Monday, December 08, 2008

Singapore's Snow White

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" Sounds familiar?

Of course it is, right? Well, this is the famous line from the Walt Disney cartoon taken into a play in Singapore - Snow White.

Actually adapting previous cartoon shows into their own theatre shows is not new. The company behind the idea, Wild Rice, has in fact done it with shows like Oi! Sleeping Beauty and even Aladdin.

The Musical Plot

There are similaraties in the Disney cartoon - like the beautiful step daughter, the greedy step mum and her want to be the fairest in town! However, beyond that, this musical goes very much local - with many jokes poking fun at Singapore itself - especially the government!

Of course, these are all done in a cover up way - so unless you live here, or follow with Singapore news, one will not be able to catch all the jokes behind them.

But the rest will find that there are many funny lines that will tickle the bones - and which obviously makes a good evening entertainment.

The Super Cast
What I particularly like about this show is not so much the quite predictable storyline, but more so the superb cast.

They have the famous Singapore's Ah Beng, Sebastian Tan who this time round acted as the evil step mother! He played his role well - many times witty.

Then there is the very heart warming acting from the pretty Elena Wang, who played non other than Snow White herself. Her pretty demure acting with sweet good voice makes her a star attraction to the show itself.

Even Celine Rosa as the wall mirror played well - at times funny, and many times like the good servant.

singapore snow white castFunny Sebastian giving his 'peace' sign. He is sitting in between Dwayne Tan (prince charming) and Celine Rosa Tan (the magic mirror). At the corner, the princess - Elena Wang.

singapore snow white autograph singning sessionBacked with funnyman Hossan Leong as director, Alfian Sa’at - book & lyrics and Elaine Chan as composer, this made a good team that is sure to draw in the crowds.

For Singaporeans, I'd say, go watch if you want a light and entertaining evening. And of course to support the locals art scene.

Though not as grand as Beauty World (which I think is really one of Singapore's best), however, this play is worthy enough for the local support! :)

And to any foreigners (especially from across the causeway), this is a good watch to know a bit more about Singapore. There's lots to learn from the jokes, and at the same time to appreciate the buzzing theatre scene here.

And you'd be surprise to know how much the government has opened up (by allowing these jokes!).

So, hurry up and catch Snow White! :)

10 comments:

  1. I guess we Malaysians may not understand some of the jokes, would we? I remember Hossan Leong in "Chang and Eng" the Musical that was shown at Istana Budaya in KL a few years back! So he's the director now? "Chang and Eng" is my favourite musical surpassing some of those western musicals. I hope they will stage it again in KL! : )

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  2. And the script will be heavily accented, I'm guessing. :P

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  3. @foongpc
    oh uve seen chang & eng. that is one of the most successful singapore's play, along with beauty world. and i agree, some of these are better than the western musicals :)

    hossan now do quite a lot of things - from stand up comedy.. and yes, even directing this. interesting huh :)

    @宝茹
    well not really. cos in singapore, singlish is only spoken as daily language but not in tv or theatre - there it's 'perfect' english :) (so no lahs, lehs, hor)!

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  4. "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the handsome of them all?" hehehe.... "TZ is the handsome of them all" muhahahah....

    Looks like a nice play in Singapore... unfortunately i'm not in Singapore.

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  5. Yes, I simply love "Chang & Eng" - even own a CD of all the songs sung in the musical! I love Hossan Leong's comedic acting. Together with Selena Tan, they both can do a show together and make me laugh non stop! : )

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  6. Looks really interesting. Too bad can't go. =(

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  7. hossan leong as director? this movie shld be a good one then

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  8. wow that looks interesting! :D (plus the poster really looks catchy!)

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  9. if i were one of the 7 dwarfs i would probably b Sleepy. who would u b? the evil stepmother? hahahahahahahahah

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  10. @TZ & tekkaus
    the singapore gov with private co do promote their local arts overseas at times. if you happen to be in the same city, can try to visit.

    btw tekkaus, honestly wont be surprised if one day its shown in malacca, now with the promotions by the state on the media industry :)

    @foongpc
    hey they are actually teaming up for a new play sometime this month too - for christmas! if you are planning to come over, do check it out :) (let me know if u need more details)

    @johnny
    ya, he seems to be quite a name huh :) i watched the play, really good. come to think of it, ya, maybe they should do a movie as well!

    @adila
    their posters are usually quite eye catching & eye candy :)

    @bengbeng aka sleepy
    ill be happy! :)

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Oh hey, thank you for commenting! :)