“♪Maaaaaaaa-zee-payniaaaaah♫" ...I literally had a chill run up my spine and goosebumps on my skin as the show opened with the familiar ‘Circle of Life’ song. How many times my parents had to endure the multiple re-runs of Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ on our VCR player, I have no idea. I think it was only when the tape had gone mouldy and beyond cleaning rescue that I reluctantly retired it!

For the uninitiated or those too young to have seen ‘The Lion King’ animation film as a kid, here’s my very own relationship map to help you get up to speed:

Back to the musical, this production by Andrew Llyod Webber comprised of scenes and a script which followed that of the original animation almost to a T.  I know 'cos I could almost mouth the script along with the actors on stage, that's how many re-runs I made, lol.  A little odd that Rafiki turned out to be a woman though, I always thought it was a old male baboon? Hmmmm.  That definitely threw me a little off track, but since Rafiki isn't really the main protagonist here, I'm gonna let it slide... :)

Housed at the Sands Theatre in Marina Bay Sands, the tickets for the show are rather pricey, starting from S$65 up to S$240 for the Premium seats which come with a gift and drink.  I sprang for the Category A Reserve tickets at S$185 a pop - for a whole S$60 less, I think I could do without the gift and drink.  The seating for Cat A is no worse off than the Premium seats.  Also, if you know of folk working in the bigger companies in Singapore, you may want to ask around to see if any of them have access to corporate discounts.  I've heard some companies have discounts up to a whopping 50% off - and some of these erm, entrepreneurial folk are even selling these originally discounted tickets at retail prices over the Internet. -_-"  I'd advise to purchase your tickets through the official channel Sistic, or through an immediate friend/relative to play it safe.

The production runs 8 times a week, once a day at 8PM, with an additional 2PM show on Sundays.  Ticketing runs the same for both the 2 PM and 8 PM shows.  From personal experience, it is perhaps recommended to attend the 8 PM shows on a weekday if you want to decrease your chances of sharing the theatre with loud, chatty kids and their inconsiderate parents around you.  Yes, I know this is supposed to be a children's story... but hey, we're in an adult setting here, this ain't your living room.  We expect silence at a $10 movie screening, what more at a $200 musical?  Really, some of us have just not yet learnt the meaning of 'consideration for others'.  UGH.

In comparison to the Esplanade theatres, the Sands theatre seems a tad smaller, although the limited stage area was rather well utilized for The Lion King.  Revolving and hidden platforms within the stage keep things interesting when you would least expect it.  Acoustics within the theatre are decent too, and the audience has a clear view of the orchestra in front of the stage.  Two small balconies on either side of the stage house two percussionists on the traditional African instruments, immersing the audience even deeper into the Africa scene.

My gripes about the Sands Theatre:

• Warm air-conditioning (or none at all?).
  Not sure if it was a malfunction, but the air conditioning did not seem to be operational on the afternoon I was there.  Having read that 'the theatres could get quite chilly' from the MBS website, I had dressed slightly warmer than our insipid tropical weather would call for.  Boy, I think if the theatre had been any warmer, I would surely have started sweating.  Even my party members dressed in thin cottony tops were very aware that the theatre was warm!  Later on, during the 2nd half of the show, I thought I heard the air-conditioning roar to life, and it really did seem slightly cooler after that... Oh well.  Only the management of MBS will know the truth behind the matter, not that it's something worth pursuing (unless they would like to offer my party and I complimentary passes so that we can truly enjoy the show in comfort like it was meant to be? Heh~).
  
  
• Hard knock seats
  Rather appalled at the quality of the seats, really.  For such an atas place, you would expect at least Cathay cinema standards - ample leg room, fully cushioned chair.  But noooooo, the seats were more reminscent of the old Lido cinema seats.  Cushioned seats with wooden backings.  OH. MY. GAWD. Never mind that the spacing between rows was so tiny, you could acutely feel every single kick or tap against your chair!

Despite the crappy air ventilation, uncomfortable seat and extra unwanted narration by the prudes behind me, I reallllllly enjoyed The Lion King.  So much so that I listened to the soundtrack for days after the musical, and that I'm really contemplating bringing my folks to see it.  Ohhhhh yeah, I'm gonna make them sit through the re-run one last time - but this time, it's gonna be 'LIVE' in the flesh!


Anyone with steeply discounted tickets to share? ;)

The Art Science Museum is located within the vicinity of Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore. The museum is designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie and features 21 gallery spaces totaling 50,000 sq ft of exhibition area. This equates to 4 levels of exhibition space with level 2 out of bounds to visitors. The museum plays hosts to exhibitions curated by leading museums and collections.


Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the Art Science Museum

Getting to the Art Science Museum
Conveniently located in the central district and within walking distance from the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the museum is also accessible from the Promenade MRT on the Circle Line (10mins walk) or the City Hall MRT on the North-South Line (15mins walk). You can also take the bus, cab or drive here.

At the time of writing, there are 3 ongoing exhibits at the museum; Dalí: Mind of a Genius – The Exhibition 14 May - 30 October 2011, Van Gogh Alive - The Exhibition 16 April - 6 November 2011 and Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds 19 February - 31 July 2011. Tickets are priced at S$30 per adult and gives you access to all exhibits in the museum. Tickets can be purchased on Sistic or at the museum box office. Do keep your ticket with you throughout your time in the museum as you will need the ticket to exit.

