881 ah 1 ah 1...
Phew! It's been a hectic couple of weeks, mostly spent on creating some new illustrations and designs! But this grossly-belated post is not about work...
Despite a busy schedule, I was not able to resist the buzz... of the current musical wave that's taken on our shores...
So I took time off to catch <881> when "8th Bro" Weibin dropped by in town, and then loved the show so much I watched it again the next week with Gerald!
<881>
It's no secret that one of my childhood dreams was to be a professional singer, and it didn't matter who I'm singing to or where I'm performing. I just want to sing!
And in the old 70s and early 80s, the only live performances available to a kid were the street wayangs, puppet shows and Getai roadshows. I had little interest in Chinese opera, but I so wanted to be on a Getai and sing my heart out!!! Well, I chose Xinyao eventually, but that's a different story... :-)
So when I saw the trailers for Royston Tan's <881> movie, I knew I would love it instantly... and yes, I did...
I absolutely love the sets, the costumes (you go, Moe!), the actors, the humour, the tragedy, the socio-political references, and of course, all the heartfelt Hokkien songs...
Granted, the actual Getais are often loud, bawdy and much less glamourous than the movie version, and ribald jokes galore, but it's a uniquely Singaporean street culture indeed. The first and foremost aim of Getais was to entertain the "departed spirits" out on their month-long "holiday". Certainly the noise would raise any spirits. So in a sense, this movie is a much watered-down version of the real deal...
Still, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the actual regular Getai performers (Liu Ling Ling, Lin Ruping, Wang Lei, Karen Lim etc) acting and singing together with TV actors (Qi Yuwu and Mindee Ong), theatre veterans (Yeo Yann Yann and Johnny Ng), and also the annoyingly lovable MTV VJs (May and Choy). And those who had seen Chen Weilian sing at Waterloo Street's Guanyin Temple during his earlier busking days, would be very touched by his one song in the film...
And the songs! Kudos to the Musical Director Eric Ng of Funkie Monkies Production, as well as the composers of the Hokkien songs for giving us many memorable tunes. The soundtrack is still on constant replay on my PC...
Although Mindee and Yann Yann could hold a tune of their own, it was ridiculously fun watching the Getai Goddess endowing the Papaya Sisters with "Ming Zhu Zhi Yin" (literally, the vocals of Ming Zhu Sisters - veterans of the local Getai and singing scene who lent their voices to their movie counterparts). Also noted was that Qi Yuwu's deaf-mute character Guanyin literally means "shut off all sounds" and that he represented the man that would be the downfall of the Papaya Sisters, just as his "lookalike" father did to Lingyi and her twin sister in the past...
Okay so it's pretty obvious there would be tragedy in this film right from the beginning narration. Still one can't help feeling sad and helpless when we witnessed the inevitable decline in Little Papaya's health. Mindee did a superb job here indeed, but I must say the director Royston Tan really proved he could be just as masterful in bringing on the laughs as he could with tears...
ANYWAY...
When I heard that the <881> folks were gonna be performing at Mox Bar and Cafe last weekend, I just had to go and support lah. Nevermind that the director and leads were not there...
Wu Jiahui and Ngak gave us their moving renditions of the songs in the soundtrack, but it was the Durian Sisters May and Choy who brought the house down with their bubbly personality and "techno" song. And just how many dialect swearings can you hear on stage all in one go? ;-)
And surprise surprise! I actually went up to answer a question during the games segment, and got myself one of the exclusive singles from the movie soundtrack and a poster! Guess I was rather inspired by nicky_bitchy and universe8within who'd gone up before me! Thank goodness we weren't asked to do the ass-signature thing (don't ask)! LOL
Alas, my camera batteries ran out too soon that night, so I don't have many images to show. By the way, I don't need the poster (whoever wants it can ask me for it) but I very like the songs in the single album...
Hmm... I could rave on and on about <881>, but I also wanna talk about another musical movie here, so I'm moving on...
So those who hadn't caught it yet, PLEASE DO!!!