Thursday, November 27, 2008
"take lah take lah!"
Quite a pleasant evening well-spent (:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs didn't disappoint, despite a couple glitches here and there (what you'd expect from nervous actors and the opening show).
Long review ahead! Read at your own discretion (risk boredom).
Cast
Stellar. Excellent vocals from Elena Wang (Snow White), Celine Rosa Tan (Magic Mirror) and Sebastian Tan (Queen). Elena Wang is definitely someone to take note of in the future, quite a charmer. Dwayne Tan, lacking in vocal strength, made up by engaging with the audience and his consistency. The ensemble was great too, amping the overall performance a notch. Some of the kid actors were cute, but I'm not the biggest fan of how kids sometimes look like they've no idea what they're doing on stage.
In terms of dance and movement, however, not all characters managed to put it off fully. On the whole, it was distinct who were the weaker dancers or singers (there were more of the latter).
Nevertheless, unexpected situations were smoothly handled. Celine Rosa Tan and Sebastian Tan reacted to a very comedic accident well (I'll post about that on a later date, to avoid spoilers!). The entire audience was taken aback, yet pleasantly surprised. Poor Sebastian Tan was hit with the most situations, albeit unavoidable. He still managed to brush them off and successfully connected with the audience through plain silly shameless humour. (:
Plot
A classic fairy tale, put into the local context. Alfian Sa'at has done quite a good job for his first pantomime, though there's not much characterisation on the overall. More time could've been spent on developing characters, which could help the audience connect to the play better.
A good dose of humour and pleasantries, but the plot seemed a bit rushed in Act Two because there were too many events on the timeline. Justice was definitely done to the fairy tale, with a satisfying, feel-good conclusion.
Oh and, nice reference to 8 Days' comment on Margaret Chan! Laughed my head off.
Music
I've been impressed many times by Elaine Chan's work, but her approach seemed very different this time (I prefer Jack and the Bean-sprout a little more). The genres were slightly vague at points, and less emphasis was put on harmonisation. Nevertheless, the melodies were refreshing and supported the story well and the lyrics by Alfian Sa'at were well-thought, injecting emotion and humour at appropriate parts.
Set
I'm not too experienced in these areas, but I'd say despite being a tad bland, the set design was simple, clever and effective, allowing scene transitions to be smooth. I liked how the characters could literally disappear down a hole in the middle of the stage.
Aesthetics
Lights, sounds, costumes, hair and such were thankfully not too chi-chi. The choice of colours were quite appropriate of the overall.
Marketing
I must commend Wild Rice on their marketing efforts. Be it the design, advertising or even merchandise, they sure do know how to "package and sell"!
I managed to get photos with Elena and Sebastian! :D Autographs too!
Alright, time to end a long night! (: 5 more days /:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs didn't disappoint, despite a couple glitches here and there (what you'd expect from nervous actors and the opening show).
Long review ahead! Read at your own discretion (risk boredom).
Cast
Stellar. Excellent vocals from Elena Wang (Snow White), Celine Rosa Tan (Magic Mirror) and Sebastian Tan (Queen). Elena Wang is definitely someone to take note of in the future, quite a charmer. Dwayne Tan, lacking in vocal strength, made up by engaging with the audience and his consistency. The ensemble was great too, amping the overall performance a notch. Some of the kid actors were cute, but I'm not the biggest fan of how kids sometimes look like they've no idea what they're doing on stage.
In terms of dance and movement, however, not all characters managed to put it off fully. On the whole, it was distinct who were the weaker dancers or singers (there were more of the latter).
Nevertheless, unexpected situations were smoothly handled. Celine Rosa Tan and Sebastian Tan reacted to a very comedic accident well (I'll post about that on a later date, to avoid spoilers!). The entire audience was taken aback, yet pleasantly surprised. Poor Sebastian Tan was hit with the most situations, albeit unavoidable. He still managed to brush them off and successfully connected with the audience through plain silly shameless humour. (:
Plot
A classic fairy tale, put into the local context. Alfian Sa'at has done quite a good job for his first pantomime, though there's not much characterisation on the overall. More time could've been spent on developing characters, which could help the audience connect to the play better.
A good dose of humour and pleasantries, but the plot seemed a bit rushed in Act Two because there were too many events on the timeline. Justice was definitely done to the fairy tale, with a satisfying, feel-good conclusion.
Oh and, nice reference to 8 Days' comment on Margaret Chan! Laughed my head off.
Music
I've been impressed many times by Elaine Chan's work, but her approach seemed very different this time (I prefer Jack and the Bean-sprout a little more). The genres were slightly vague at points, and less emphasis was put on harmonisation. Nevertheless, the melodies were refreshing and supported the story well and the lyrics by Alfian Sa'at were well-thought, injecting emotion and humour at appropriate parts.
Set
I'm not too experienced in these areas, but I'd say despite being a tad bland, the set design was simple, clever and effective, allowing scene transitions to be smooth. I liked how the characters could literally disappear down a hole in the middle of the stage.
Aesthetics
Lights, sounds, costumes, hair and such were thankfully not too chi-chi. The choice of colours were quite appropriate of the overall.
Marketing
I must commend Wild Rice on their marketing efforts. Be it the design, advertising or even merchandise, they sure do know how to "package and sell"!
I managed to get photos with Elena and Sebastian! :D Autographs too!
Alright, time to end a long night! (: 5 more days /:
# posted at 12:49 AM
