Visible Waves

Closer to Your Heart

25th March 2006. I felt as if I was baring my soul to the world to see. Afterall, this was the first time my work would be seen by a different and possibly, a more critical audience. The nerves had gotten the best of me during the full dress run, so, I wasn't as nervous come showtime.
We all came early to prepare ourselves for both the tech and final dress run. Once those were over, 8pm was a mere hour away.

I got changed into my formal wear, ready to welcome the crowd. Familiar faces as well as newfound friends came to support. The mood was at an all time high. What was I doing at front-of-house you ask? Well, this was the first time when I was actually seated in the audience to watch my work.

Soon enough it was showtime and Moon People stepped up to the plate. At that moment, I felt that being the more polished one of the two, Moon People was gonna make Closer to Your Heart forgettable. Their run ended. I visited my cast backstage during the interval and gave them a final head up and then I stepped back into the audience.

The lights finally went down and Closer to Your Heart took to the stage. And for the next 45 minutes, my cast left me astounded. I had only asked them for their 100% energy and they gave me more than that. Golly gees. I was so drawn into the performance forgetting at moments that it was my work that was being staged. At relevant points, I scanned the audience. I saw a tissue and heard soft sobs. I smiled. And then, the cast sang the Finale and at that moment, the pressure lifted along with their voices and the resounding applause at the end made it more magical.

And then the feedback started pouring in with positivities like, "It was very real," "I tell you ar, actually, I cried" to name a few. And oh, it was a sold out show. Thank you all for coming.

And for their commitment and perseverance, I must thank:
Frederick Lin, the composer, for his marvellous songs that has charmed each and everyone of us. My friend, future partnerships down the road!
and all my actors, Shahdon, Aishah, Dhaniah and Yi Han for making my characters come alive.
Hawk, Paul, Dr. Ken, Philip and the rest of the creative community of people who have been very very encouraging and supportive towards us. For calming my nerves too!
And of course, everyone who was part of the project.

The culmination of this half of The Next Wave is another obstacle overcomed in our wave of life. For some who are part of the June one, the wave rises onto a high. For some of us, the currents may not be as strong but be patient, and soon, there'll be more to come.

Regarding me and the Musical Theatre Society? Well, let's just say that I'm already looking forward to next year's programme!

Meantime, if any of you are interested in producing the prequel to Closer to Your Heart, please view the following poster.

Paul, if you ever read this, would you be interested?



Closer to Your Fart

Why Closer to Your Fart? It's the pet name our stage manager, Paul gave our musical.

As Shahdon had put it,

Proot!!!