Broken Bridges - The Original Cast Recording

Title sound canggih or not? :-D

We spent a weekend in Pentas 2 recording the songs .. under the intense glare of spotlights and under the influence of good food - Joe's chicken soup, pomelos all the way from Ipoh and nasi lemak (we tried lah, to restrain ourselves, when it came to the sambal), just to name some!

This photo was taken on the Sunday. I think we were listening to the nth take of either Just This Once or No More. Sorry gals, for choosing an angle that captured butt cracks but no faces..

Buatan Ipoh

Broken Bridges is in the New Straits Times today!

It's a made-in-Ipoh musical
New Straits Times, 24 Jul 2006

Look out for Kuala Lumpur Performing Art Centre’s first original musical Broken Bridges, written by two diehard fans of musicals. FARIDUL ANWAR FARINORDIN writes.

EXPECTATIONS are high for Kuala Lumpur Performing Art Centre’s (KLPac) first original musical Broken Bridges, directed by the irrepressible Joe Hasham who is also the establishment’s artistic director.

A musical in two acts, it is Hasham’s third effort in putting together a cast who sing and dance after sharing the director’s chair with the late Krishen Jit for Opera Uda & Dara, a sleeper hit for The Actors Studio and Five Arts Centre (2002) and The Tree (1997).

Hasham may need help to differentiate between flat and sharp notes, but with composer/producer James Boyle on board as music director and Hasham’s better half Datuk Faridah Merican as executive producer, everything should be smooth sailing until the show’s opening night on Aug 19 (until Sept 3).

However, one can’t blame the show’s writers, Lim Chuang Yik and Teng Ky-Gan for being anxious. For the two best friends from Ipoh, the project — their first ever collaboration for a musical — is more than a labour of love. It’s their life.

Set in Ipoh, the story spans three decades and revolves around two childhood friends who end up seeking their destinies in very different directions. It is a drama that questions loyalty, family values, materialism, traditional values and other matters that can be set to serious music.

In an interview recently, Teng, 24, said the story “was initially our version of (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s) Camelot”.

Lim, 27, added: “We realised later that it didn’t work out the way we expected it to be. What we had in the beginning was an over-the-top musical which was actually based purely on our whims and fancies. After finishing the first draft in 2002, we realised that it was too grandiose.”

Diehard fans of Western musical theatre traditions, the two named musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein (King and I, The Sound of Music, Camelot), Andrew Lloyd Webber (The Phantom of the Opera) as well as Boublil and Schonberg (Les Miserables) as their favourites.

“We made references to the well-known international musicals for some of the scenes in Broken Bridges, just so that we understand the kind of emotions we want to convey. There are (Les Miserables’ protagonist) Jean Valjean-inspired scenes, for example.”

Their fascination with musicals happened when both were still in primary schools. Teng starred as one of the princes in The King and I (with Mano Maniam playing the role of the singing ruler), while Lim claimed The Fantasticks left an indelible impression on him.

With Broken Bridges, Teng said, it’s all about telling a good story. “It’s relatable and realistic, not something unusual and out of this world like The Phantom of the Opera.”

Still, it was difficult to find a producer who’s willing to put it together. “After completing the script in 2002, we approached a lot of people in the local theatre scene, mainly to find out if it is good enough so that we know where we are and what areas to improve on. But a number of them didn’t even bother contacting us back.”

Unperturbed by the lack of encouragement, the two soldiered on. The script was later handed on to the Perak Society of Performing Arts in 2004 to be staged, but nothing materialised. Months later, it found its way to KLPac’s theatre manager Teoh Ming Jin.

Lim recalled: “I was ready to throw in the towel. I told Ky-Gan: “Give it up man, nobody wants our script-lah”. Basically, I got tired of going around in circles. But Ky-Gan’s persistence paid off when Joe got hold of our script.”

Days later, the two received an e-mail from Hasham. “He said that he hadn’t the time to read it and we went ‘oohhhh, not again’”. When our first first meeting with him was postponed, we honestly thought that this was not going to happen. We finally had our first meeting with him on Jan 7 this year.”

On the outcome of the meeting, Teng recalled: “He (Joe) seemed to like it, although he didn’t look like he had read it. He also gave hints that he was interested to produce it only after listening to the music.”

Lim, who reads music “very laboriously”, came up with the show’s basic melody line and chords. “However, I knew nothing about moods, time or tempo so I sought help from Geneviene Wong, who is the show’s rehearsal pianist.”

Now that their baby is seeing its light of day, how do they feel now?

“When it dawned on us that Joe is directing it, we went “whooaaaaa... we got Joe Hasham, of all people!” After the initial “shiok”, we found ourselves getting more excited because there are such big names in the theatre scene who play the roles we created,” Lim said.

