Superstar: The Pop Musical by Singapore Polytechnic

Rating: 4.5/5
Singapore Polytechnic's first ever grand stage production, Superstar: The Pop Musical is a glittering, vibrant, in-your-face display of raw talent and earnest performances that put Singapore Idol to shame and left me with a strong desire to go back to school.

The plot
The story (written by Jeanine Lim) follows five caricature students (the rocker, the sweetie pie, the nerd... you get the picture!) and their adventures to become the next 'idol'. At the end of the show, you even get to vote (via SMS) for your favorite!

There's light hearted comedy, a little drama, a little action, and even a sweet love triangle thrown into the mix! The usual goody-goody themes are present: gambling is bad, friends who stand-up for each other are good, relationships shouldn't be traded-in for fame, don't give up, etc... But the true genius lies in how this search-for-the-next-superstar format makes it very natural for a variety of song and dance numbers to pop-up.

My favorite group performance
I really liked "I Didn't Make It" which is a lament of all Those Who Did Not Make It (to the contest's finals). The military-esque beat, start-and-stop marching and group choreography was a feat in itself considering that almost the whole cast (almost 40 people!) were on stage!

Best Actress
Hands down, the best actress (heck, the best performer!) is definitely Shelley, played by Natasha Genevieve Lee Han Yi (diploma in accountancy).

She got the pretty, sweetie-sweetie, demure demeanor right down pat! My favorite was "Guess It's Not For Me" because she successfully delivered the melancholy and despair. She didn't just sing that song, she was in it such that song and singer were indistinguishable!
Her 'final performance' for the 'talent show' came as a shocker to me, too! She was transformed from sweetie-sweetie, demure girl into hot, hot, muy caliente vixen dancing with wild abandon in a red mini skirt.

Now that's versatility!

Coolest choreography
"Fight!" performed by Sky The Rocker (Bao Er Cong diploma in Music and Audio Technology) had some pretty cool Wushu-inspired dance moves. Unfortunately, his singing and acting need a little more work and he had me wincing in pain all through-out. He wasn't up to par with the rest of the 'finalists'.

Weirdest choreography
Imagine two dancing wheelchairs, decorated in shiny foil surrounded by dancers (who were clad in black with the initials "SP" stuck to their chests in shiny foil) darting in and out of the stage on in-line skates... Yeah. It was pretty weird. It's a good thing that Kaylinda, The Blind Student Who Could (played by Esther Low Hui Xian, diploma in Music and Audio Technology) had the best voice of the lot. I almost got goose-bumps during the end of her performance of "If You Can See Through My Eyes" when the music suddenly stopped and she sang acapella accompanied by a gospel-inspired chorale. Good stuff.

Conclusion
Four and a half pawikan points. Bonus points for the band in the orchestra pit! From where I sat, I could see that they were really enjoying themselves. Extra, extra bonus points for Jimmy Ye who wrote the lyrics and composed the music. I really like his style of inserting various 'rests' and 'cuts' in the middle of his songs that serve as dramatic periods and exclamation points.

Extra, extra, extra bonus points for President SR Nathan who shook the hand of cookie monster during the curtain call.

There's so much more to this play than what I can write in this space-- a musical chair, dancing mannequins, the performance of the Singapore Poly lecturers, the faux-Singapore Idol logo... Watch it and you'll know what I mean when I say that it will make you want to go back to school.

A real flying carpet at "Aladdin Jr" by Repertory Philippines

Rating:
Repertory Children's Theater's presentation of Disney's Aladdin Jr was a shining, shimmering, splendid shindig that brought the audience to a whole new world!

Two weeks ago, I went with Agent A to Greenbelt's Onstage theater to catch the 7:30pm Saturday night show. The last Rep Children's play that I saw, Emperor's New Clothes, was mediocre so I had no expectations as I took my seat.

But from the moment the house lights dimmed, and the theater filled with belly dancers holding candles that danced like fireflies in the dark and the familiar strains of "Arabian Nights" began to play... I had a funny feeling that this was going to be an excellent show!

Martin Esteva's lighting design coupled with Johann Quisumbing's magical set instantly transported us into "that land in a far away place..." Everything was perfectly executed and the set changes in between scene transitions were flawless!

