Review: Crazy Christmas 2010

Normally, when we drop by Singapore, we try to catch a show or a musical. This time, we tried watching a comedy, song cum dance in the National Library instead.

Crazy Christmas 2010 (I apologize first if I can any names wrong because I do not really know the Singaporean scene - actors/ actresses etc except for Selena Tan and Hossan Leong.

Apparently, there was also a Crazy Christmas 2008. This show was a combination of stand-up comedy, medley of songs (remix) and some silly sketches/dance to tickle the funny bone in us. There is also alternate sombre Christmas songs to give your funny bone a break.

Off hand, these are some of the parts I can remember...

The show started off with everyone on stage trying to sing Christmas songs then Beng Sebastian Tan starts off with a medleys of Christmas songs and Hokkien songs with a silly tale to make the audience roar with laughter. He dresses up like American Idol Adam Lambert with dark eye shadow and spiky hair. He make jokes like dark eye shadow to cover up his black eye and sing songs like "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" (got boxed up and lost his teeth)

Another memorable part is a sketch of Selena Tan singing "I am a Woman" and making fun about men relying on woman. She has quips like "Men have their mothers to buy underwear for them. Then their girlfriend will buy for them. When married, the wife will buy underwear for them."

Then the local acapella group, Vocaluptous was entertaining too! I think an added bonus for me who have never seen them performed or heard of them. Lol sorry

Somehow, there was a lull during some of the performances which my friends complained made them sleepy. I think they were expecting more comedy and laughter than traditional Christmas songs.

Oh yeah, there were a few parts which I didn't quite enjoy. I find the part where the vampire bat (not sure who is the singer) wishing to be part of Christmas a little overdone (as it feels fake) but on the whole it was funny. The banter between 2 high school girls in their tuition centre felt weird (I just find them a little old to be playing the part which made it more off than funny).

There's this singer lady, Michaela Therese who just released an album in the group. Sorry but I couldn't hear her words when she sang. It sounded like she ate the words. I was quite disappointed.

In short, it was entertaining for a nice evening show by a well-formed group; before we had to rush off to check out the casinos in Singapore.

***
Further commentary found online:

Entertainers of all inclinations, from actors to DJs and cabaret comedians will come together to give hilarious re-interpretations of classic Christmas carols and to parody everything from popular TV shows and music, to iconic figures.

Crazy Christmas 2010 is brought to you by Dream Academy, the performing arts trendsetters responsible for Singaporean classics like Dim Sum Dollies and the stand-up comedy productions of Kumar and Hossan Leong.

Accompanying the laughs will be the sonorous vocals of a capella ensemble Vocaluptuous. So come and celebrate all the good things about Christmas with some of Singapore's brightest talents.

(taken from http://www.yoursingapore.com/content/traveller/en/browse/apps/eventdetails.552.html)

Dream Academy has once again lined up some of the biggest names in Singapore theatre for this third edition of the holiday celebration. Two of the Dim Sum Dollies who have been haunting your morning commute – Selena Tan and Pam Oei – will be gracing the stage, along with The Full Monty’s hunky stripper George Chan. RJ Rosales and Robin Goh, whom many still remember as Chang and Eng, Broadway Beng Sebastian Tan and Singapore Boy Hossan Leong will also have their names featured on the bill.


But the icing on the Christmas cake this year comes in the form of drag diva Kumar, who will be performing in four ‘adults-only’ shows and bringing to the stage her distinctive blend of glamour and thigh-slapping comedy. In case you’re wondering, the rest of the programme is still entirely family-friendly.


For those who have caught the two previous editions of Crazy Christmas, you already know what to expect. All of the stars are going to be doing what they do best – whether it’s singing, acting, standup or dancing – and with some members of the multitalented cast, it’s all of the above. With witty skits and tongue-in-cheek Christmas carols, it’s just what you need to get into the holiday spirit – or help give the grumpy grinches reason to smile.

(taken from http://eventful.com/singapore/events/crazy-christmas-2010-/E0-001-034875936-6)

Musical Review: Victor/Victoria

Recently, I got to watch my 2nd musical: Victor/Victoria in the Esplanade, Singapore. It was very entertaining with flamboyant costume and nice sets to depict the nights and clubs of Paris. The interesting humourous storyline; made famous by the movie version staring Julie Andrews, brought laughter to the theatre. (the guy beside me was laughing out loud)

Do take note that all the opinions expressed here is based on my humble opinions of a beginner-theatre-goer who has only watched one other musical: Phantom of the Opera about 2 years back.

