Prancing and “dancing”, though hardly entrancing!

Nick's note: Kicking off the new week of rehearsals (week four! Can it be??) - integration among the cast members has commenced, with each group starting to come together to interact with one another. First off, on Saturday we had the very first choreography workshop, led by the lovely Judimar Hernandez. I won't be going too much into the details of the workshop as I, the musical director, wasn't there, arf. Instead, here's a post by the man in charge, our director Colin Kirton, who puts his fingers to keyboard to come up with some post-choreo contemplation. Take it away, Mr Kirton!

~ ~ ~

Last Saturday saw the whole company (save one!) coming together for the first time since we first met. It was their first session with our choreographer Judi, and rather than working on the choreography for one of the songs, Judi used the time to run a workshop with the cast.

The main aim of the session was for Judi (and me!) to get a feel for the physicality and mobility of each of the cast members – how they move, how coordinated they are, how they use their space, how they express themselves physically, etc. While all our performers are strong in the vocal zone, not all are necessarily adept at dance, and it was quite apparent that we had a wide range of abilities – from the super-skilled to the utter novice, and from the quick-to-learn to the “how-did-that-go-again?”

The challenge will be for Judy to draw out a greater capacity for physical expression and coordination from the team whilst accommodating the fact that there will be limits to what each is able to deliver, and to work realistically within those constraints. The other challenge is to build strong ensemble, so that each works towards the whole, rather than “to each, their own”. It’s going to be an interesting challenge, but I believe we’ll get there.

That’s the beauty of the creative process – seeing a lump of clay slowly shaped into a beautiful vase.

- Colin Kirton

Judi leads the cast through the movement session. And below: moving pictures!
(Plus a very quick music sneak-peek!

I Can See Your Halo

Don't worry, none of the innkeepers were badly hurt. Bwaa haaa haaa. Get it? Get it?? Oh, never mind. Don't worry, there's no violence in FTL. But there is a lot of humour. Some of it downright hilarious, if we may say so; some of it (hopefully) clever; some of it deliberately lame (remember the "angels slash innkeepers" reference sometime back??).

Hey, one thing you'll discover is that we're not taking ourselves too seriously. Heck, we're downright self-deprecating at points. But we promise, FTL is a very punny show, and if there's one thing we're certain of, it's that you'll be doubling over... hopefully laughing. And if you're laughing, preferably during the moments when it's meant to be funny. :P

More updates soon, boys and girls!

Drama Mamas!

Let me tell you, folks, FTL might be about the Christmas story, but it's more than that! We've got a young couple about to have an unplanned baby. We've got Shepherd siblings who are at each other's throats. We have Wise Men who... well. More on that later. It's really about relationships, at the very heart of the story: between young parents, between brothers and sisters, between best friends, and between humankind and bigger forces out there. And it's about, without intending to sound too didactic about it, purpose; significance. So the show has a lot of humour, and it has poignancy, and it also has (dum-dum-dumm!!!) conflict. Oooo.

I think the cast will be the first to tell you that FTL is a drama fest. Forget your Korean soap operas! Forget your Bolds and Beautifuls, Days of Our Lives, Youngs and Restlesses! Seeking a dose of emo? We'll provide it! Don't believe me? Check out these rehearsal clips - first off, audio with the Shepherds, between the maligned Shepherd boy and his gruff sisters:

Rydee Anna Abdul (left) as Zemira; Adrien Ritzal as Marvin

Zalina Lee as Bathsheba

Next, check out this video of Mary and Joe, the young mommy- and daddy-to-be, having their domestic squabbles! (The black blob on the left is yours truly at the piano.) I tell you, one minute you'll be laughing, the next, you'll be sobbing into your daiquiris and frozen margaritas! Enjoy! (Incidentally, the very last line in the Joe and Mary video demonstrates a point in my previous post: that sometimes, words might need to be tweaked. We'll see if we tweak it. Heh!)

Blast From The Past #1: An Inn Not-A-Keeper

Hey everyone! Week three of rehearsals has commenced, and I'll be blogging on our singing sessions shortly. But for now, I would like to feature a "blast from the past": an excerpt from FTL when it was first staged as a university-level production almost five years ago. The point of this is to provide some account of the trajectory of the FTL score and libretto, and to demonstrate how the words, music and script for a musical can change over time — in the case of FTL, how it has changed, and indeed how it has had to change, over time!

As I mentioned in my welcome note, FTL has gone through some massive rewrites since the 2005 production, thanks to collaborations with our director, Colin. These rewrites include script and lyric edits aplenty; tweaks and fixes of existing melodies; more fully developed characters and more clearly defined motivations; restructuring of songs, including creating greater variety in musical styles; and, in certain cases, the throwing-out of entire songs and the writing of completely new music! The changes to the script and lyrics are something that's ongoing, which I think every production-in-the-making should undergo and every production team that has the time and opportunity should do, especially when it comes to original works. Even right now, we're tweaking words that don't quite make sense, or rhymes that sound a bit too forced, or moments in the script that are a touch too kooky even for our version of the Christmas story!

