I jumped over the moon...
... skipped off cloud nine,
slid along the silver lining,
and danced among the stars.
Never could I have foreseen this very day when, about 6 months ago, on a most fateful day (which happened most nonchalantly, as they always do), I sang the words "fly me to the moon... and let me play among the stars..." and proceeded to be called back for the 2nd part of the audition process for Broken Bridges, based upon my lips and dancing. Ecstatic does not even being to describe it. God-like is more apt. In geek-speak, it would approximate OMGWTFBBQ. Allow me to story thee, o seeker.
The day began with ominous portent. Awake after an inadequate 4 hours of sleep for an unknown reason (8.30am on a Sunday, for fucks' sake), I attempted to force myself to sleep for another 3 hours. As you may have experienced before, telling your awake body to sleep some more makes it respond in weird ways - in my case, my mind started swimming with disparate images of the play. Botak heads (Colin) singing and shouting, spittle and pens flying, strange background colour changes, bloody slippers flip-flapping, shifting kaleidoscopic snapshots of Ipoh town. Finally, I awake, eat, prepare and rush over to KLPAC - needing to get tickets for my uncle and not wanting to be late for our final show.
Cut to our sound check. A vivid moment occurs when I walk over to a solitary Chuang Yik and I see a look in his eyes. He tells me that he's savouring the moment, and I turn, right into a moment where I see through his eyes. It's Yen Lin testing, and things are as they alway have been for sound checks - our stills in disarray, our mic trolleys on centre stage, people scattered over various seats, Sky and Donald making sure the mics are in the right place. Wham #1: that's the last time I'll ever see that with these eyes, with this heart.
Fast forward to our "song check". That's where we do a run of the overture that goes into "Ipoh Town". I look up to the 500-odd seats of Pentas 1, take it in, and slowly turn around to take in our full set. Wham #2: that's the last time I'll ever see that with these exact same people around me, with that melody soaring overhead.
Clips of various points of the play. Last costume changes, last prop uses. The play, of course, "flows" (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book - I haven't read the book myself, but I think I get that concept he talks about) flawlessly. I later find out that it was the best "Drink Drink" solo that I've ever sung, the most evocative lines I've ever delivered, the most emotional and powerful singing I've ever done. Then it was "Broken Bridges" already. Wham #3: the song takes on a-whole-nother level of meaning - to me, it used to always be to and for the audience; today, it was more to and for each other, the wonderful people I've been with for the past 4 months. Finally having the writers on stage with us, taking a long-overdue bow.
Kisses. Hugs. Millions of pictures. SMSes from the more-than-expected family & friends in the audience. Wham #4: so many people in my life have come and enjoyed my debut performance, which has been thoroughly blessed by innumerable strokes of great fortune - the array of skill and talent all around, from acting to singing to dancing to set design to graphics to music to lights to sound to stage management not forgetting the core of producing and directing. It really is magic when everything comes together so well.
Yeah yeah so I'm a sentimental bugger. A soppy dumbass. Whatever. There was a wonderfully poignant moment where we had just broke out the champagne and were liberally toasting all the crap that happened. Fishballs, slippers, "what a wonderful time I have had tonight", slapping, pens, "KL office sent me back to KL", music timing, flying spittle, "Ming is dead", SMSing while turning the set, "not only for y-me but for you", tray is the new three, the list goes on. My tears were just flowing when the speeches came out - Chuang Yik, Ky-Gan, Mervyn, Douglas, Faridah, Joe.
I received my paycheck for the production with another piece of joyous news - I had been cast in Mark's play! I had briefly mentioned it before but I didn't think much of my audition. Yeah what can I say, I'm better than I thought. I later discover that the other 2 positions were taken by fellow members of this cast! Awesomeness. Seems that I've taken large strides into the arena of theatre, and I've been thinking: is this what I want? Can I see myself doing this for the foreseeable future? Truly, "At this moment to myself that I need to be true, So can I abandon now the life that I once knew..." I don't know yet, I really don't. You WILL see more of me in theatre definitely, but I don't know what else. Yet.
A most loquacious cast member once mentioned an ancient Greek concept where, during a warrior's triumph (or the Greek equivalent, ie whatever massive celebration they have to honour their most heroic), the crowd actually chants "die now"; the concept being that it is the pinnacle of a man's life to die at one's most glorious. I truly felt that at one point of the night. Comfortably sprawled in one corner of Maison, cigar in one hand, whiskey coke in the other, surrounded by the variegated members that comprise the production. Finally dancing and partying was such fun.
On an offside note, I discovered that a fellow cast member has a good friend who has been tracing his family roots, which happens to coincide with mine in the face of Kapitan Cina Chung Keng Quee. Small world.
What a wondrous journey Broken Bridges has been. Making great friends for a lifetime. Meeting people of such talent and spirit that I consider an honour to know and work with. Taking leaps and bounds on the path of self-discovery and, dare I say it, self-actualisation. A liberation, an exoneration, an emancipation of a large part of myself that I have been unwittingly, cruelly holding captive without trial. After all, as a Sagittarian, creativity and eccentricity are written in the stars, no?
Okaylah time to stop. Hope my words can adequately capture the essence of how I feel in this moment, which will fleet away oh so quickly. To each and every one of you whom I worked with over the course of Broken Bridges, I salute you. It has truly been a pleasure and an honour. Thank you for that privilege.
slid along the silver lining,
and danced among the stars.
