The Mad Chinaman: In Conversation with Dick Lee On His Life, His Music, and His Continued Relevance

Perhaps more than anyone else, Dick Lee is the foremost pioneer and pillar of the Singapore music scene. And of all people, he’s certainly an icon. Best known for composing everyone’s favourite National Day Parade song ‘Home’, Dick has had an illustrious career with over 20 albums to his name. Even now, in his 60s, Dick certainly isn’t resting on his laurels, and is still … Continue reading The Mad Chinaman: In Conversation with Dick Lee On His Life, His Music, and His Continued Relevance

Preview: Dick Lee’s The Mad Chinaman 30th Anniversary Concert

Following last year’s SingaPOPera concert celebrating the musicals of Dick Lee, the Mad Chinaman returns to the Esplanade Concert Hall this September for a one-night only concert! The Mad Chinaman 30th Anniversary concert will naturally, feature Dick Lee himself, alongside the Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra. Under the baton of Music Director Adrian Tan, this special pop-classical crossover celebrates the 1989 release of Dick’s seminal work, The Mad Chinaman, often considered … Continue reading Preview: Dick Lee’s The Mad Chinaman 30th Anniversary Concert

Preview: The TENG Ensemble Presents Heirlooms 《传承》 – Reimagining the Sounds of our Chinese Forefathers

If you know next to nothing about the music traditions of Chinese dialect groups, you’re not alone. But that’s precisely why local arts company TENG is here to educate you about them, with their brand new documentary-concert Heirlooms, that reimagines the sounds of Singapore’s Chinese forefathers on 11th October 2019. Playing at the Esplanade Concert Hall, in support of the Singapore Bicentennial, the one-night-only showcase will premiere … Continue reading Preview: The TENG Ensemble Presents Heirlooms 《传承》 – Reimagining the Sounds of our Chinese Forefathers

Review: Crazy Poor Sita by Sharul Channa

Sharul Channa lets her acid humour take a backseat to this timely character drama about the underclass of Singapore. Better known for her sharp tongue and razor wit, stand up comedian Sharul Channa has lately, been delving into a somewhat different brand of performance lately, exploring her actor side with character work that’s seen her transform into women of all backgrounds. In the International Women’s … Continue reading Review: Crazy Poor Sita by Sharul Channa

Huayi Festival 2019: Painted Skin by Singapore Chinese Orchestra (Review)

Western meets Chinese opera in a spectacle to remember. Inspired by the short story of the same name from Pu Songling’s Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Ziyi), the Singapore Chinese Opera adapts Painted Skin for the stage as a 100 minute opera in concert. The classic tale follows a Chinese scholar when he comes across a beautiful woman crying in the rain, giving her an … Continue reading Huayi Festival 2019: Painted Skin by Singapore Chinese Orchestra (Review)

Huayi Festival 2019: Love Letters by The Nonsensemakers/Nelson Chia & Mia Chee (Review)

Two melodramatic lives, their destinies intertwined by a flurry of love letters. It’s one thing to be married, or married to your job, but quite another to be married to someone who runs a company with you. Such is the case for both The Nonsensemakers (Hong Kong) and Nine Years Theatre (Singapore), run by partners Rensen Chan and Jo Ngai, and Nelson Chia and Mia … Continue reading Huayi Festival 2019: Love Letters by The Nonsensemakers/Nelson Chia & Mia Chee (Review)

Huayi Festival 2019: That Which Cannot Be Divided (无法被整除) by Bulareyaung Pagarlava & Albert Tiong (Review)

United we stand, divided we fall. Inspired by the concept of prime numbers – numbers indivisible by anything other than themselves and 1 and with no immediately apparent pattern, former Cloud Gate Dance Theatre members Bulareyaung Pagarlava (Taiwan) and Albert Tiong (Singapore) each choreographed a work attempting to unravel the mysteries behind them, showcasing how they may have more application to daily life than we … Continue reading Huayi Festival 2019: That Which Cannot Be Divided (无法被整除) by Bulareyaung Pagarlava & Albert Tiong (Review)

Huayi Festival 2019: The Way of Zhuang Zi (庄子兵法) by Story Works (Review)

Nerve wracking thriller of a play that keeps you guessing every step of the way. Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness. I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man. Of the many Chinese philosophers we grew up learning from our scholar of a Chinese teacher … Continue reading Huayi Festival 2019: The Way of Zhuang Zi (庄子兵法) by Story Works (Review)

Huayi Festival 2019: FOUR FOUR EIGHT (四四八) by Emergency Stairs (Review)

Warning: This review may contain spoilers Journey to the centre of the self…and Liu Xiaoyi. Over the years, Emergency Stairs Artistic Director Liu Xiaoyi has made it abundantly clear that the work he puts out staunchly refuses to conform to theatrical standards, having created work that subverts the norm, be it a piece of anti-theatre deliberately attempting to crush audience expectations or even performing in unusual … Continue reading Huayi Festival 2019: FOUR FOUR EIGHT (四四八) by Emergency Stairs (Review)

Huayi Festival 2019: Dear John by M.O.V.E. Theatre (Review)

A musical soundscape through unorthodox means. When John Cage’s controversial 4’33 premiered in 1952, never might the avant-garde composer have imagined the sheer impact he might have had in the field of music theory. Infamous for being four minutes and thirty three seconds of ‘silence’ as an orchestra stands still onstage, the work reflects Cage’s interests in Zen Buddhism, and his magnum opus epitomizing the theory … Continue reading Huayi Festival 2019: Dear John by M.O.V.E. Theatre (Review)