I think as a composer/writer it's easy to be possessive over one's creations and to not want to change what you've originally written, but I've come to learn that it's when you're able to allow others to criticise and make constructive suggestions, as tricky as it can be to digest, that you're able to watch your work grow and (theoretically) get better over time. So the end result, come December, is what you guys and girls are going to witness after months, years of editing and tightening, writing and rewriting, composing and decomposing! Whoohoo!

In the meantime, here's the scene from the 2005 production of FTL which was staged in Australia. Colin likes to pretend this version doesn't exist (LOL!), and rest assured our upcoming version is an entirely different animal altogether (with better production values!) from what I presented as a wet-behind-the-ears university student. This song, which is the famous "no room at the inn" scene from the Christmas story, has been removed almost entirely from FTL 2010, predominantly because it was felt that the melody wasn't particularly interesting, memorable or original enough for such a significant part of the story. Ouch! Painful but true! ;) It has since been replaced with what we believe is a much stronger melody, and the pièce de résistance is in how we've recontextualised the scene, subverting the...

Oh you know what? You're going to have to wait till this year-end and come and see the show to find out!!! But here's the original scene - check it out now, for you won't be seeing or hearing (most of) it again! ;))

And here they are, folks .... ta-DAAAH!!

I think Nick's maybe been feeling a bit like a new mom having to take care of the baby, and that it's about time Dad got involved. :p

So here's my first post ... :)

We've had more twists and turns in casting this show than there have been in the story of recent Malaysian politics. We'll spare you the gory details. Let's just say it was quite an ordeal. 'Nuff said. :)

Anyway, after months of "here-we-go-round-the-mulberry-bush" (right up until just last week), I'm proud to announce the ensemble cast of FOLLOW THE LIGHT.... *drumroll*

Here they are (in alphabetical order):

AARON KHALED - Joe
ADRIEN RITZAL - Marvin
ANRIE TOO - Angel
JUWITA SUWITO - Mary
LIANG - Bart
NICOLE ANN THOMAS - Angel / Innkeeper
RYDEE ANNA ABDUL - Zemira
SONG-FAN SEAH - Angel
SUZAN MANEN - Angel
TIM HOWE - Gabe
TONY LEO SELVARAJ - Gasper
XAVIER FONG - Mel / Innkeeper
ZALINA LEE - Bathsheba

Bathsheba, Zemira and Marvin are shepherds, and Bart, Gasper and Mel are "wise men" (well, sort of!), in case you were wondering.

Nick and I are really excited about this motley bunch of performers, which comprises a funky mix of great singers who are new to musical theatre, stalwarts from the musical theatre scene, TV actors, and total newbies with lots of talent!

Nick and I are co-producing the show under our new companies Nick Knack Productions and Kirton Call Productions respectively. I'm directing, Nick's the musical director and choreography is courtesy of the lovely and talented JUDIMAR HERNANDEZ.

Can't wait to see what we all collectively cook up to serve you from 2-19 December 2010 at PJ Live Arts @ Jaya One!

- Colin Kirton

Wise Potato Chips Are Rather Tasty

Here are the guys who are playing the Three Wise Men in our zany version of the Christmas story. The big Q is, are these guys posing for the camera as themselves... or are they in character?? Terrifying question, isn't it??

Stay tuned!

Mary, Joe, and that Fella from the Sky

Welcome back! Just for the record, the key players in our musical are the Angel Gabe + Mary and Joe, the young couple who are unexpectedly about to have a baby; the Shepherds, who are watching their flocks by night and are dying for something to bring them out of the drudgery of herding sheep; the Wise Men, three best friends who have lived a difficult life and who are seeking the fame, fortune and glory that they believe they finally deserve; and the Angels, who help to connect these ragtag characters together. Yay!

So last night we had our first singing rehearsal with Gabe + Mary + Joe. It went really well! First off there was a song involving all three characters. Just as with the Shepherds the night before, there was some work to be done as the song involves some intricate overlapping of voices, as well as a pretty wide range that had to be covered by all three performers. We ended up having to lower the overall key a notch, if only to allow our Joe to hit the high notes in this little moment of song. Here's a rehearsal clip of Joe, with Gabe performing the background melody, in a lower key from what I had originally written (sneak preview alert!!!):



It's always a thrill when you put performers together and hear them attempt a song in their own voices, putting their own touches to it. Certainly this was the case when Mary and Joe tried out one of their duets from the show. As a special bonus, here's another sneak preview, this time a snippet of their first rehearsal session together performing a love song. (That white blob on the left is yours truly at the piano. Arf.) Enjoy!!

