“Kita The Musical” Ends Run At Istana Budaya On Sunday

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - "Come rain, come shine, come snow, come sleet, the show must go on!" That was the famous line from the 1952 film musical, "Singing in the Rain", starring one-time screen heart-throb Gene Kelly.

And for the cast of "Kita the Musical", now being staged at Istana Budaya here, they too are taking the same determined line that the show must go on despite the World Cup soccer fever taking hold on many theatre-goers and resulting in lower theatre attendances.

Istana Budaya Director-General Mohamed Juhari Shaarani said the musical, which reflects the true aspirations and appreciation of 1Malaysia, would end its run on Sunday after having begun on June 17.

"There are still a few more nights to catch this special musical," he said of the more than RM1 million production put together by Xiyue Art & Culture, a non-profit organisation, and Musical on Stage Productions.

Jointly organised by the Information Communication and Culture Ministry, National Unity Integration Department of the Prime Minister’s Department and Istana Budaya and Xiyue Art & Culture, "Kita The Musical" brings together talented artistes of all races, working hand-in-hand to create a musical to project the true vision of 1Malaysia, a vision where all races live in harmony, embrace unity in diversity and strive for Malaysia’s progress and prosperity.

"Kita The Musical" was first proposed by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon in May last year. He then asked Xiyue Art & Culture to undertake the project after having seen its production of "Siddhartha the Musical". Ho Lin Huay, founder of Musical On Stage Productions, then wrote the script within three months.

Dr Koh told Bernama that he came up with the idea of a musical along multiracial lines after he was put in charge of national unity at the Prime Minister’s Department.

"We certainly need more people to come and support the musical, which is being held in one of the 10 best equipped theatres in the world and given hands-on attention by Istana Budaya’s director-general Abang Ju," he said.

Ghee Peng Lam, the founder of Xiyue Art & Culture and chairman of the organising committee of the musical, said Juhari had taken the entire cast to Teluk Intan for them to have a better feel and appreciation of the small-town location.

"Kita the Musical" has been listed in the Malaysia Book of Records as a local musical theatre with a strong multiracial cast of 50.

"That’s how it should be" was the general consensus among the well-grounded or right-minded audience after having watched the musical, with its touching multiracial story line, beautiful songs, and spectacular and colourful stage designs.

Set in the early 1970s, a time when many would readily vouch that life was much simpler, the musical story is about ordinary Malaysians and revolves around the lives of three friends, Rahman, Ganesh and Cheong, in rural Teluk Intan, where its famous leaning clock tower is frequently used as a stage backdrop.

The musical portrays the real life interactions among the country’s multiracial community and more importantly, throughout the almost three-hour production, the dialogue is mostly in Bahasa Malaysia and English, with Mandarin and Tamil thrown in for good measure when the situation demands.

Even more heart-warming is when Michael Rao, who plays Ganesh, speaks Mandarin, and Amy Wang, who plays Cheong’s sister, Chun Mei, speaks Tamil after they become romantically-linked.

There are poignant scenes about multi-ethnic Malaysia and how life was in the 1970s -- ordinary kampung folk of all races pitching in the gotong royong spirit to celebrate Merdeka with much gusto, workers eking out a living in tin mines and rubber tappers wearing head-lamps to get the most out of the rubber trees at dawn.

One of the most enthralling scenes is the bus ride for Rahman, Ganesh and Cheong, who describe themselves as the "Three Musketeers", going to big city Kuala Lumpur to enter a talentime contest, in which they eventually emerged as runners-up after singing a P. Ramlee classic, "Getaran Jiwa".

Kuching-born Hafiz Mohd Suip, winner of the seventh series of Akademi Fantasia (AF7) in 2009, gives a slick portrayal of Rahman as a confident teenager as well as an engineer in later life.

Eric Lin Jian Hui, who got his break in the Astro Talent Quest in 2001 and is now a popular Mandarin singer in his own right in Malaysia and Taiwan, and Michael, who won the Astro Vaanavil Superstars in 2009, both provide good delivery as loyal friends in Cheong and Ganesh.

Theatre veteran Sukania Venugopal is in her element as Ganesh’s grandmother, Naini, while popular actor Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan provides a good performance as Penghulu Hassan and Lim Cheng Hock as the stoical father of Cheong.

Source: http://www.bernama.com
Picture: http://rajanongchikclub.wordpress.com

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