Never could I have foreseen this very day when, about 6 months ago, on a most fateful day (which happened most nonchalantly, as they always do), I sang the words "fly me to the moon... and let me play among the stars..." and proceeded to be called back for the 2nd part of the audition process for Broken Bridges, based upon my lips and dancing. Ecstatic does not even being to describe it. God-like is more apt. In geek-speak, it would approximate OMGWTFBBQ. Allow me to story thee, o seeker.
The day began with ominous portent. Awake after an inadequate 4 hours of sleep for an unknown reason (8.30am on a Sunday, for fucks' sake), I attempted to force myself to sleep for another 3 hours. As you may have experienced before, telling your awake body to sleep some more makes it respond in weird ways - in my case, my mind started swimming with disparate images of the play. Botak heads (Colin) singing and shouting, spittle and pens flying, strange background colour changes, bloody slippers flip-flapping, shifting kaleidoscopic snapshots of Ipoh town. Finally, I awake, eat, prepare and rush over to KLPAC - needing to get tickets for my uncle and not wanting to be late for our final show.
Cut to our sound check. A vivid moment occurs when I walk over to a solitary Chuang Yik and I see a look in his eyes. He tells me that he's savouring the moment, and I turn, right into a moment where I see through his eyes. It's Yen Lin testing, and things are as they alway have been for sound checks - our stills in disarray, our mic trolleys on centre stage, people scattered over various seats, Sky and Donald making sure the mics are in the right place. Wham #1: that's the last time I'll ever see that with these eyes, with this heart.
Fast forward to our "song check". That's where we do a run of the overture that goes into "Ipoh Town". I look up to the 500-odd seats of Pentas 1, take it in, and slowly turn around to take in our full set. Wham #2: that's the last time I'll ever see that with these exact same people around me, with that melody soaring overhead.
Clips of various points of the play. Last costume changes, last prop uses. The play, of course, "flows" (see Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book - I haven't read the book myself, but I think I get that concept he talks about) flawlessly. I later find out that it was the best "Drink Drink" solo that I've ever sung, the most evocative lines I've ever delivered, the most emotional and powerful singing I've ever done. Then it was "Broken Bridges" already. Wham #3: the song takes on a-whole-nother level of meaning - to me, it used to always be to and for the audience; today, it was more to and for each other, the wonderful people I've been with for the past 4 months. Finally having the writers on stage with us, taking a long-overdue bow.
Kisses. Hugs. Millions of pictures. SMSes from the more-than-expected family & friends in the audience. Wham #4: so many people in my life have come and enjoyed my debut performance, which has been thoroughly blessed by innumerable strokes of great fortune - the array of skill and talent all around, from acting to singing to dancing to set design to graphics to music to lights to sound to stage management not forgetting the core of producing and directing. It really is magic when everything comes together so well.
Yeah yeah so I'm a sentimental bugger. A soppy dumbass. Whatever. There was a wonderfully poignant moment where we had just broke out the champagne and were liberally toasting all the crap that happened. Fishballs, slippers, "what a wonderful time I have had tonight", slapping, pens, "KL office sent me back to KL", music timing, flying spittle, "Ming is dead", SMSing while turning the set, "not only for y-me but for you", tray is the new three, the list goes on. My tears were just flowing when the speeches came out - Chuang Yik, Ky-Gan, Mervyn, Douglas, Faridah, Joe.
I received my paycheck for the production with another piece of joyous news - I had been cast in Mark's play! I had briefly mentioned it before but I didn't think much of my audition. Yeah what can I say, I'm better than I thought. I later discover that the other 2 positions were taken by fellow members of this cast! Awesomeness. Seems that I've taken large strides into the arena of theatre, and I've been thinking: is this what I want? Can I see myself doing this for the foreseeable future? Truly, "At this moment to myself that I need to be true, So can I abandon now the life that I once knew..." I don't know yet, I really don't. You WILL see more of me in theatre definitely, but I don't know what else. Yet.
A most loquacious cast member once mentioned an ancient Greek concept where, during a warrior's triumph (or the Greek equivalent, ie whatever massive celebration they have to honour their most heroic), the crowd actually chants "die now"; the concept being that it is the pinnacle of a man's life to die at one's most glorious. I truly felt that at one point of the night. Comfortably sprawled in one corner of Maison, cigar in one hand, whiskey coke in the other, surrounded by the variegated members that comprise the production. Finally dancing and partying was such fun.
On an offside note, I discovered that a fellow cast member has a good friend who has been tracing his family roots, which happens to coincide with mine in the face of Kapitan Cina Chung Keng Quee. Small world.
What a wondrous journey Broken Bridges has been. Making great friends for a lifetime. Meeting people of such talent and spirit that I consider an honour to know and work with. Taking leaps and bounds on the path of self-discovery and, dare I say it, self-actualisation. A liberation, an exoneration, an emancipation of a large part of myself that I have been unwittingly, cruelly holding captive without trial. After all, as a Sagittarian, creativity and eccentricity are written in the stars, no?
Okaylah time to stop. Hope my words can adequately capture the essence of how I feel in this moment, which will fleet away oh so quickly. To each and every one of you whom I worked with over the course of Broken Bridges, I salute you. It has truly been a pleasure and an honour. Thank you for that privilege.
posted by Jo at 5:35 pm
3 Comments:
The honour and privlege, sir, is mine: to have your earnest and enthusiastic participation, and most of all your friendship. Cheers.
Keep your head high up and you dont have to worry about your feet!
Congratulations on getting a part in another play! (This the one you told me about the other day?). So when is this one opening? ;)
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