(warning: this is going to be long...)
went to watch my fair lady at the esplanade on Wed night with a friend and her sister. it was my birthday gift... really belated.
i wanted to watch it i guess because of the wonderful songs, the love story, and of all the good memories of watching the movie version.
well, the staged version is pretty different.
1. i thought the orchestra wasn't that great (not very in tune)
2. the sound system wasn't doing it's justice to all the singing and dialogs
3. no subtitles (hard to understand those weird brit lower class accents)
4. it's not the movie *grin* and audrey hepburn is not the main lead *grin again*
besides these "complaints" that i have, somehow i never noticed how strange this musical/play was written. i have been fascinated particularly with the ironies of ===>>>
1. the experiment to turn a lower class lady into an upper class princess --> purpose being giving her a better life. yet once she obtained the statues, she was miserable because she didn't know what to do with her life anymore. so the same old questions i asked myself after short-term missions to the mountains--do all these modernization, progress, education, truly help people with their deepest needs in life?
also... that struggle within for those who have turned from poor to riches... maybe you are not as happy as before. life has become more complicated than you would like, yet at the same time, you are not so willing to let go of the comfort and the statues that followed... (eliza's father expressed this opinion as well, i believe)
2. the almost too much of a real life relationship scenario displayed through the show... (ok ok... not ALL relationships) the professor who was proud of being a bachelor and (almost) woman hater. after 6 months of interaction with a genuine and lovely girl, he finds feelings that he never had before. at the same time, he's still unwilling to budge and admit publicly of his feelings and attachment for her. actually the same goes for her where she found herself having great difficulty to leave from his presence although she's sung how she hated his guts and wished him dead. i was thinking that if i pick any couple that i know and look into the mundane interaction, i probably would see the same dialog... "where's my slippers?" "there... *throws them across the room*" (sensing the cynic in me... ^_^)
but in "my fair lady"? usually in movies and shows, the "perfect" or "ideal" relationship is displayed but how weird (that i've never noticed before) to see it on stage.
hmm... guess these are the two things that i wanted to blog about... any discussions on these 2 subjects or even just the show is very welcomed. ^_^
(and i still love the songs in there) :D
5 comments:
First of all, i think many people had alot of expectations on this production, having made its debut in Singapore as part of the Asian run.
What alot of us had in mind, was a "Fair Lady" Audrey-Hepburn-lookalike, to be only disappointed when it was a "Fat Lady" that came on-stage instead.
i personally was entertained at this production, because i simply love 'live' performances, be it any Broadway / local musical, or even a simple recital like what Singing Tigger gave me as a farewell on my last day @ EAST.
We cannot merit a production based on poor PA system / missing subtitles / expectations under delivered based on previous versions. We have to look at it solely on the soul of the musical that is the music, dance and voice projection.
I am not musically trained like Singing Tigger, so i wouldn't be able to catch the glitches in that 'dept'. :P
But i fully agree that the female
lead, Deborah Myers, does get overboard with her acting sometimes. That it sort of distracts me from the main / universal issues abt the Pygmalion-effect between Prof Higgins & Elisa DooLittle that takes on a twist when pride steps in.
That aside, the music, set, costumes and dancing put up collectively for this musical still makes it watchable, but not recommended if the same cast returns to Spore for a rerun @ the pricey Esplanade.... ;)
tks for letting me in on your thoughts on the show.
agree that live performances cannot be replaced by movie or sound tracks. i remember watching opera live for the first times and was memorized. it is just different...
but if i understand correctly, i still think that the sound system and orchestra performance are very vital in making a complete and "good" show. i was disappointed with those.
and of course it's not fair to compare this staged musical with the movie. they are almost chicken and duck.
so ya... tks! :D
er... mesmerized not memorized... :-\
i'm horrible at spelling... :-\
"but if i understand correctly, i still think that the sound system and orchestra performance are very vital in making a complete and "good" show. i was disappointed with those." - true true. Hope to go for Sebastian Tan /Sim's stand-up comedy next!
i guess with my early days bad experiences at the victoria concert hall, i've scared of bad sound quality concert halls in sg... but then, there's no choice if i want to be "cultured" at times. :P
oh wow, stand up comedy at the esplande? :P and enlighten me of who this/these comedian(s) is/are. :P
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