.. Watching soon ... W!ld Rice's Public Enemy !!

I just bought tickets for W!ld Rice’s Public Enemy 22/4/15, 8pm show. This is showing from 9^th April to 25^th April at the Victoria Theatre.

Big name stars .. Kay Siu and Ivan Heng … Dependable director ... Glenn Goei … Big name production company … W!ld Rice … should be good right? I really hope so .. ! The supporting cast looks pretty good too !!

Sorry I am not doing a detailed preview of this. Have been busy so didn't have time to do so. Surely I will do a review of it !!! Stay tuned !!

Have a Great Day folks !!!

If any of the W!ld Rice guys want to meet up after the Ishow to chat, drop me a line. Will be glad to give you my honest opinion. 

Standard of Singapore theatre ... comments please ...

I must admit that the last few local productions I caught were really disappointing. Big name stars .. big name production companies .. usually dependable writers … so much hype … BAD show.  Local theatre has sadly deteriorated to the funny shows which are not funny with actors who can't act and singers who can't sing. I find a lot more enjoyment from the smaller productions. Small budgets but full of emotions. They know they have a lot more to prove and the actors / actresses try their best to actually act. There is only so much that the big names can do with ticket sales. Read my review of Great World Cabaret to understand how a big name like Mark Lee could not even fill 30% of the venue on a Saturday evening !!!!

I was talking to a local theatre producer a few weeks ago and he also agrees that the standard of local theatre is declining … FAST. He suggested that someone should form a “theatre critic circle.”

 I may not be the best qualified to say this but then my opinion is that other reviewers are generally “very nice” and do not write negative reviews. They are always very politically correct .. and if a show is ‘bad’ .. no review is done. (I am guilty of this as well … didn’t write reviews of W!ld Rice’s Monkey Goes West and Dim Sum Dollies History of Singapore Part 2 because I felt they were below the usual high standards set by W!ld Rice and Dim Sum Dollies respectively)

Again I stress that this is my opinion and I am no theatre practitioner or have a degree in the performing arts. I just write based on my feelings of what I see, hear and experience during the show. I have received severe flak from some production directors, writers, actors, fanboys before because of my negative reviews. I take it in .. it is part and parcel of a writing blog .. not everyone agrees with what I write. So these theatre practitioners should also understand that not everyone agrees with that they write and what they think is ‘perfect.’

Anyways, I want to know what my readers think? Do you all also feel that local theatre is losing its quality? Please comment as I want to know whether it is only me feeling this way. Is it that my expectations are too high? What can we do to improve the quality of local theatre?

A True Beauty... my Review of Beauty and the Beast

I caught Beauty and the Beast a few weekends ago. It was staged at the Mastercard Theatres at MBS. In my opinion, the seats at the Mastercard Theatres are extremely uncomfortable and the acoustics here are not as good that at the Esplanade and Victoria Theatre. I also caught Phantom and Sound of Music at the Mastercard Theatres and the music and singing can be muffled at times. That is why I try to avoid catching anything there. I wonder sometimes why they choose to stage these musicals there. Anyways it was pretty full with way more adults than children. I guess these adults must have loved the original Disney cartoon. A bit of a spoiler here but though the storyline is the same as the cartoon, NOT all the songs are the same. So how was it?

It was good. Really beautiful backdrops, sets and props. The singing was absolutely marvellous. Especially Belle !! I think she really stood out amongst all the other cast members. The Beast was good and Gaston did his smug, strutting act well but next to Belle, they all paled in comparison. I think she will do an excellent Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. I can just imagine her singing “Somewhere over the Rainbow” in blue overalls and white blouse and red ruby shoes !!!  The other supporting cast – Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs Potts & Chip were all good too in their roles and brought everything together very nicely.  

The backup dancers were superb. They were very energetic and the costumes that they were in … WOW !! A lot of money must have been spent on the costumes and the backdrop sets and props. The props and sets were not just 2-dimensional but full 3 dimensional and interactive as well. That may be why tickets are so expensive !! But I feel that they were worth it. In fact, just watching “Be Our Guest” on stage was worth it !! The colors, the dancing, the effects .. spectacular !!

If I had any complaints, it would be minor things like the Beast and Gaston could up their singing more. I don’t think Disney or the production can do anything about the uncomfortable seats or the acoustics in the theatre.

So folks, go catch Beauty and the Beast … it will be here up to the 3^rd May 2015. This is the original Broadway production .. so expect really high production values and fantastic entertainment !! It is a real visual treat for the whole family !!! .. just make sure you bring some comfy pillows !!!