Saturday, 31 October 2009
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Michael Jackson's This Is It
MJ's This Is It movie premiered worldwide on 28 October. It was indeed a great opportunity to be among the first to watch the behind the scenes of the This Is It concert rehearsals.
Should it materialise, the concert would have been a phenomenon! It would have been THE concert of the century. Detailed attention was given to each and every song with nothing left unturned, MJ had lived up to perfection.
All the 26 songs that were supposed to be performed were given special treatment. Elaborated special effects and props were planned for each song. To list a few:
1. Thriller - with the 3D effect of the zombies, flying bride and groom zombies over the aisle, and MJ coming out of a the mechanical giant spider
2. They don't care about us - with a band of one hundred thousand armies generated by special effects
3. The way you make me feel - with the workers on the building construction site in the background
4. Smooth Criminal - with special classic black & white movie
5. Billie Jean - with a special designed bling jacket with 7.5 lb of Swarovski crytals and 60 lights
6. Earth Song - jungle scenes & bulldozer
7. Man in the mirror - MJ's all time favourite song
At 50, his movements were fluid and seemed effortless- he still had it in him. All the dance move were perfectly synchronised. He knew what he wanted for the concert- his final curtain call and knew his music well. Too well. He was a musical genius and unmatched at that.
To me, it was indeed an eye opener of the MJ whom many of us see as a weird dude.
I went to the premier of This Is It merely as an audience and came back a fan.
MJ, may you rest in peace.
Should it materialise, the concert would have been a phenomenon! It would have been THE concert of the century. Detailed attention was given to each and every song with nothing left unturned, MJ had lived up to perfection.
All the 26 songs that were supposed to be performed were given special treatment. Elaborated special effects and props were planned for each song. To list a few:
1. Thriller - with the 3D effect of the zombies, flying bride and groom zombies over the aisle, and MJ coming out of a the mechanical giant spider
2. They don't care about us - with a band of one hundred thousand armies generated by special effects
3. The way you make me feel - with the workers on the building construction site in the background
4. Smooth Criminal - with special classic black & white movie
5. Billie Jean - with a special designed bling jacket with 7.5 lb of Swarovski crytals and 60 lights
6. Earth Song - jungle scenes & bulldozer
7. Man in the mirror - MJ's all time favourite song
At 50, his movements were fluid and seemed effortless- he still had it in him. All the dance move were perfectly synchronised. He knew what he wanted for the concert- his final curtain call and knew his music well. Too well. He was a musical genius and unmatched at that.
To me, it was indeed an eye opener of the MJ whom many of us see as a weird dude.
I went to the premier of This Is It merely as an audience and came back a fan.
MJ, may you rest in peace.
Sunday, 25 October 2009
The Premier of "Cuci the Musical"; 23 Oct 2009
When WR said, "oh, we are going to watch Cuci the Musical at Istana Budaya on Oct 23", I really thought that he was kidding but since it was an invitation, I went along. As I have not watched the movie before, I do not know what to expect. Having heard from a close source that the movie was not that great, I did not put much expectations on the musical theater.
.jpg)
Boy, was I wrong!
With a line-up of great talents like Afdlin Shauki, Hans Isaac, AC Mizal, Awie, Harith Iskandar, Vanida Imran, Adibah Noor and Ramli Hassan, the musical was indeed in a class of its own.
Although I thought the music was a bit too loud, drowning the songs, I really hope it would be improved in subsequent shows.
Since I did not watch the movie, I couldn't compare the musical with the movie. It is somehow good as theaters should not be compared with movies. Anyhow, the storyline is similar and the bottomline - good will always prevail.
The show was really entertaining. There was never a dull moment throughout the entire show. The actors, being all professionals, played their parts well and made the entire show almost flawless.
Great singing voice from Awie and Adibah Noor, makes this musical stands out from the rest. It is quite impressive to hear Vanida and Hans, who also shared their vocals in this production.
A must watch for Istana Budaya musical theater fans. And for those artsy fartsy freaks, this is a commercialised theater, so go figure!
As usual, managed to get autographs of the main casts
.JPG)
Cool Adibah Noor. Great voice, big talent (no pun intended)
.JPG)
Hans...
.JPG)
The Choreographer of Cuci the Musical, Stephen Rahman-Hughes
Kudos to Hans and the team for a great show. I laughed and almost cried at the part where the brothers were torn apart by greed and the power-that-be.
Indeed "Cuci the Musical" is a must watch and worth every RM spent on the ticket!
Disclaimer: The comments on this blog entry represents my personal opinion, pictures posted on this page are from personal collections.
.jpg)
Boy, was I wrong!
With a line-up of great talents like Afdlin Shauki, Hans Isaac, AC Mizal, Awie, Harith Iskandar, Vanida Imran, Adibah Noor and Ramli Hassan, the musical was indeed in a class of its own.
Although I thought the music was a bit too loud, drowning the songs, I really hope it would be improved in subsequent shows.
Since I did not watch the movie, I couldn't compare the musical with the movie. It is somehow good as theaters should not be compared with movies. Anyhow, the storyline is similar and the bottomline - good will always prevail.
The show was really entertaining. There was never a dull moment throughout the entire show. The actors, being all professionals, played their parts well and made the entire show almost flawless.
Great singing voice from Awie and Adibah Noor, makes this musical stands out from the rest. It is quite impressive to hear Vanida and Hans, who also shared their vocals in this production.
A must watch for Istana Budaya musical theater fans. And for those artsy fartsy freaks, this is a commercialised theater, so go figure!
As usual, managed to get autographs of the main casts.JPG)
Cool Adibah Noor. Great voice, big talent (no pun intended).JPG)
Hans....JPG)
The Choreographer of Cuci the Musical, Stephen Rahman-Hughes
Backstage.JPG)
AC Mizal.JPG)
Hans' dressing room... Tak dapat bergambar dengan orangnya, pintu pun jadilah....JPG)
Caught Harith as he was leaving... too bad, must stop for photos. Hehe...
Finally....JPG)
Managed to catch Afdlin as we were leaving....JPG)
Also managed to catch Hans right before we left.
Commenting on his singing in the show, Hans said "I also didn't know I could sing. I was only telling a story". Well Hans, the story that comes from the heart is what makes Cuci the Musical meaningful. It also proves that anything is possible if you just believe...
Kudos to Hans and the team for a great show. I laughed and almost cried at the part where the brothers were torn apart by greed and the power-that-be.
Indeed "Cuci the Musical" is a must watch and worth every RM spent on the ticket!
Disclaimer: The comments on this blog entry represents my personal opinion, pictures posted on this page are from personal collections.
