sorry for generalising and being so opinionated, but SOMETIMES, they do have a certain way of pronouncing words that make one crinch). He really killed the song "Different World" by having bad pronunciations such as worries (pronounced it war-ries, instead of were-ries).
Sad to say too, the new scores that have been added for this 20Th Anniversary version did not go down well with me. I felt that it was out of syn ch (synchronisation) with the rest of the musical that it might as well have not been added in the first place.
At first, I thought it was written by another person, but it was not. It was written by Dick Lee, the maestro himself. The one who wrote the scores 20 years ago. The songs would have been good on its own, but not when it was strung together with the rest of the musical.
Due to the addition of new songs, they took out some original stuff. For example, the starting song "Beauty World" used to be repeated quite often (if I remember correctly). Starting, the end of first half, start of second half and at the end. This time around, it has been downplayed, diluting the whole musical, i.e. they took out the part before interval in order to add new songs. Well, it is after all, the heart and soul of the musical, describing and defining what kind of place Beauty World is. It is the 'thread' that holds everything together.I guess they felt that it was too repetitive and so decided to delete some.
That new songs were added meant that the duration of the whole musical was lengthen, and quite considerably too! We only walked out of the theatre at 11pm! As a result of that, I felt that the actors were rushing throughout the whole performance. Beats of songs were quickened by at least half and as a result, the song sung by Daisy, Lily and Rosie was half buried and swallowed for several reasons: 1. Poor articulation 2. Key too low (had to accommodate maybe) 3. Not using diaphragm enough 4. Rushing for time lor!
Without having the words articulated well, the meaning of the songs were lost. My friend, who was watching it for the first time said, "What the f*&k?" coz she could not really hear what they were singing.
Best singing would have to go to female lead Elena Wang . She had the strongest voice and my friend said, reminded her of Lea Salonga. I told her it reminded me of Emma Yong, maybe because from where I sat, she had Emma's frame and build.
Even then, I would discount her performance a little. As I feel that, in a musical, it is still a very teamwork thingy. By over-shining, one throws the whole performance off balance. A star does not try to make others look bad but is one that knows how to make others in the team seem to look as good as s/he is.
Anyway, I don't think that was her intention. She was also the most articulate but towards the end, her Aussie accent started to re-surface, albeit just a little.
Well, "Beauty world, cha cha cha! The ladies... . Beauty world, cha cha cha... .The music. Beauty World, the finest cabaret, Beauty world!"
Well, all that anticipation has turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. That will teach me not to have such high expectations and anticipation in the future. I guess it is also because the original cast did such a good job that it has become a hard act to follow.
The cast was weak. They were not in-character for the good first half of the show. It was like, they were just going through the works. The supporting role, Lulu, was sluttier than the one I saw 20 years ago. The Lulu of 20 years ago, though was a cabaret girl, still had a bit of class. This one just reminded me of a 'Chao Ah Lian".
The show was given a much more localised flavour with tons of Singlish used. Not that dialect and Singlish were not used before, but the actors were much more articulate than this group. The very obvious character was that of Ah Hock. He had an accent that wreaks "Neighbourhood School" (I am sorry for generalising and being so opinionated, but SOMETIMES, they do have a certain way of pronouncing words that make one crinch). He really killed the song "Different World" by having bad pronunciations such as worries (pronounced it war-ries, instead of were-ries).
Sad to say too, the new scores that have been added for this 20Th Anniversary version did not go down well with me. I felt that it was out of syn ch (synchronisation) with the rest of the musical that it might as well have not been added in the first place.
At first, I thought it was written by another person, but it was not. It was written by Dick Lee, the maestro himself. The one who wrote the scores 20 years ago. The songs would have been good on its own, but not when it was strung together with the rest of the musical.
Due to the addition of new songs, they took out some original stuff. For example, the starting song "Beauty World" used to be repeated quite often (if I remember correctly). Starting, the end of first half, start of second half and at the end. This time around, it has been downplayed, diluting the whole musical, i.e. they took out the part before interval in order to add new songs. Well, it is after all, the heart and soul of the musical, describing and defining what kind of place Beauty World is. It is the 'thread' that holds everything together.I guess they felt that it was too repetitive and so decided to delete some.
That new songs were added meant that the duration of the whole musical was lengthen, and quite considerably too! We only walked out of the theatre at 11pm! As a result of that, I felt that the actors were rushing throughout the whole performance. Beats of songs were quickened by at least half and as a result, the song sung by Daisy, Lily and Rosie was half buried and swallowed for several reasons: 1. Poor articulation 2. Key too low (had to accommodate maybe) 3. Not using diaphragm enough 4. Rushing for time lor!
Without having the words articulated well, the meaning of the songs were lost. My friend, who was watching it for the first time said, "What the f*&k?" coz she could not really hear what they were singing.
Best singing would have to go to female lead Elena Wang . She had the strongest voice and my friend said, reminded her of Lea Salonga. I told her it reminded me of Emma Yong, maybe because from where I sat, she had Emma's frame and build.
Even then, I would discount her performance a little. As I feel that, in a musical, it is still a very teamwork thingy. By over-shining, one throws the whole performance off balance. A star does not try to make others look bad but is one that knows how to make others in the team seem to look as good as s/he is.
Anyway, I don't think that was her intention. She was also the most articulate but towards the end, her Aussie accent started to re-surface, albeit just a little.
Well, "Beauty world, cha cha cha! The ladies... . Beauty world, cha cha cha... .The music. Beauty World, the finest cabaret, Beauty world!"
Friday, January 4, 2008
Anticipation
It's a Friday...finally! It has been a relatively short week all thanks to the New Year holiday. Really looking forward to 6pm when I knock off work.
For this is the day that I am going to watch the local musical, Beauty World again! I watched it when it was first staged 20 years ago! This was THE musical that got me hooked onto all other musicals like Phantom, Evita, My fair lady, just to name a few. Besides, the scores were written by my favourite local artiste, Dick Lee.
After all these years, I can still memorise the lyrics of Single in Singapore and other songs in the musical. I think I am going to buy programme and CDs tonight. Not going to lose the CD again.
Will write more about it once I come back from it!
For this is the day that I am going to watch the local musical, Beauty World again! I watched it when it was first staged 20 years ago! This was THE musical that got me hooked onto all other musicals like Phantom, Evita, My fair lady, just to name a few. Besides, the scores were written by my favourite local artiste, Dick Lee.
After all these years, I can still memorise the lyrics of Single in Singapore and other songs in the musical. I think I am going to buy programme and CDs tonight. Not going to lose the CD again.
Will write more about it once I come back from it!
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