Made-in-Singapore musical back by popular demand
By Yvonne Yong | Posted: 27 July 2006 1039 hrs
SINGAPORE: "Forbidden City" was first staged in 2002. The musical was such a success that it was brought back again the following year to the delight of more than 55,000 theatre-goers.
It is no surprise that a repeat performance has been planned to coincide with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings 2006 to be held in Singapore this September.
Before it hits the stage again, Channel NewsAsia's Prime Time Morning caught up with Kit Chan, the main star of the musical who plays the young Empress Dowager Cixi and Gaurav Kripalani, artistic director from the Singapore Repertory Theatre.
“I can’t wait to go back on stage, especially because I’ve taken a year off singing,” Kit says, excited at the thought of playing Empress for the third time. “I hope to bring a new energy, new sass, more femininity and more tenderness to the role.”
“But I don’t think it ever gets easier,” she says, when asked how she feels about doing it all over again. “You have to put in the same amount of effort, if not more – I tend to put more expectations on myself to be better.”
The 33-year-old, who was the first Singaporean to break into the Hong Kong Cantopop and Taiwanese Mandopop markets more than ten years ago, says it was her love for musicals that probably led to her becoming a recording artiste.
For Kit, performing in a musical made in Singapore is very much like coming home, “I feel very comfortable working in Singapore… I feel a rapport and a very warm feeling with the audience here”.
And there is no doubt that audiences here feel the same way. But for those who were lucky enough to experience Forbidden City three years ago, there is still much to look forward to this time around. “We’ve revamped it quite a bit,” says Kripalani.
“The choreography, the costumes, the cast have changed… It’s tighter and more exciting.”
“For Asian audiences who are familiar with the Empress Dowager’s story, this is a completely new take on it. And for those who are not familiar with it…it’s beautiful…. At the end of the day, it’s a beautiful love story set in an historical context.”
The epic is about a young concubine in love, a dying Emperor, a heartless traitor, an idealistic artist and an empire that stands to fall.
The story is told through the eyes of Kate Carl, who is commissioned to paint the empress' portrait, and the musical recounts CiXi's trials and tribulations from ingenious concubine to ruthless ruler, to unmask the woman behind the painted face.
Kriplalani is looking forward to the opportunity to show the world, when it comes to Singapore in September, the high standard of musical theatre that exists here.
“We’re ready to use this as a platform to showcase to the world what we can do in Singapore – we’re bringing in producers from the rest of the world to see this,” he says proudly.
Meanwhile eager theatre fans don’t have much longer to wait for the revamped, much-improved Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress, the musical, as it re-opens in just over a month on September the 8th at the Esplanade Theatres.
Related Videos
- Kit Chan in Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress
- Kit tells PTM she feels at home in Singapore
- "We've revamped it quite a bit."
Source: ChannelNewsAsia.com
SINGAPORE: "Forbidden City" was first staged in 2002. The musical was such a success that it was brought back again the following year to the delight of more than 55,000 theatre-goers.
It is no surprise that a repeat performance has been planned to coincide with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings 2006 to be held in Singapore this September.
Before it hits the stage again, Channel NewsAsia's Prime Time Morning caught up with Kit Chan, the main star of the musical who plays the young Empress Dowager Cixi and Gaurav Kripalani, artistic director from the Singapore Repertory Theatre.
“I can’t wait to go back on stage, especially because I’ve taken a year off singing,” Kit says, excited at the thought of playing Empress for the third time. “I hope to bring a new energy, new sass, more femininity and more tenderness to the role.”
“But I don’t think it ever gets easier,” she says, when asked how she feels about doing it all over again. “You have to put in the same amount of effort, if not more – I tend to put more expectations on myself to be better.”
The 33-year-old, who was the first Singaporean to break into the Hong Kong Cantopop and Taiwanese Mandopop markets more than ten years ago, says it was her love for musicals that probably led to her becoming a recording artiste.
For Kit, performing in a musical made in Singapore is very much like coming home, “I feel very comfortable working in Singapore… I feel a rapport and a very warm feeling with the audience here”.
And there is no doubt that audiences here feel the same way. But for those who were lucky enough to experience Forbidden City three years ago, there is still much to look forward to this time around. “We’ve revamped it quite a bit,” says Kripalani.
“The choreography, the costumes, the cast have changed… It’s tighter and more exciting.”
“For Asian audiences who are familiar with the Empress Dowager’s story, this is a completely new take on it. And for those who are not familiar with it…it’s beautiful…. At the end of the day, it’s a beautiful love story set in an historical context.”
The epic is about a young concubine in love, a dying Emperor, a heartless traitor, an idealistic artist and an empire that stands to fall.
The story is told through the eyes of Kate Carl, who is commissioned to paint the empress' portrait, and the musical recounts CiXi's trials and tribulations from ingenious concubine to ruthless ruler, to unmask the woman behind the painted face.
Kriplalani is looking forward to the opportunity to show the world, when it comes to Singapore in September, the high standard of musical theatre that exists here.
“We’re ready to use this as a platform to showcase to the world what we can do in Singapore – we’re bringing in producers from the rest of the world to see this,” he says proudly.
Meanwhile eager theatre fans don’t have much longer to wait for the revamped, much-improved Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress, the musical, as it re-opens in just over a month on September the 8th at the Esplanade Theatres.
Related Videos
- Kit Chan in Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress
- Kit tells PTM she feels at home in Singapore
- "We've revamped it quite a bit."
Source: ChannelNewsAsia.com
posted by irishblue @ 4:11 PM
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