We thought that the pomp and pageantry of post-war Shanghai would do our usually boring CNY a little good.
Considering that it was also an excellent excuse to absent ourselves from any more family dinners and mahjongs and what nots. And this being a
Cheena musical would, I suppose, be a little fitting for the festivities. Incidentally, this year's River HongBao Extravaganza (read gaudy funfair) was just across the road from where the Esplanade was, at the Memorial Park.
Shanghai,
circa 1940s. Wen Cong (William So) is a young man who joins the Chinese Army in its war with Japan and returns to his home city as a musician seeking his fortune eight years after he saved the life of a stranger, Tu Yun (Mindee Ong). Amidst the conflict, Dan Lei (Emma Yong) comes to Shanghai to earn a living but ends up bunking in with Tu Yun. Like a chinois
Menage a Trois, both women subsequently fall for him, plunging all three of them into a complicated relationship.
I have but one word for Shanghai Blues, Emma Yong. Ok that's technically 2 words. The lass can really sing, and in Mandarin to boot. This same girl who does Shakespeare, the Dim Sum Dollies, Mainstream as well as Experimental Theatre, with equal aplomp. Is there any stage role she cannot do? My impression of this very talented lady has just gone up a notch. And to think that William So (he of the slicked-back hair and glasses fame) is no shabby singer himself. But the man is a professional Warbler
lah. Although his debut transition from Concerts/MTVs to the theatre stage was pretty slick if you ask me. Like his hair.
Mindee Ong (oh my Mindee, my waifish, elfin-like little Mindee) was a dissappointment though, on 2 counts. Firstly, try as she might, there was simply no stage gravitas. No presence. She's fine as an
Ah Lian in 881 but as a Cabaret Songbird in sequinned cheongsams, sorry, no-go. Secondly, and perhaps more tragically, she sang off-key on several occasions. Poor girl. You could hear the earnestness in her voice but sadly, it was just no match for some of the beautifully soaring vocals needed for many of the melodies.
Written by acclaimed Hong Kong playwright Raymond To and directed by Toy Factory's Chief Artistic Director Goh Boon Teck, Shanghai Blues was still, overall, immensely watchable.
Although sometimes I think the romantism of the Shanghai
genre has been milked for all its worth.
Labels: Theatre