Beauty World is a Singaporean musical written by Michael Chiang and composed by Dick Lee in 1988. Set in the 1960s, it tells the story of a young Malaysian girl who comes from Batu Pahat to Singapore in search of her father and winds up in a sleazy night club, and learns the truth about love and life.
I first caught the original production in 1988. It had a second run in 1992 which drew full-house performances, and the show even went on a tour to 4 cities in Japan. In 1998 it was remade into a musical for the President's Star Charity. This year sees the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Beauty World, and the musical has been revamped to include new songs, new scenes and some twists to the script. This new production is directed by Ivan Heng.
I managed to catch the performance on Saturday and I must say, this new production sure lives up to Beauty World's world-wide reputation. The music was good and the actors commendable. There was even some slap-stick element added to it this time round, including "pokes" on local issues (eg foreign talent issue). A truly enjoyable performance, which I would recommend.
5 comments:
You made it!! Had wanted to attend with the children but thought the tickets for 5 was a bit too pricey.
Yes, and It was good. We booked our tickets early, and with the OCBC credit card, we managed to get a 20% discount. Still pricey even tho it was only 4 tickets for us. But it was the first time for my kids watching a local musical, which they thoroughly enjoyed.
*envy, envy*
Thanks for the review, I would have loved to catch it if I were back home ;p
Hey bp,
The U of chicago did an amateur production of Beauty World back in 2006. Keep a look out, they may decide to do it again, since its the 20th anniversary. then it would be nearer to u and u can catch it!
Hi
I enjoyed the musical a lot - and agree that it has a good cast. Of course, the stage & music/ songs did play a big role as well :)
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