Most of the stuff that I can remember from Disney's movie was captured in the play-- the clueless sultan, sulking Jasmine, Jafar and even his sidekick parrot Iago played by a puppet controlled by an actor clad head-to-toe in black!

I've seen quite a lot of impressive sets in the many plays that i've watched but this time I must say that Repertory Philippines has raised the bar even higher! During the scene when Aladdin discovers the genie from the magic lamp in the cave, my jaw dropped in amazement as the blue genie (yes... he was glowing blue!) magically pops out of nowhere and starts to sing "Friend Like Me". Then the ethereal backup dancers (which had Crazy Horse inspired dance moves) appeared like they were floating! And then when the magic carpet appears and starts to dance... hanep! You could hear the oooohs and the aaaahhhss from the audience as we all struggled to figure out how they did that!

(Yeah, yeah... Agent A says glow in the dark fabrics, black light, and exploiting the inherent darkness of the theater but I still think it was magic.)

I must agree with Agent A when she says that instead of Aladdin (Rem Zamora/Joel Trinidad), it was the genie (Oliver Usison with Nelson Caruncho alternating) that carried the play. Aladdin lacked that presence deserving of the title role. Niccolo Manahan captured Jafar's sinister comic-ness and his maniacal muwahaha laughter was infectious.

But for me, the real star of the show was the magnificent chorus. Excellent choral singing (kudos to the vocal coach) and the choreography was perfectly executed (I'm sure they made Douglas Nierras proud!). The young cast danced with so much energy and gusto (even if some of the dances struck me as more Egyptian than Arabian) and their singing had such passion that Agent A had to restrain me from climbing up the stage to join them make way for Prince Ali!

Five pawikan points for Aladdin Jr. I know it's a great play because 80% of the audience was under 10 years of age and this usually restless and easily distracted bunch all sat quietly enthralled throughout the hour long performance. My only regret is that I couldn't get a chance to have my photo-op with the blue genie because of the kids jostling all around!

(Aladdin Jr is playing until December 15, 2006. I highly recommend this for a wholesome family night out or for a perfect first-date/blind date.)

Rock Opera The Musical, Esplanade Theatre, Singapore

Rating:

A preachy, cheesy, roll-your-eyes, oh-my-gosh give-me-a-break script waters down the rock from the fun music and rocking orchestra of this show.

Last night, i caught the last performance of IMG Promotions' Rock Opera the Musical - A Rock Anthology which played to a house that was at best just a quarter full.

At first I was surprised at the sparse audience-- hey, the whimsical Vegetable Orchestra was sold out so why not this one? It was pretty unforunate since the Esplanade theatre is definitely world class! After the first few lines of dialogue were spoken, it finally dawned on me-- this words and all the songs were not in English but in Melayu!

It's a good thing that they provided subtitles using the large LED signboards on either side of the stage or else my $50 would have gone to waste. It's no wonder they couldn't pack a crowd as this was definitely a niche market-- how many theatre goers are there in Singapore? Of those theatre goers, how many appreciate rock music? And finally, how many of them can speak Malay? Uhhh... apparently not a lot. The plus side is that they bumped all of us nosebleed seats to the $80 section so I had an excellent view. That was a class act from the Esplanade staff!

The plot (what plot?)
The story is pretty bizarre (spoiler alert!)-- it's basically a flashback about Romli (Sulaiman Ekbah) who was a struggling rocker who had a homegrown Malay band* called RIM . They finally made it big by sticking to his roots and not selling out. Then the love of his life (played by Azyza) dies in a fire that starts in a kitchen because the dish she was cooking for Romli was left unattended. (I didn't see that one coming. Delicious irony.)

(**on a side note, I emphasize "Malay band" because one of the themes was that Malay music wasn't making any headway in the club scene because most preferred Filipino bands. They repeated this a couple of times and it made me proud that Pinoys were recognized as good musicians!)

Written for kids?
The characters are poorly developed and the story just felt too goody-goody for my tastes. It lacked the cheekiness, the bite, the "raw-ness" of rock. Mini lessons were incorporated such as "don't steal", "don't smoke marijuana", "don't get pregnant" that did nothing to their main 'be true to your roots' theme. The dialogue read like a never ending litany of cliches with such gems as: "I am a sparrow with small wings-- how can I fly with the falcons?" Ugh. It was too in-your-face and lacked the subtlety that would just let the audience read between the lines. Or then again maybe the meaning was simply lost in translation!