In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

I am by no means a culture vulture, but I do get curious about certain arts productions from time to time when they look interesting or are about something I actually DO know about!  Tonight, I attended my first 'Shakespeare in the Park' performance - Macbeth.  About twelve years ago, I had to eat, sleep and breathe Macbeth.  If you had taken English Literature for your 'O' Levels, you'd know what I'm talking about!  But admittedly, I did not care much for Macbeth back then.  In fact, other than a few choice quotes and the 3 witches' scenes, I couldn't remember most of the plot before the play tonight... but glad to know I wasn't the only one - my party also had fuzzy memories of that navy blue book we had to dissect eons ago... Nevertheless, Macbeth in the Park was a really enjoyable experience, and I highly recommend it! Unfortunately, at the time of this writing the play only runs for 6 more days (till the 22nd of May 2011) so if by some sheer fortune you happen to stumble upon this post before then, hurry over to the Sistic website to book yourself some tickets for a performance!  You won't regret it!


Background Information
Produced by The Singapore Repertory Theatre (non-profit) and presented by Transtec, Macbeth in the Park is part of The Audi Classics Series 2011.  Previous 'Shakespeare in the Park' runs in Singapore were 'A Midsummer's Night Dream' (2009) and 'Much Ado About Nothing' (2007).  Looking at the timeline, it seems like this performance is only held once every two years?  Well, I'm glad I went for Macbeth this round, and hope that the next one would be perhaps Romeo & Juliet? :D


Plot Summary
If you've done something against your conscience, it WILL eat you alive slowly but surely.  Death imminently follows...

Front: Witch, Patricia Toh (Lady Macbeth), Adrian Pang (Macbeth)

The Cast
Directed by Nikolai Foster, the cast is led by Adrian Pang as Macbeth, and Patricia Toh as Lady Macbeth. Whilst Adrian Pang gave an excellent performance as Macbeth displaying his versatility and linguistic prowess, Lady Macbeth failed to mirror her hubby's standards.  I do applaud Pat's effort put into memorizing those oh-so-lengthy soliloquies, but somehow I think her mixed accents of British English and Singlish kind of killed the delivery of her performance.  I'm no qualified arts critic, but I think I'm able to recognize a good performance when it hits me.. and sadly Pat's rendition of Lady Macbeth just didn't cut it for me.  Going on to the supporting cast members, I think they did a good job filling the shoes of their characters.  William Landsman (Banquo) was as entertaining alive as he was as a ghost, and Daniel Jenkins (McDuff) put up a good fight at the end. Special mentions to the ladies who played the 3 witches - they must have been melting under their full-faced make-up and elaborate costumes in our horribly humid weather but they were cackly, loud, mysterious and creepy, bringing a sort of energy to the play.  The brief appearance by Andy Tear as the Porter also helped to lighten the dark theme of the performance, and was quite a humorous one at that.


The Setting
The play is held in the open ground area in front of Fort Canning Centre (see 'How to Get There' below) and is also in the vicinity of the Colonial Christian Cemetery.  With large, tall trees flanking the side of the stage, and the dusk sky overhead, there is a naturally eerie feel about the whole place - an almost perfect complement to the dark plot behind Macbeth.  Even though it was a rather humid night, the occasional boughts of wind grazing across your skin and accompanied by the gentle rustling of leaves in the trees overhead was good enough to up the chill factor. ;)  The grassy area surrounding the stage area is also a gentle sloping one, so no worries about not being able to see the stage even if you are seated at the back - you're actually higher up the slope.

Being in an open park setting, this also means you have to bring your own seating - picnic mats and ground sheets are most commonly seen, but we did see someone with small field chairs and an All Terrain Wagon which doubled up as their dinner table.  Apart from the humble picnic baskets, also spotted were bigass camping boxes, "pails" of food/drink and one group of folk looked like they brought their whole kitchen shy of the kitchen sink... Like, seriously? -_-"  Also heard as we were about the leave the grounds, the unmistakable sound of glass shattering against the ground... I guess they had a drop of wine too much... Hope they do not start prohibiting the audience from BYOB, 'cos I'm soooo bringing a nice chilled bottle along the next time!

Macbeth in the Park @ Fort Canning, Singapore

The Stage
A simple double-storey stage set which had simple but visually effective transitions, the stage was joined to a long runway spanning the entire length of the audience seating area, effectively dividing the area into 2 sections.  The runway also served as part of the stage setup, and certain entrances were made via the runway,  bringing the performance closer to the audiences further away from the main stage.  I thought this was quite a nice touch, really.


Fun & Nonsense
Did anyone else think Adrian Pang's hoodie costume resembled that of the hunter in Left 4 Dead??!  Even the colour scheme seemed similar!! I couldn't help thinking it, especially when he crouched down on all fours with his hood up in a scene.. Heh.

What's the purpose of including the bicycle and the modern-day clothing here and there?  I didn't quite get the significance and found it a bit distracting.. Would be nice if anyone could enlighten me here. :)  Leave your comments!



Ticketing Information
Availability:  Sistic Website or Sistic Counters
Dates:  28 Apr - 22 May 2011
Showtime:  7.30pm - 10.15pm (15min interval)
Price:  SGD 38 - SGD 80 (Starhub customers 10% off, see Sistic Website for more discounts).
Venue:  Fort Canning Park


How to get there:  Nearest MRT is Dhoby Ghaut MRT.  Exit to Park Mall.  Enter Park Mall, and take the elevator/lift up to the 4th floor (carpark).  Walk towards your left once you exit the lift, and exit at the carpark entrance/exit barriers.  Cross the road and walk towards your left again.  Keep walking 'till you hit a flight of stairs on your right.  You can either walk up this flight of stairs, OR keep walking straight up the slope.  Both ways lead to the same area and you should find the Gothic Gate in sight!  (Estimated time for this walk: 10 minutes.)

Fort Canning map:  http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/docs/diy_guide/ancient_colonial.pdf