Front Row

Performances by the Singapore Dance Theatre, under the rubric, ‘Ballet Illuminations’, is now part of a regular annual offering on klpac’s and penangpac’s stages. In the interview the artistic director will tell what dances will be performed but underscore the contributions of the late dancer-and-choreographer, Singaporean Choo San Goh, to the world’s stage.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Calling himself “The First Piper”, Ross O’Connell Jennings is on a mission to play his musical instrument in every country in the world. He tells us not only the Why, but also stories that he has collected on his journey, including the responses of animals to the sound of the bagpipe.  Malaysia is his 46th country on his tour.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A couple of rainy days ago, the artist Latiff Mohidin made time to share with us his thoughts on why he creates--both in his paintings and his sculptures. He gives insights into his concerns and provides some ways into understanding his art, how he creates  although he prefers that his art be not mediated either by the artist himself or critics. He is holding his first solo sculpture-exhibition, curated by TK Sabapathy a renowned art historian from the National University of Singapore.

To hear more about Latiff Mohidin's work, listen to the podcast here of our previous interview with TK Sabapathy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Kuala Lumpur City Opera (KLCO) is organising the city’s first opera festival this May. During this two day festival, they’re hoping to foster an appreciation of Western opera amongst the Malaysian public. We find out from Danny Chen and Ho Soon Yoon of KLCO as well as Chi Hoe Mak, chorus master and artistic committee member.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On their first international tour, the cast of Shrek The Musical have come to our shores to delight audiences with their colourful story of friendship, love and self-acceptance. Hear the backstage stories and the tales of making cartoon-characters into living breathing ones on stage who sing, dance and act. Joining us were Shrek and Princess Fiona, or rather the actors who bring them to life and stage: Kyle Timson and Lindsay Dunn, and also tour director Justin Scholl.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a preview of the dress rehearsal, we asked if the play was racist and whether Shylock was a villain or a victim – and expected no gentle answers from our reviewers.

To hear an interview with the director and cast members, Tika Mu’tamir and Hanan Azlan, check out this podcast.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

‘Carmina Burana’ is a choral work composed by Carl Orff, in the early part of the 20th century, based on 24 medieval poems from the collection of the same name. This gorgeous music has been used in films, television commercials, in dances and simply as a choral presentation. Why has Tenby Schools taken this rather ornate and complex piece to showcase?  In the interview, the conductor, pianist and student performer tell about the importance of music in education and life.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re kicking off a musical week with interviews on musicals that will be coming to our local stages. PAN Productions is on the road again--more correctly, going ‘Into the Woods’--with a musical by Sondheim, a composer who is quite popular with this specific local production house.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The two singers, Talitha Tan and Gabriel Lynch, each  will be performing their original compositions mostly, and then some covers. And to add variety, they will sing duets. However, they will only be accompanied by an acoustic guitar. No band. One person with one guitar. They’ll tell us why they are doing this, and in the course of the conversation we’ll find out who these young singers are and the English-language indie music in the country.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So rarely does Chinese Opera get staged in a commercial theatre space. But there’s one coming up, and we have the director and one of his collaborators share on its appeal and on the staging of the performance titled ‘Tai Hei’, which will be in English. Will this be like yoking a cow with a horse?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.