Broken Bridges stars Douglas Lim (Ming), Colin Kirton (Wong), Tony Eusoff (Ringo), Monti (Chan), Ho Soon Yoon (Leong), Joanne Kam Poh Poh (Aunty), Janice Yap (Mei Ling), Chan Wen Li (Aunty), Cristina Yap (Aunty), Maybel Chan (Cheong Soh) and Rachel Tan (Siew Yee).

“When we first wrote the characters, we only had our actor friends from Ipoh in mind!” Teng said, adding that he and Lim have been attending the rehearsal process and was happy with Hasham’s interpretation of the story.

“Joe actually removed a big chink of dialogue and replaced it with a non-spoken actions between some of the characters. It was mind-blowing to see how intense the scene came out. It is interesting how your story can be improved at the hands of someone so experienced like Joe.”

Lim now works for a pharmaceutical company in KL, while Teng recently began his career with a healthcare company.

The musical also features a huge chorus ensemble featuring cast members in multiple roles. They include Fang Chyi, Davina Goh, Emily Yoon, Yen Lin, Nicole Fuchs, Callista Chuah, Pangsaasanii G., Joanne Poh, Carol Wu, Vincent Lee, K.C. Lam, Choy Le Roy, Carliff Rizal Carleel, Patrick Teh, Johann Lim, Nick Dorian, Mark Beau de Silva and Azmir Abdullah.

There are 24 songs (including reprises) so far in the show and “Joe just asked me to write one more,” said Lim. As for the set, designed by Loo Jia-Wei and Arica Chia it is expected to be “the most elaborate KLPac has ever seen.”

I can hear the song in my head now, the emotionally-charged Do You Hear the People Sing? from Les Miserables. Ooh, the anticipation.

Note: Broken Bridges will be staged at KLPac from Aug 19 to Sept 3. Showtimes at 8.30pm daily except Sunday (3.00pm). There will be no shows on Monday. Tickets are priced at RM50 and RM30 (students, disabled and senior citizens only).

For tickets, call KLPac’s box office at 03-4047-9000 or The Actors Studio at Bangsar Shopping Complex at 03-2094-9400. You can also visit www.klpac.com for more information.

Get Your Tickets!

For the people who have been getting earfuls from me of "I'm in a musical called Broken Bridges" and "I can't join you all lah, got rehearsal tonight.. tomorrow also got... the next day also got... sunday also got... next week also got... next month still got...",

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW for Broken Bridges - The Musical!

Duration: 19 August - 3 September 2006 @ 8.30pm, Sunday shows @ 3.00pm (no shows on Monday)
Venue: Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC), Pentas 1
Price: RM80, RM60, RM40 (students, disabled & sr. citizens)

I love our poster:



The words in this shrunk softcopy of the poster are probably slightly blur with the exception of the Director's name (;-D) so here's what it says:

The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre presents
The World Premiere of

BROKEN BRIDGES - The Musical

By: Lim Chuang Yik and Teng Ky-Gan
Executive Producer: Dato' Faridah Merican
Musical Director: James Boyle
Choreographer: Pat Chan
Directed by: Joe Hasham

With:
Douglas Lim, Colin Kirton, Ho Soon Yoon, Joanne Kam Poh Poh, Tony Eusoff, Monti

Rachel Tan, Janice Yap, Chan Wen Li, Cristina Yap, Pangasaasanii G, Maybel Chan, Fang Chyi, Davina Goh

Ai Wen, Azmir Abdullah, Callista Chuah, Carliff Rizal Carleel, Carol Wu, Chi Mei, Choy Le Roy, Emily Yoon, Joanne Poh Yuet Foong, Johann Lim, K C Lam, Leo Selvaraj, Mark Beau De Silva, Nick Dorian, Nicole Fuchs, Ooi Yit Boon, Patrick Teh, Vincent Lee, Yen Lin

First time my name's on a poster after 6 years of dabbling in the performing arts. Kinda proud of it. (Normally I'm doing stuff too insignificant to warrant precious poster space, e.g. Random Chorus Member, Random Soloist with Insignificant Line, or Unseen Person in the Wings Who Opens Act 3 by Singing Songs a Shepherd Sings to his Sheep)

Anyway, I'll be playing the role of a middle-aged Aunty in 1950's Ipoh who, inter alia, dispenses dating advice and makes feeble attempts at matchmaking the protagonist. Shan't disclose any more, go watch the musical lah!

