Car Wars & Tragic Lovers

Heh heh... this series of ads was sent by this colleague of mine and they are too good to not share! So check it out!










On another note, I went to watch Butterfly Lovers yesterday with CY, KG, J and KG's girl. Note below:

Butterfly Lovers The Musical

Dama's latest musical production is based on a very popular Chinese folklore about two ill-fated lovers who could not consummate their relationship due to family backgrounds, but are reunited as butterflies after their death. Under the artistic baton of Dama, this Chinese YENTL cum ROMEO & JULIET classic love story - set in the Eastern Jin Dynasty period (265 - 420 AD) - is given a modern makeover, with the infusion of an exquisite blending of period costumes with the touch of contemporary musical.

I know that it is based on an old folklore and that Shaw Brothers made this movie a very long time ago starring the famous Ling Po - THE LOVE ETERNE (aka LIANG SHAN-PO AND CHU YING-TAI) - a 1963 Hong Kong operetta based on the oft-filmed classic story, "Liang Shan-Po And Chu Ying-Tai," aka "The Butterfly Lovers." A love story in a combination of dialogue and song, focusing on a pair of students at a university in Hangchow, one, Chu Ying-Tai, a female disguised as a man in order to gain entry into the school and the other an older fellow student, Liang Shan-Po.

The musical I must say, I found quite funny at parts. Maybe the language barrier and lack of cultural understanding hinders me from really enjoying the musical but I found it beautiful in some parts and really corny in others. The language was beautiful and Tan Soo Suan voice - and I am talking about her SPEAKING voice was gorgeous. A beautiful quality that I can listen to forever. Her singing voice was of course beautiful (one marvels at a woman who can sing beautifully lying down, in distress, running around ,etc) but I was completely captivated by her speaking voice. The actor who played Shanbo didnt really make an impact on me but I found his manservant, Suji, really charming.
Best scene?
When Ying Tai runs to Shanbo's grave and there was lightning and thunder. A butterfly image "flies down" and Shanbo appears, in silhouette. The lighting effect was superb!

The funniest scene?
Both servants doing a little dance after YingTai called Shanbo a dumb buffalo and he merajuk-ed
AND
When 2 BIG HUGE butterfiles appear after YingTai's suicide. I expected 2 sweet little butterflies, not 2 Big huge-ass monsters!

onehundred&seventysevenminutes

fiftynineminutes.
original short plays and monologues performed within one hour.

“Two friends discover faith, direction and the truth. An actress whom we all like to hate. A bitter past haunts a bitterer couple. A girl finds beauty in ugliness. A man and a woman make love over dinner. A fellow Malaysian makes the country proud. And a group of roommates bring back the dead- all within fiftynineminutes”

When September 28th - October 1st 2006 @ 8.30 pm

Where The Dram Projects, BG06 Happy Mansion Apartments, Jalan 17/13 46400 PJ

I went three times to see Johann in his first ever monologue titled "The World's Smelliest Durian" over the last week at the Dram Projects. Dram Projects is this tiny teeny weeny studio next to the Food Foundry at Section 17. Quite a little gem of a place, really, although in terms of sound insulation, it fails. This effort is put up by the oral stage which is mainly made up of really young actors, directors and writers.

It was great to see the young actors letting their creativity flow and I truly feel that we should have more outlets like this for the youth. Although I felt that most of the actors lacked that connection to their charaters and therefore I had difficulty believing what they were doing or saying, overall I would say that it was a good effort.

But more on the oldest "youth" there, Johann Lim. I know I am biased, but his, was definately my favourite performance. He was a real natural, kept it simple and basically allowed the audience to connect with the script and the character. I really did not know what to expect walking in as I have never seen him do somethig like this before and neither did I see him rehearse his lines. I was even preparing what to say to him incase it sucked. "You were...erm...kinda good...babe.." "Maybe... you erm... didn't have enough time to practice." "It was not bad... for your first time." Anyway...PHEW! He was great! and I told him so. Not that I would have lied and not tell him like it is if he wasn't, (hmm).. but to be fair, I thought the script was one of the better ones. Amongst the other ones which had darker undertones, The World's Smelliest Durian was like a breath of fresh air. I am no expert, but I know what speaks to me and what does not. I AM proud of my world smelliest baby. You rocked babe!
The one I disliked the most? Has to be the final act with 6 girls. It was annoying, messy, lacked clarity and well... just plain annoying... sorry girls... that was what it was for me.

Looks like I will not be able to hold him back now.... hahaha
Check out reviews by other bloggers:
http://kyspeaks.com/2006/09/28/ky-review-fiftynineminutes-by-the-oral-stage/

http://bookofjohn.blogspot.com/