Into the Woods.
Had quite a bit of supper, so it's keeping me up for a little while longer. Decided that I should revive this blog a little with a review on the production I caught last night.
I must say, all the rave reviews, were well justified with this production. Sondheim is really not easy, I don't think it's hyperbole to say that it's like Shakespeare but set to music. I really commend Dream Academy, both the cast and crew , for the wonderful evening.
A quick google search of other productions, leads me to believe that the team developed and created the costume designs and sets based on direction from the book and are not lifted from previous productions. I really liked that they stayed faithful to the book without the heavy handed "asian-flavour" that some local teams tend to do. (i.e. The Magic Flute)
Another thing that I thought the team did really well with was accents. One of my pet peeves with the asian leg of major broadway shows that come through Singapore; is that casting is usually done in the Philippines. Maybe it's cause I'm really used to the east coast american accent having watched to mauch american TV, having someone sing / read a broadway play with a tinge of Pinoy kinda breaks the illusion for me. Given that this was almost a full local production, that wasn't a problem. On the whole I really liked that the cast were aware enough that this was an american play, yet on a subtle level they remained true to their local accents. Whether a not this was a conscious decision by the team, the reading felt sincere without heavy handed localisation. I really liked Lim Kay Siew's take on the Narrator/Mysterious Man. Other commendable performances go to the Baker and the Baker's Wife played by Adrian Pang and Selena Tan respectively . I could spend a day raving about each and every cast member, but let's say that the cast did overwhelmingly well,even the newcomers.
I'm kinda 2 minds about Esplanade Theatre as venue. To me, plays like Into The Woods, created for the smaller theatres of Broadway, when staged in a large venue like the Esplanade loses some of that intimacy and cosiness that a smaller venue might have afforded it. Though I thought the production team did really well, the sets were well designed for the space and did help to bring the stage closer to the audience, though I think the music suffered from having a venue this big, as this play specifically dictates a small band. I think another thing that really suffered because of the venue was the length of the run. It would have been nice to see the show run for a fortnight at least, but for a local production of this scale to fill the esplanade for a two weeks must be a terrible chore, and to play to a half empty theatre is depressing enough without the scale/cost of the venue compounding the problem. Even with the Victoria theatres open for buisness, I think that Singapore really lacks well equipped small-medium sized theatres within the town areas to support local productions like these. With the local theatre season in full swing, there really must be quite a competition for theatre venues. But still, I think Dream Academy has done really well with the resources/challenges they had.
Really hope to see more local productions like these in the future.
/end review.
On a more personal note, having watched a production like this, makes me really really miss being involved with theatre productions. Not necessarily to be on stage (though that would be fun too :P), but even just to be involved in the design of a show of that scale would be fun.. I guess what I'm really missing is the hands on aspect of that kind of design work, I'm getting tired of sitting behind a screen pixel pushing (to borrow Jas' phrase).
There are a couple of long term projects with my current company that i would like to see through, though I wonder if it's time to take stock and make some preparations to take a calculated leap.
I must say, all the rave reviews, were well justified with this production. Sondheim is really not easy, I don't think it's hyperbole to say that it's like Shakespeare but set to music. I really commend Dream Academy, both the cast and crew , for the wonderful evening.
A quick google search of other productions, leads me to believe that the team developed and created the costume designs and sets based on direction from the book and are not lifted from previous productions. I really liked that they stayed faithful to the book without the heavy handed "asian-flavour" that some local teams tend to do. (i.e. The Magic Flute)
Another thing that I thought the team did really well with was accents. One of my pet peeves with the asian leg of major broadway shows that come through Singapore; is that casting is usually done in the Philippines. Maybe it's cause I'm really used to the east coast american accent having watched to mauch american TV, having someone sing / read a broadway play with a tinge of Pinoy kinda breaks the illusion for me. Given that this was almost a full local production, that wasn't a problem. On the whole I really liked that the cast were aware enough that this was an american play, yet on a subtle level they remained true to their local accents. Whether a not this was a conscious decision by the team, the reading felt sincere without heavy handed localisation. I really liked Lim Kay Siew's take on the Narrator/Mysterious Man. Other commendable performances go to the Baker and the Baker's Wife played by Adrian Pang and Selena Tan respectively . I could spend a day raving about each and every cast member, but let's say that the cast did overwhelmingly well,even the newcomers.
I'm kinda 2 minds about Esplanade Theatre as venue. To me, plays like Into The Woods, created for the smaller theatres of Broadway, when staged in a large venue like the Esplanade loses some of that intimacy and cosiness that a smaller venue might have afforded it. Though I thought the production team did really well, the sets were well designed for the space and did help to bring the stage closer to the audience, though I think the music suffered from having a venue this big, as this play specifically dictates a small band. I think another thing that really suffered because of the venue was the length of the run. It would have been nice to see the show run for a fortnight at least, but for a local production of this scale to fill the esplanade for a two weeks must be a terrible chore, and to play to a half empty theatre is depressing enough without the scale/cost of the venue compounding the problem. Even with the Victoria theatres open for buisness, I think that Singapore really lacks well equipped small-medium sized theatres within the town areas to support local productions like these. With the local theatre season in full swing, there really must be quite a competition for theatre venues. But still, I think Dream Academy has done really well with the resources/challenges they had.
Really hope to see more local productions like these in the future.
/end review.
On a more personal note, having watched a production like this, makes me really really miss being involved with theatre productions. Not necessarily to be on stage (though that would be fun too :P), but even just to be involved in the design of a show of that scale would be fun.. I guess what I'm really missing is the hands on aspect of that kind of design work, I'm getting tired of sitting behind a screen pixel pushing (to borrow Jas' phrase).
There are a couple of long term projects with my current company that i would like to see through, though I wonder if it's time to take stock and make some preparations to take a calculated leap.