More about Broken Bridges from the KLPAC website:

"BROKEN BRIDGES is set in Ipoh in the 1950's. The protagonist, Ming, seeks to chart his own destiny while his father, Wong, has his own ideas for his son. Wong is the quintessential Chinese towkay, to the extent of arranging his son's marriage. Ming's best friend and neighbour, Leong, plays the obedient son. The stark contrast in these two characters begs the question: 'So what's wrong with the old ways?', and on the other hand, 'So what's wrong with the new ways?' With a persuasive cousin from the big city, Ringo, appearing on the scene, Ming finally decides to go against his father's wishes and leaves for Kuala Lumpur. 10 years later, Ming returns as a successful contractor, whose project is to tear down the marketplace and in its place, erect a new building. Problems occur; an unhappy relationship with the beautiful head-strong and self-opinionated Mei Ling; construction problems; promised sums of compensation never arriving...the townsfolk become troubled and angry. Wong, in a final act of fatherly love, makes a sacrifice for his son, totally unknown to Ming. Ming leaves Ipoh, humiliated, disappointed and totally ashamed of his father. In the epilogue, Ming returns 30 years later, and only then discovers the fate of his father. BROKEN BRIDGES is a big musical with an even bigger story; wonderful charm, humour and drama. There are 24 musical numbers, inclusive of reprises. There are 11 lead and supporting lead characters. There are also an estimated 15 chorus members playing multiple roles. BROKEN BRIDGES is a truly Malaysian Musical; but above all, it's absolute entertainment."

The press conference happening on Tuesday.. so look out for stuff on Broken Bridges appearing in a newspaper, postbox, wall or pillar near you!

Surrealism is..

.. doing up a website in a language you aren't terribly familiar with. especially if it isn't romanised. in particular, the Chinese version of the English site I had recently finished designing for a client. Sure, I've been given a bunch of text and instructions on what to cut-n-paste and where, but my forgotten knowledge of Chinese characters is rather limited to start with and to be honest, I don't know what most of the stuff given to me means, and obviously they assumed i did. (for all you know they're saying "we're never wrong. any errors on this website are the responsibility of the web designer who worked on this Chinese version of the site, who, by the way, doesn't know Chinese".) that's what you get for being a banana*. well at least I know enough about the strokes in Chinese characters to make informed comparisons to ensure consistency within the site.. but I seriously need to re-learn Mandarin, properly...

Speaking of learning. I wanna learn the drums too. (Empress is gonna lecture me for this :-D)

*Person of Chinese origin who doesn't know Chinese (Bananas - white on the outside, yellow on the inside!)

Of Recordings and Resurfacings

We will be recording the songs from Broken Bridges for a double-disc CD to be on sale during the run of the musical (Aug 19 - Sept 3). While the Ipoh 'field trip' to check out the places and types of food we've been singing and talking about has been cancelled (for this), it looks like we're still having a feast anyway - we'll be having a potluck of sorts for breakfast, elevenses, lunch and tea of healthy food (i.e. no chocolates, curry, chilli, PINEAPPLE LUMPS and anything else that may result in a cacophony of croaking). Will probably bring some Raisin au Fromage if I have the time to go grocery-shopping today. (Cheese isn't banned, right? :P)

Oh yes... TICKETS ARE ON SALE already for the musical... more info coming up on that!

In other news, the maid has rearranged the study room during our 2-week absence (with the best of intentions, of course; nobody can face the sight of a hurricane aftermath and not do anything about it), and I can't find a lot of things now (I have a photographic memory of where I put things and it's horrible when I can't find something I knew I placed *right there* a few days ago). On the bright side, things I've not seen for a long time have resurfaced.. like this photo of me and Form 3 classmates on an afternoon of gallavanting in the Lake Gardens (though I can't remember the reason we were there!) (Guess which is me.) I know at least three in the photo are married, at least one is in Singapore.. Wonder where everyone else is!

A Kampung Scene

The office is so quiet.

Man, this place is so quiet you can hear kelapa sawit drop!

In other news, I found 1/4 of a packet of Pascall's Pineapple Lumps still lying around in the coffee area from Monday. Shows you how empty the office is. How can anyone NOT stop popping Pineapple Lumps into their mouths? If no one else eats them up by 5pm I'm taking them back.. heh heh. Perhaps the Broken Bridgers may still have some to eat if I don't finish them up before I get off the Cheras-Kajang Highway!

She Speaks!!

Gaa.

Me guilty of not updating blog.

For ages.

So here be a quick 10-second summary of what's been going on in my life.

New job.

Sold old car to get this one. (And of course I'm replacing the front and back logos with Peugeot lions!)

Got involved in this musical.

In June, went here to attend sis' graduation. Traipsed around Palo Alto and San Francisco for a week unwittingly getting a tan and hoping I still remembered my lines for the musical when I got back.

Got back and had to start packing my room in the office cos the department was moving to a new block.

In July, went to New Zealand for this conference. Toured the South Island before that. Saw lots of sheep. Plenty of adventure. Car veered off icy road and got stuck in snowbank, had to hitch a ride to small town 40 km away to get a truck to tow car out.

Got back home with lots of Pascall's Pineapple Lumps to appease all the people I may have inadvertently irritated in some way or another by my being MIA for 2 weeks. Check out the TV ad in New Zealand for Pineapple Lumps.

Found out we still hadn't moved to the new building yet. Not till next week.

And all my worldly possessions in the office have already been neatly packed into 4 boxes.

Re-opened boxes.

Couldn't find coffee mug so using papercups for this week.