The real stars of this musical
It was apparent even from the moment the lights went out that the star and showpiece of this play would definitely be the music. All throughout the show and without fail, the orchestra flexed their musical muscles masterfully-- combining a solid catchy beat, electric guitar lead, subtle ethnic percussions, strings, the barely-there ooohs and aahhhs of a choir and playful keyboards into a refined and surgically precise rock and roll. You know that music director Amri Amin did well because his music was talking. I understood the music even if I could not speak a word of Malay. Ever heard the saying that music transcends borders? His work is proof.

The verdict
Three pawikan points for Rock Opera The Musical- A rock anthology. Minus points for the too-long title and that distracting drum set in the middle of the stage-- the actor playing the drummer wasn't doing a good job of "lip-synching" the drumming and I found it very distracting.

Bonus points for the backup dancers from the ERA Dance Theater even if I thought that their ballet-inspired choreography was a tad inappropriate for rock and roll. They looked like they were having fun and were dancing with a lot of spirit-- which I think is what rock is really all about.

Death and the Ploughman, Singapore Drama Centre

Rating:
"The moment we enter this world, we are old enough to leave it."

Sometimes I forget how fragile human life is and it takes three people, a stage and $20 to remind me again that one of these many days will be my last.

I caught the final show of SITI Company's performance of Death and the Ploughman at the splendid Singapore Drama Centre. These actors flew in all the way from America as part of the Singapore Arts Festival 2006.

Death and the Ploughman was written in German almost 600 years ago by Johannes von Saaz and was translated by playwright Michael West.

This is a serious debate (trial?) between Death (as in the grim reaper) and a ploughman who has lost his wife. The first scene alone had the ploughman throwing non-stop curses and expletives at Death for taking his wife. I've never heard such well mannered cussing that seemed to last forever!

The script has a lot of "gems" of wisdom and i wish i brought a notebook with me so i could write down those lines! There's a lot of ear candy and was littered with a lot of what I call litany-style speech which is enumerating all the different ways to refer to something as if reading from a list.

I specially liked Death's discourse (who was by the way, very dapper in his suit and bowler's hat!) on the duality of everything-- how if you want love, you must also be ready for pain and after pleasure comes the absence of pleasure etc...

In my opinion, it's the script that makes this play. You could actually close your eyes and just listen to the dialogue that was delivered with such power and conviction. I was even pleasantly surprised when Death broke into song! His rough, gruff voice doing some bluesy riffs was a refreshing interlude to the dialogue. Death's take on women and marriage brought chuckles from the audience but the Ploughman put up an equally strong defence!

This was pretty deep stuff so I had to concentrate so that I wouldn't miss a thing. What I couldn't quite get was the significance of their movements along the stage-- slow-motion, with what seemed to me as ballet inspired twists and turns with the actors rarely seeing eye-to-eye.

Three and a half pawikan points-- plus points for the great delivery of lines and how the play got me thinking which led to some pretty intense introspection while on the MRT on the way home.

Blithe Spirit by Knock 'Em Dead Productions

Rating:
Knock Em Dead Productions has this dinner-theater concept where you sit down for dinner and after your main course, they stage a play and in the intermission, they'll serve dessert! I went to watch but of course I ate at home so I could save $20 on the meal. The night I went, they were showing Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit.

It's a very simple plot. Charles (Justin Marshall Tharpe) is a cynical writer who invites psychic Madame Arcati (Bea Eichmann Allen) to hold a seance so he can get inspiration for a book he's writing. In the process, the ghost of his deceased ex-wife Elvira (RaDawn Smythe) is 'summoned' and causes mischief between Charles', his current wife Ruth (Mary McGreaham) and even upsetting their housemaid Edith (Kenna Marks).

This was a light-hearted play (so much different from the somber tones of "The Exonerated") with witty banter that got me chuckling. The surprise ending was amusing and I thought it was cute how they showed the "hauntings"-- books falling on their own, picture frames twirling and that whle smoke and fog thing. Their British accents were a bit off and in some parts come off sounding like a sing-song but I had a good time nonetheless.

