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.