Front Row

Founder and director of The Bharathanjali Dance Academy, Bavani Kanesamoorthy, talks to us about her school's latest project, Buddha: The Splendor of Enlightenment, a dance-musical that recollects Prince Siddharta's experiences in his search for peace and enlightenment.

Bavani also talks about the dance school she set up some 20 years ago and her experiences as both a student and teacher of classical Indian dance and music.

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Visual artist Popok Tri Wahyudi is one of the founding members of Apotik Komik, the group responsible for the Public Comic Art Project in Indonesia. He has gained a reputation as one of the emerging forces of contemporary Indonesian art, and has exhibited widely in several countries around Asia, Europe and Australia.

He talks about his beginnings and influences in the art world and discusses his first solo Malaysian art exhibition, BERGERak, which presents works that span a wide range of media, from paintings and drawings to woodblock prints, silkscreen on canvas and mini sculptures.

Commenting on commuting, travelling, human mobility and migration, these bittersweet and sometimes macabre narratives negate the glamorous images of the jet set that one may associate with travel. His works instead narrate the grittier realities of travelling ‘cattle class’, locally and internationally, in the 21st Century, particularly in the context of Southeast Asia.

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With no lost-in-translation situations to worry about, Nanta Cookin' is the Korean non-verbal comedic caper, which combines the traditional Korean percussion performance Samulnori and vigorous acrobatic movements, with a bit of drama thrown in for good measure.

Director of Nanta Cookin' Kim Chan-Seo and Centrestage Entertainment Event Director Koid Li Yee tell us about this kitchen-utensil propped musical, which is finally making its debut in Malaysia after having travelled the world. 

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Does happily-ever-after exist at all? What are the secrets to achieving it? Can love conquer all?

Starlets/castmembers Elvira Arul and Rina Omar dish on Nell Ng's latest musical, Always in Wonderland? which features 80's music, colourful costumes and even more colourful advice-dispensing fairytale characters.

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From piano-lesson hater to Jazz pianist extraordinaire, Michael Veerapen has taken his craft to dizzying heights, both locally and abroad.

In the midst of other projects, he now tackles Love Journey, a jazz and blues concert which sees the Michael Veerapen Trio performing with the multi-talented Joanna Bessey.

Michael lets us in what's in store in Love Journey, while discussing his own musical journey thus far.

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Playwright Mark Beau de Silva creates his first full-length Hokkien-language play, which follows the adventures of Tuah Thou (Big Head), Huan Chu Thou (Potato Head), their 'Mama' and her friend Ah Huat - and their adventures in preparing for the arrival of Mama's sister from Singapore, the rich Aunty Sien. 

Talking to us about the play, growing up in Penang (practically the whole cast is from there), Hokkien, cross-dressing roles and much more are dancer/choreographer/musician Wei Jun, and performing arts student Jinnie Lim, who play Mama and Huan Chu Thou respectively.

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Psychedelic songs and groovy girls shimmy their way onto the Malaysian stage in Shout! - The Mod Musical, a coming-of-age tale set in 1960's England.

Casey Koh, Music Director and Executive Producer of the musical, tell us more about the Malaysian recreation of this George & Lowenstein wonderhit, and how the themes and songs still resonate even today.

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After a highly successful and award-winning first season, everyone's favourite bunch of window cleaners and friends return with more comic capers, in Season 2 of Cuci the Musical.

Cuci veteran Vanidah Imran, and newest cast-member Jaclyn Victor come clean about the story, the goings-on both front and backstage, how the second season differs from the first, and why the musical is still a must-see.

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The feisty, fun and fabulous Junji Delfino celebrates her 50th birthday in July 2010, marking this milestone with a couple of firsts - her first solo album and her first one-woman show.

The 'Jazzmama' talks about her love affair with jazz - how it all began, her near 30-year-and-counting journey with it and what to expect and look forward to from both her solo show and album.

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Winds of Desire is an art exhibition that showcases the works of 13 Malaysian artists of Indian and Sri Lankan origin - Dr S. Chanthiran, Eric Peris, V. Chanthiran, Indumathi Krishnan, Jeganathan Ramachandram, Dr V. Krishnan, K. Krishnan, Michel Anthony, Nirmala Karuppiah, Syed Thajudeen, Sivam Selvaratnam, Sivarajah Natarajan and Stephen Menon.

Curator Sivarajah, together with two of the participating artists, Michel Anthony and Syed Thajudeen, talk about the serendipitous journeys that led them to become artists, their works, influences, lives and experiences as artists.

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