It was a bit weird because the actors also functioned as the waiters who would bring food/clear tables during the intermission! No prima donnas here! hehehe!

I give this play four pawikan points with plus points for RaDawn Smythe who in my opinion was the best actress of the night and for Kenna Marks and Bea Allen who gamely posed with me to have their photo taken after the show!

The Exonerated by Spontaneous Productions

Rating:
I had the pleasure of watching Spontaneous Productions' staging of Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen's "The Exonerated" (directed by Mike Silva) at downtown Boise's Visual Arts Collective museum and I must say that it was a moving experience.
Before I get into the play, i'd just like to mention that the Visual Arts Collective wasn't such a good theater-- the seats were uncomfortable, my neck was strained but at least they had complimentary wine, beer and food. That being said, on to my review...

Exonerated is defined as: freed from any question of guilt; "is absolved from all blame")

It's a true story about six people's experiences on how they were accused, tried, put on death row for crimes they did not commit, and the tragedy (?) of being found innocent and thus subsequently released.

The play was done in the style of a reading; Thirteen actors sitting on stools in a dimly lit room-- reading! They stories of the six lives would be told little by little until you finally understood the whole thing at the very end. Some actors played multiple parts nevertheless the story was still easy to follow as you could definitely 'hear' the shifts in accent/demeanor. There were no fancy sets, special effects or multimedia-- the absence of theatricals just served to highlight how it was so beautifully written.

And beautifully written it was-- the makeshift theater was tomb-like in the hushed and reverent silence. The lady behind me kept whispering 'ohmygod' and you could hear collective gasps from the audience as the tragedies unfolded.

Plus pawikan points for Christian Shiverick who played the death-row inmate Kerry who was convicted of rape and murder in 1976 and was accused of being a homosexual because he worked as a bartender in a gay bar. The news that he was a homo was at death row even before he got there. As a result, he became the bitch of some inmates and the words "good pussy" were carved into his butt. It was carved so deep that it couldn't be removed, not even with surgery and he is reminded of his experience everytime he sees himself in the mirror. He was exonerated in 1999, 23 years later. Twenty three years. Needless to say, his life was destroyed.

Imagine getting hit by these stories-- six times! And what's even more appalling was that these things really happened. To. Real. People.

Another heartwrenching story was Sunny's (portrayed by Buffie Main) who was framed in 1976 and was imprisoned together with her lover. The real criminal gave a written confession 3 years later in 1979 but she was only released in 1992-- thirteen years later. Unfortunately her lover, Jesse Tafero was executed in 1990 in a famously botched execution where the electric chair malfunctioned! Flames started to shoot from his head and they had to electrocute him three times. How's that for cruel punishment.

The play ends with Cherie Buckner-Webb singing a very moving acapella of Amazing Grace. Needless to say, it was a standing ovation.

The Exonerated doesn't preach. It's not cheesy and dripping with moral lessons. It's solid facts (the dialogue was taken from actual court transcripts and interviews) and a very good way to raise awareness about this issue because these exonerated are ordinary people like you and me. Buffie Main's character, Sunny put it very gracefully:

Imagine everything you did between the years of 1976 and 1992.
Now remove all of it.

I left that theater reminded that, hey, life could fuck you and this could easily happen to you.

I rate this somber, thought provoking piece four pawikan points. Plus points for the basket outside the theater where you could put in money to go to the exonerated... so they can pick up what's left of their lives.

I'd like to see this performed in the Philippines. I've visited Munti's death row and I think it would do our country good to have a little discussion and rethink our laws about capital punishment.

Check out another review by RW Online and the SF Weekly.

The Physics of Regret by Boise Contemporary Theater

Rating:
I caught the saturday matinee of the world premiere of Michael Rohd's "The Physics Of Regret" as interpreted by the Boise Contemporary Theater at the Fulton Street Theater.

The director describes it best as: "...the show is more a collage than a single plot-drive narrative - in fact, it's a living puzzle."

There are multiple seemingly unrelated storylines starting off with a discussion of perception-- why do we see the same thing yet "see" it differently?

