I attended the Raffles Hall Production because I have a few acquaintances there (one of them would not want to be called my friend) and it is customary to support your friends’ endeavours in other halls. I paid 15 dollars for the privilege, too!
I chatted a bit outside with my friend TK who is the Sets Head (aka Sex Head). When I went in to take my seat, the guy behind me kicked my chair. I looked around and saw Ming Hann, my schoolmate from JC. He was there with Ivan Prabowo. I had a good time chatting with them. Ming Hann’s become a bit nicer, I think. He used to say the F word all the time, but he doesn’t any more. He’s still a bit sarcastic though. He asked if I was still in choir, and when I replied in the affirmative, he told me to sing something from the programme book. (The lyrics were printed there.) Joker. Later during intermission I was asking him if Siva, one of our juniors, was in KEVII. He pointed at the guy next to him. It was Siva. Paiseh. The worst thing is, Siva doesn’t even know who I am. But obviously I know who he is, since he was the student council president. Ah, at least I won’t be seeing him again…
Also during the intermission, I was chatting with Ming Hann about his hall activities. I never took him for a hall person, seeing as he was a bit of a loner in hostel. But he’s super active in hall stuff, it’s faculty stuff he’s not enthusiastic about. He’s in VCF, Volunteer Corp and Archive, as well as IHG Tennis and Table-tennis. (He was a VJ player for those as well.) I asked him what was Archive – sit there and arrange yearbooks? – and he replied, “Yeah, that’s about it.” Funny! I also want a comm like that!
Anyway, back to the production. I was constantly reminding myself not to compare it to our Eusoff Dance Production, since they only have 2 months’ time to put everything together. Their dance choreography and sets will obviously be on a smaller scale, since these are the most time-consuming aspects. But rest assured, I shall be merciless in my critique of the storyline, acting, dancing and singing.
The first act had a bunch of girls in cotton pyjamas (ew) looking at magazines. I thought it was a joke when the skinniest, nerdiest one started singing about how that was her dream, to become a model. Sure you’re skinny, honey, but my money would have been on the other girl to become a model. This scene was full of cognitive dissonances for me. Firstly, the nerdy one was supposedly the winner of a modelling agency’s contest. No shit! With looks like that?? (I am not attacking the actress. I don’t do ad hominems. I am merely pointing out the incongruity of the character.) If they had wanted to make it more believable, they could have cut out the nerdy glasses. Sure she can wear glasses, just don’t make it so nerdy! And why must they sit around in their old-style pyjamas? For a while, I was wondering if the play was actually set in the 1970s or something. I know you want to impart that she’s a country gal, but that was seriously weird. And the silliest thing? One of them was wearing eye makeup to match her green outfit. Stage makeup is one thing, but I can’t for a moment believe that the eye makeup was necessary. (And neither do country girls wear makeup while in their pyjamas, do they?) Eyeliner would have done just fine, seeing as we’re all dark-eyed. You want to emphasise the features, not cause a certain degree of confusion in your audience. And for the record, the makeup was not for another scene, since she only appeared in that one scene, and the finale. This is an issue I really felt could have been avoided.
For most of the first act, I wanted to shake the lead actress whenever she appeared. Her portrayal of the naive country girl in the Big Apple was almost a caricature. Far too naive, far too wide-eyed at every single thing. In fanfiction, we call this a Mary-Sue character. It was not believable and I seriously feel that it was a bit of a mistake to write the character this way. Unless their main intention was to make the audience dislike the character and feel a sympathy with the ‘bad girl’ models who smoked, drank and screwed.
The lead actress herself is a fine singer, I’ll give her that. She was a better singer and actor in the second act, when the character became more manipulative and ambitious. Her acting skills were really on display here. That’s why I feel having her play the ingenue to such a degree of naivete was a waste, as her acting skills weren’t really obvious.
The storyline progressed with the lead character Natasha going to a bar, and coming back from the washroom to see the other models doing a cruel parody of her and her sua-ku ways. One shot of liquor later, on a challenge from the others, she climbed onto the bar and started singing. Then she came down and puked. Oh come on, one drink? Not all virgin drinkers are so weak ok! I for one had a naturally high threshold. But I guess it was necessary for the storyline, so I’ll leave that alone.
Abandoned in the bar with a grumpy waiter who had to clean up her puke, she started crying to the waiter, bla bla bla, and the next morning she awakes and bla bla bla. You know how the story goes, ya. Meanwhile, the other bartender (serves mainly as comic relief) came back and did a little number about how he’s desperate to get laid. My gosh, it was quite PG-13. And there were children in the audience, too! Perhaps we should have a ratings system for hall productions as well. I hope the parents of the kiddies won’t have to answer any awkward questions tonight.
Just a little gripe: Why the hell did the waiter recommend cocktails to a man? It’s a well-known fact that adult males prefer straight liquor. And the fact that the customer ordered Blue Lagoon adds to the unreality of the situation, although the fact that he was a closet homosexual may be the reason. A bit gratuitious, I think, inserted just so that the waiter could recommend Sex on the Beach. Ah well, will just let it go, since I guess more jokes are better than less. But still, I’m one of those anal people who insists on dissecting every scene in a movie, so.
Tralalala, the gay man is the comic relief’s secret admirer (much to the waiter’s dismay), the model tries to threaten her “producer” (I think they meant manager) and she rejects the other grumpy waiter who predictably falls for her (and she for him). It turns out that grumpy used to be a famous fashion photographer until he was involved in an accident where his girlfriend, then the top supermodel, perished. Meanwhile he lost his left hand. Hence his over-protectiveness of the model. Yada yada. In the end, no gay sex is had, someone comes out of the closet, and it’s not really made clear what happened to the model’s career. I mean, her “producer” freakin’ threatened her with a gun! (Plus he was the one who engineered the accident that killed the top model.) So, a bit of a loophole there.
The acting for the most part was fine, although as stated above, the lead actress was a bit caricaturish in the beginning. There was definite chemistry between her and the waiter, especially during the number where the feminist chicks faced off against the chauvinist males. So that’s a good thing.
The comic relief did not overact, in my opinion. Someone who’s so funny is bound to be a bit exaggerated in his gestures anyway, so his character was quite believable. His diction was not quite precise though. I believe there is a ‘stage accent’ that appears when one is speaking lines on stage, and his was a little odd. The pacing and rhythm were not what I would expect.
Special mention must be made of the “producer”. He was played by an Azerbaijani student (who knew NUS was that diverse, eh?) and was dressed like a pimp daddy with his big silver cross and purple jacket(!) .
I think most of the problems came up when they were singing. The lead singers were good, but the chorus girls (the other models) were not good. One or two of them had very thin voices, causing my companion to go “ouch” when they hit the high notes. There was one very good singer, I believe I’ve seen her performing in the choir, but the rest made the experience a bit dismal. The closet homosexual was also a little flat during his solo.
The sets were simple, but solidly built. I liked one piece in particular, a light fixture with a holey lampshade. I’m not an expert on sets, but my friend said it was good, and he’s a Rag engineer, so I’ll put his opinion here instead of my own. I didn’t really think wardrobe did a very good job with certain scenes, but it didn’t affect the overall experience. Plus Gerald’s giant afro wig makes up for everything. Hahaha.
Overall, it was a bit predictable and the script wasn’t as tight as I would have liked, but it was a good effort given the limited time frame, and a good showcase of their talents. I don’t really begrudge them the 15 dollars. Plus I got to meet some old friends, so can lar. Good show, Raffles.
