As I had already
seen it once.. the second time would not
be so funny right? WRONG !!! To be honest, I found the first viewing a bit of a
minor let-down. There were several issues such as draggy scenes, unable to hear
the lyrics clearly, the main cast were obviously very tired after weeks of
rehearsals, no sub-titles and other typical “opening night” issues. The second
time I saw it .. it was like watching a new show. The flow between skits was a
lot more harmonious .. there were subtitles for the difficult-to-catch bits and
the 5 cast members really shone this time.
I am not an
expert, but, it seemed like the Jon, Judee, Rodney, Judy & Dwayne just
injected a shot of pure caffeine into their veins. They were so full of energy
and confidence. The singing was a lot better and full of gusto. The Kit Chan
skit was again superbly done (the first night, it seemed rather flat) .. this
by far shows Jon’s skills. The “into the booth” skit really highlighted Judee’s
singing with the “popular” song and the witch one too. Judy was hilarious
playing Singapore’s most hardworking theatre actor. Dwayne’s expressions and
delivery were so spot on in “into the booth” and “69:72.” Rodney in the Matrix
skit & bobbing the chicken in “umbrella” ... priceless. (AND
THIS WAS ALL ONLY DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE SHOW !!!)
Off-stage, the
lighting & sound crew did a good job again. You could hardly detect any
timing issues with the lights and music. The music cues were spot-on as well as
the “follow-spot-lights.” The subtitles to the songs (especially 3MM) made it
all SO SO SO much better !!!! I liked it the first time .. I loved it the
second time.
Overall, the
show came together brilliantly. As said earlier, I loved it the first time ...
I loved MORE of it the second time. A lot of it was punchier and tighter. Jokes
were funnier ... singing was more ‘brio’. The cast were much more confident as
the lines became second nature to them and they were free to express themselves
in their acting. Of course there were some misses. However this may be due to
my inability to understand the hidden meanings but it was still fun to laugh
along anyways.
A friend & I
were chatting at the foyer before the show and we were trying to figure out the
demographics of the audience and the Chestnut fans. It was hard (not hard like
Jon..) but difficult. We saw people of different races and age groups. There
were the aunties, the 30s professionals and their arm-candy .. there were the
arts crowd, the university students ... et cetera .. et cetera.. We came to a
conclusion it wasn’t the difficult after all ... it is anyone and everyone who
wants to have an evening of pure foolishness , to laugh away the stress of life
in Singapore while laughing AT life in Singapore. Judging from what I saw and read on FB,
Chestnuts, you have made a lot of new fans with iChestnuts 15 and I believe you
guys deserve it !!!
For those who
have yet to catch it .. you have 3 more days to go .. the run ends this
Saturday. Go catch it and I guarantee that you will be laughing all the way
past Chinese New Year... in the meantime .. I just want to wear my tudung .....
