Ah, to hear the cockney accent again certainly brought back memories. It has been almost 12 years since I came back from UK after spending "a while" trying to be better educated. Hearing those "cuppa tea"s and what nots certainly made me smile.Yes, was again priviledged to go watch "My Fair Lady", this time on the opening night, with the troupe from London itself. To be honest, was initially hesitant to watch this musical. Have seen the movie before, and enjoyed it then, with some memorable songs which were sung in this musical, but wasn't sure whether I wanted to watch a live performance of it. But what the 'eck! :)
Overall, it was definitely better than Grease, especially in terms of singing quality, the overall choreography, the dance moves, and certainly, one or two casts definitely shown.
What I liked about the musical:
a. Free tix! Yippeeeee!!
b. 'Enry 'Iggins's character was very well acted. Very natural.
c. One supporting cast really shone in the dance moves.
d. Very energetic.
e. Good use of props.
f. Good Choreos.
What I didn't like:
a. Sound system for chorus line was not good. Blend was not there.
b. Sound system for orchestra was heavy on the treble. Bass sound was quite mute.
c. Quite a lot of "shouting" - maybe in the hope of generating energy.
d. Draggy at certain parts.
e. "A bit" long, didn't finish until about 11:20pm, but I guess some would argue that it was value for money. Hmmm.
f. No announcement of intermission. Quite abrupt end to 1st half.
I wonder how many Malaysians who have not been previously exposed to the cockney accent would be able to pick up what was being said or sung. Certainly an interesting contrast to what may be perceived as the "Queen's English" or even "Manglish". Somehow, it made me think back to the time when I first started working, and one day, I picked up my colleague's phone call:
Caller: "May I speak to T?"
Me: "I'm sorry, but he is currently indisposed".
Caller: "He's WHAT!?!" (to the point of shouting)
Can certainly laugh at it now, but at that time, the "He's WHAT!" certainly made me think and tried to "localise" a bit more. As they say, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do"... or something like that.
Ok, back to topic. It was good to hear the songs again, and I enjoyed the intermittent injection of humour into the musical. Just wished that certain parts moved at a faster pace. For now, anyone fancy going for "a cuppa"?! :P
1 comment:
Seriously, I do not have any inkling of what the girl is talking about at first. I don't think the dance move is smooth. I even saw one fella struggling to hoist the girl up - she needs to lose some weight (me too!). The dance move failed to impress me, or probably I prefer them to tap louder on the padded sound proof floor. The sound system, albeit clear - is not loud enough for the big hall like Plenary. Still prefer some "THX" sound effects - probably watch too many movies..
All in all, it was just an average show. This is my first musical show. I hope this do not stop me from going to more - provided it comes free. Hehe.
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