In MHO, Victor/Victoria by Zebra Crossing was worth watching but not as good as I've expected. My attention was captured at the beginning with the glittering setting and the busy scenes with many different characters on stage. Towards the end, perhaps knowing the storyline, I couldn’t wait for it to end. But overall, it’s a funny, entertaining musical. Wished I could afford better seats to see their facial expression though.

Briefly on the storyline (excerpt from wikipedia):
A penniless soprano, named Victoria, colludes with a struggling gay impresario to disguise herself as a man named Victor, who entertains as a female impersonator known as "Victoria" - and as a result becomes the toast of Paris. Complications arise when a Chicago mobster sees the act and finds himself attracted to the star.

Sets

It was impressive to see the change of scenes done smoothly to create a scene from the nightclub to the streets of Paris and so forth. The most impressive set was the 2 hotel suites side-by-side (2 levels) to show the scenes of contemplation/reprise by Victoria and King Marchan. At first introduction, I was very impressed as the backdrop for the street of Paris turned around to reveal the 2 levels hotel suites. It did became repetitive when these scenes appear again few times later.

The funniest scene was the hiding of different characters when King Marchan sneaked over to Victor’s hotel suite to prove his suspicion that Victor is a female with other bumbling characters sneaking and hiding under beds. Take note of the drunk housekeeping lady.

The scenes for the musical numbers are all beautifully done with nice framing for the nightclub to the grand steps descending down for the final number.

Dancers

The choreography of the dances is done very well. I only find the introduction scene a little too clutter with too many different dancing done at one time till I didn’t know where to look. In fact, in the scene where Victor and King Marchan had drinks, the dancers were doing very nice dance but it was not brightly lit yet to see it. I could only glimpse shadow of the twirling of the dance. A pity.. looks good.

In fact, there were little slip-ups which were not too noticeable. I think during the intro dance, one of the dancers drop the mouth-piece for the clarinet because I heard the clanging of a dropped item (my own assumption.. hah! Did anyone notice that?)

My friend told me towards the end, one of the dancers’ slipped but by then, I wasn’t paying attention so I couldn’t concur or disagree with her.

Still – well done! You must be really fit and have practiced a lot to dance during the whole entire musical.

The cast Laura Fygi (International jazz sensation) as Victor/VictoriaMatt Grey (British actor) as the capricious Carroll Todd
Jake Macapagal from The Philippines plays the debonair King Marchan.
Claude Girardi plays Squash Bernstein - King’s ever faithful bodyguard,
Shane Mardjuki (Life! Theatre Award Best Ensemble nominee) as Henri Labisse and introducing Australian actress Nicole Stinton as King Marchan’s peroxide-blonde, spitfire girlfriend Norma Cassidy.
Even Singapore’s very own fashion icon, Daniel Boey makes a special appearance as Andre Cassell, the owner of the fancy Paris Nightclub.

Laura Fygi’s voice overpowered Jake Macapagal’s. I wish the men would sound stronger and masculine. The same happened when I watched Phantom of the Opera – the lead female singer’s voice was stronger and overpowering. Wow.. women rocks! ;)

Matt Grey as the Todd was just right with the air of gentleman (who likes men) and a confidant to Victoria. His banter with Victor is enjoyable.

Claude Girardi was interesting as the tall, lanky bodyguard who later reveals his orientation. At the end of the musical, Girardi had a little number to sing but the orchestra was too loud so I couldn’t really hear him sing. The fight scene was little toned down but interesting choice of cast to select a small-sized man as the mobster against the tall Giradi.

The most memorable and funny character would be Nicole Stinton as Norma Cassidy. Just listening to Norma peak makes you laugh with her wrong pronounciation and blonde bimbo style. I couldn’t help laughing in the scene when she stripped to seduce King Marchan and sang lines like “France is for horny”. If you observe properly, during the 1st number by Victor, Norma was one of the spectators. She even move her body to the music to show that she was very into her character.

The other dancers’ singings were a little clutter at the beginning but became more in sync as the musical progressed.

Conclusion

In short, I enjoyed myself and this has sparked my interest to watch the movie version by Julie Andrews. I might have watched it ages ago so it would be nice to watch it again. Also, I want to get hold of the songs. :)