The story introduces Joseph Plateau and his early invention which was the predecessor of modern cinema. This invention flashed a series of still photos of a man in the motion of sitting on a chair from a standing position. He notices that the illusion of movement is achieved not just because of the photos but of the black spaces in between that result to a sort of temporary "permanence" of the image. Heavy stuff.

What was pretty interesting about the play was how it merged:
... choreography - the main actors going through the motions of sitting on a chair to trippy music-- in various speeds! they'd slo-mo their movements then suddenly fast forward... as if you were watching them through Plateau's invention...
... multimedia - the use of images (both moving and still) from an overheard multimedia projector was ubiquitous all throughout: representing hallucinations and what not
... song - they even broke into song well into the second act of the play! Surprising but refreshing!

It was certainly different from the Repertory Philippines' plays i'm used to and I must admit I didn't really fully understand what it was all about (the older gentleman beside me fell asleep).

I wouldn't pay another $24 to watch this again however if you get the chance, I encourage you to watch this-- para maiba naman.

Three pawikan points for this one, but i'd give bonus points for the cool choreography of the finale which demonstrated a lot of movement onstage with people disappearing and reappearing as somebody else much like a magic show. Maybe asking yourself why they did this is really a part of the performance. But for now, the meaning escapes me.

Nobody's Perfect by Repertory Philippines

Rating:
I should've written about this the week after I caught this play at Greenbelt's Onstage Theater but I've been a bit busy and I only recently have found the time to blog again.

Simon Williams' "Nobody's Perfect" is the first of Repertory Philippines' plays for 2006 and It was a riot! I was laughing from beginning to end with its British humour. It's about a guy who pretends to be a girl in order for his story to be published in a publishing house of feminist books. In the process, he falls in love with beautiful publisher and thus ensues the dilemma of how to woo the girl without his 'secret identity' being discovered. (Clickthecity.com has another synopsis here.)

As usual, the acting was superb with Miguel Faustmann as the cross dressing 'Leonard'. It's fast paced, witty and the transformations from man-to-woman as well as the quick cellphone dialog at the end kept me ready to get on my feet for a standing ovation after each scene! I've never been disappointed with Rep's plays and my only regret is blogging about this late! The final run has ended but I hope you get season passes because the next comedies look very promising!

4.5 pawikans for this-- minus points for the misleading text on the flyers: "can a transvestite make a woman love him?" (he wasn't a transvestite!) and for the ending that I felt was a bit "rushed".

Man of La Mancha, Repertory Philippines

Rating:
I watched Repertory Philippines' gala premier of Dale Wasserman's "Man of La Mancha" (a musical based on Miguel de Cervantes' novel "Don Quixote" and directed by Baby Barredo) and what a musical it was!

This play was even more meaningful because it was dedicated to the late Bibot Amador, our very own Woman of La Mancha who requested this as the last show of the season before she passed away.

Everything was beautifully executed! From the very first scene with a rousing Flamenco by Clara Ramona (plus points for her cool clappers!) to the live musical accompaniment of nothing less than the Manila Symphony Orchestra conducted by master Toti Molina (plus points for the snare drummer), and the choreography (Oh the choreography!) of Douglas Nierras, this play is definitely the best of Rep that I've ever seen (and i've seen the last two seasons!).

The acting of rep veterans Michael Williams (as Don Quixote), Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (as Aldonza/Dulthinea) and Robbie Guevara (as Sancho) were flawless (as usual!) but I could sometimes hear a slight Filipino accent from Sancho. The singing was perfect (plus points to whoever trained the whole cast) They really did justice to the music of Mitch Leigh.

It's hard to say what my favorite parts were because I was enthralled all through-out but I remember "Dulcinea" for its boisterous feel and "I'm Only Thinking Of Him" for its vocals.

It seems that each moment was engineered to be a photo-op as the blocking/choreography was always picture perfect. This play is total, absolute eye candy (thanks to the lush sets by Jun Cumagun and the stage lighting of Lito Borromeo.)

The five pawikan points i'm giving this play doesn't do it any justice. They say it's madness-- "to see life as it is, and not as it should be!" but I think it would be a greater tragedy if you don't come out and see this play.