forbidden city
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Holy guacamole! (Always had an urge to use that in a sentence) Forbidden City was unbelievable. Would have been worth every cent even if the school didn't subsidize.
Here's why it was so bloody great.
1) Kit Chan and the three foreign actors Leigh Mcdonald, Sheila Francisco and the guy who played the good guy turned evil bastard, George, were all fantastic singers
2) The bookkeepers~ PANGU! Hossan Leong and Sebastian Tan(?) were damn funny. Even though I was surprised that the black bookkeeper, Sebastian, completely outshined Hossan.
3) The MUSIC. It made me understand why Dick Lee was awarded the Cultural Medallion. Man's a genius. Plus it was quite amusing to see the conductor bouncing up and down.
4) The way they made full use of the huge metal frame as a prop.
5) The little kids that played Tung-Chih and Guangxu
Here's why it wasn't so great
1) Like the Strait's Time review said, they 'de-clawed' Cixi. We all know Cixi from our history books as a power grabber and a manipulating b*tch. Would have been nice to see snippets of that side of her personality instead of the sappy and desperate portrayal that was offered over and over again.
2) Some of the songs/music keep repeating. For example "Only Chance" was first sung by Yehenara(Kit Chan), then she did a reprise, following that was a version by Kate Carl and finally by the elderly Cixi. Lovely songs and lyrics, but too much is just that. Overkill.
3) They missed out a couple of important details like the Boxer Rebellion and the way she imprisoned Guangxu in the Winter Palace. But I guess they could only fit so much into the time they had.
The Esplanade people selling food are daylight robbers~ One itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny can of Pringles cost me a whopping 4 bucks and one normal Mars bar cost me 3. Freaking ridiculous. What's even more absurd is the fact that I actually bought it cause I was starving.
Had to keep explaining to my junior who was seated to my right. She even asked me what a "STD" was. (Or 'disease of whores' as Cixi so charmingly put it) ZOMG. Then when I told her, she went 'Oh' and told the person on her right. Er right. After the entire thing, was talking to Mrs Hoe and she confessed to me that she cried at one part; when Kit Chan's 'baby' was ripped away from her arms. Awwww. Later, walked over to Starbucks with Limin, Duha and Diyana; tried the Raspberry blended tea (Which Limin said tasted like the Ricola Giant Bluefruits) and the pasta salad (disgusting so don't waste your money on it).
Did I ever mention that I "hate" people who possess a disgustingly high metabolism rate? Limin ate like half a pasta salad and half a potato salad and still went "I'm hungry..still can take dinner" *Cue my jaw hitting the floor*
Like winter needs the fireLike temples needs a shrineLike lovers need desireLike prophets need a signI need him, can't you see?I need him to be mine.
-Kit Chan as Yehenara
-Stephen Clark as lyricist
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aureliaz out
@ |12:24 PM|
