somewhat sille, that's me!

trying to clear some backlog posts because you know, i'm procrastinating (isohatemyselfsigh).. so here's one of them:

now that the musical has had its run, i think i can post this dy. i don't know if they are still googling for reviews cos that's what i totally would have done. haha.. but yeah, i just wanna give my tuppence like i was irish.. i have been hesitant about posting this cos i didn't want the cast to get disheartened should they read this (you'll see why) hahaha..

adam the musical 

the actors' studio, lot 10

18-may-2010

let me tell you straight: i did not enjoy the musical. and this was after going in with low expectations hoping to be pleasantly surprised -- alas that didn't happen. oh well.

[a quick thanks to jazz who organized this - went with her and mandy and a bunch of jazz's friends whose names have escaped me now.. haha..]

but first, let me recount what i liked about it:

• tabitha kong - i've heard her once when i went to SIB for some event last year, and i rber really liking her voice although she only sang one song. here in adam, she was the understudy for the role of maria. i would have preferred not to go for understudies' performances but jazz had wanted to go for this one as tabby (which was what jazz calls her, which is really weird for me, so mm, i'll just stick to tab, which is also.. nvm.) is a friend of hers. which i didn't mind cos theater performances are usually frequented by people who sorta kinda knew the cast or crew. and since tab is now a friend of a friend, 'twas ok. :D it also didn't hurt that she's cuter than the lead actress. hahaha..
  
• the couple's chemistry - tab and the lead actor (malik taufik) were such a cute couple! i really liked the scenes they were in together.. their body language spoke louder than their lines.. which was good (because: re. point 1 in the next section).
  
• the group performance - this one, i kinda liked and disliked at the same time. like, cos they sounded good and their choreography tight; dislike, cos i couldn't hear what they were singing about.
• tria aziz - she was one very scary looking ghoul, but her voice! her solo was one highlights of the show..
• mo dee & fairuz tauhid - two transvestite characters who were sometimes funny and other times menjengkelkan. don't know lah.. something about this show just didn't sit down nicely with me.

and now, for the bad:

• the script was horribly banal and trite.. direction was poor. i was unmoved by adam's plight.
  
• the use of religion was quite a fail if not mis-used. if the girl has no qualms about changing her religion, then as a plot device it was redundant. as i saw it, they had wanted to highlight the religious hypocrisy and bigotry, and they would have been better off had they stuck to a single religion (Islam in this case).
• datuk faridah merican - i don't mean no disrespect, but i think her voice was poor. i heard no frailty nor strength in it, and going off pitch not once but a few times is quite a no-no kan?
• the archangel michael played by mark sobels - he was one very annoying character who was neither funny or sensible. bleh.
• what's a musical without memorable songs. unfortunately, most of the songs here were forgettable.
• theater design - the layout of the stage limits severely limits the vantage point to only those in front. if it's for fashion show ok lah, but for 2/3 of the audience, it's mostly just side profiles for the longest time. 

in the end, i was not barely emotionally moved (even bored at some points) - emotions being my yardstick of rating something like this. all said, it was all just really mediocre theater to me.

[i rber the musical ran closely to the very expensive broadway production in KL - the westside story.. and i'd jokingly dubbed adam the poor man's WSS.. now, even that comparison is unworthy. sorry!]