Lao Jiu: The Musical

It was nice. Really. I love the artistic bits and i thought they did it really well.

The story's about this boy, Lao Jiu. His name means 'number 9' in the family. The show begins with his parents pining for a boy, after giving birth to 8 females. And when he comes along, everyone's so happy and loves him loads. No one feels any jealousy and all his sisters hope to see him succeed one day. (in this aspect, i feel that the characters of the sisters are rather flat)

So u noe, all these expectations.

To add to it all, he was a very likely candidate for a prestigious scholarship.

And then he falls in love with the art of puppetry. And hopes to pursue it full-time. To heighten the urgency of learning it immediately at the expense of the scholarship is that the puppet master was about to die.

so yea. u noe la. this is how it goes.

The best bits were the times when he was supposed to be studying, but he daydreams instead. These are the 3 daydream parts (characterised by flashing disco lights):

1) 3 dancers appear with a fitness ball. Lao Jiu sings about atoms and physics. And the ball is bounced about him. And when he sings about waves (remember those things from physics class), they try to make the ball oscillate. It was a nice representation.

2) Lao Jiu sings about mathematics. U noe that lessson of inequalities? U draw this graph, then there are constraints provided for like y>4x + c then u have to elimate that area? then got a number of equations then in the end u have a small little area bound by the contraints?

yea, so the 3 dancers had a large piece of cloth. They used it to show shapes, like squares and rectangles. Then later as Lao Jiu ran about the stage, they held him back (like constraints). This is all done as Lao Jiu chanted about how he felt repressed by all the expectations on him.

3) the final one used steps that are on wheels. At first, he jubilantly steps from one to the other. And he sings about his studies. Then when he begins to describe art as an abstract thing, one that cannot promise a future, he starts to slip off the steps and clings tightly to them.

The representations are creative and not difficult to interpret. I was impressed by the artistic direction.

If anything, i felt the musical is very Singaporean indeed. nice. And to add to the pleasure, P watched it with me. whoo hoo.