Singing with the Shepherds

Hey everyone! Welcome back to a brand new week of FTL rehearsals! First off, on Monday we had the first rehearsal session with the Shepherds, who, in our version of the Christmas story, are two big sisters and one younger brother. Since one of the Shepherd sisters was cast after our first get-together, last night was the first time the sheep-herding siblings got together as a trio. Considering it was their inaugural meeting, they bonded very well, and we're optimistic this immediate chemistry will translate well onto the stage (albeit with a little less zaniness, I pray!! LOL!!) Good times!

The Shepherds were pretty much thrown into the deep end last night because the songs that they had to learn was among the most difficult rhythmically, as it involves six different performers singing simultaneously, overlapping one another. This was also a song that the Wise Men did just last week (they're the other three, arf). The plan is basically to rehearse it in the two separate groups, introduce a third group who are involved in the song (but aren't involved, thankfully, in the overlapping-voices section), and then put them all together at a later stage to see how they gel.

Already I can see how it's going to be quite a challenge - the Wise Men have pretty much tenor voices, capable of hitting the higher notes; the Shepherd sisters are in the alto range, meaning they sing in the lower register. Now, this would be fine if the songs comprised four-part harmony (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). But what happens when the same performers of differing vocal ranges have to sing separate, distinct melodies in one song? The answer? Transpositional chaos. ("Oi, don't be so technical laaaaah," I hear some people snapping already, though it would be funny to hear you say it if you weren't, like, Asian.) Well, basically this means adjusting the keys of the songs so that it fits the vocal ranges of the performers. In such a case as above, where performers of different ranges have to sing together, the trick is to find a compromise that works for everyone. It's not always easy, but where there's a will, there's a... oh, you know the end of that cliche. I can't wait to put everyone together and see how it works out.

Incidentally, I'm not sure that the method we're working with - i.e. trying to change the songs to suit the ranges of the singers - is really the most orthodox way. Certainly, I can't imagine this being the approach bigger used in musicals, especially those the likes of the West End and Great White Way. In those cases, the songs are fixed in a certain key, for a certain voice type, i.e. "This particular song needs someone with a sweet, innocent soprano. This particular song needs a deeper, earthier female voice." The songs don't change; the performers have to fit what's written.

In our case, however, this approach I'm using is due to a couple of reasons: first off, that I tend to write my music in a vocal range more suitable for me to sing, which makes for easier demo recordings. But maybe every composer does that and then transposes the music to fit the characteristics of the character, so perhaps that's cool. More pertinent, however, is the rather dampening truth that the talent pool in the performing arts industry here is sizable but not vast. So it's difficult, say, to write a song that requires a deep bass voice and then go out and find people who fit the bill.

Similarly, it was hard to write for specific vocal type in FTL when the majority of female performers we approached and auditioned were altos; the majority of male performers were tenors. And when the choices are few, we go with what we have. I think it's a shame when songs are performed on stage which could have been fantastic, except they were out of the performer's range. And this, sadly, has happened in certain productions here in Malaysia, so we're aiming to avoid that. Thus we make do with that we have. Thankfully, what we have are top-notch, despite, and thanks to, their vocal ranges. So, we'll make it work. ;)

Sometimes this process involves transitions that I, as the composer, hadn't planned for. Take, for instance, this moment from our rehearsal yesterday with the Shepherd boy. While rehearsing with our performer, I realised it made more sense to lower the key of the chorus to allow him to effectively cover the wide range of the song. So it was done, and while it might sound strange to those who are closely familiar with the melody (all two of you), we ended the rehearsal convinced this would be the right way to go. For those who are still with me, check out this clip - the first eight seconds are an abridged section of a demo performed by yours truly. The next few seconds are with our Shepherd boy. See if you can hear the revised modulation into the chorus ("God above" etc):

The Lost Sheep Experiment

Up next: Joe and Mary meet... and hit it off!

Mary Rose Sat On A Pin. Mary Rose. ... Plus, FTL on TNG

Hey all! Quick update: on Thursday, I had my first one-on-one rehearsal with the wonderful performer who'll be playing Mary. We tackled one of the more rhythmically challenging pieces in the show, and it should come as no surprise that she handled it with style and more than a little finesse! I won't give anything away too soon - note, in fact, how I'm not even mentioning names yet, until the official cast list is released! - so you'll have to keep checking in in future for sneak peeks! (True, I did mention several names in the posts below, and there are pics of the first get-together - but hey, give a guy a little credit for trying to build some suspense, will ya? LOL!)

Here's a teaser!

On a totally different note, here's the link to an article featured on the online news portal The Nut Graph, for which I was previously writer and copy editor, that mentions FTL, and the work we've been doing - coupled with the issues we've faced - to produce it in Malaysia. Hope you enjoy. And hey, the notice-board thingy in the sidebar on the right works... why don't you drop us a message sometime?? :D Cheers, Nick

Musicals 101: When is it religious?

Tuesday with Tim & Wednesday with the Wise Men!

We're into the first week of rehearsals with the FTL cast, and so far it's been an interesting and exciting process (note the words "so far", LOL!!). On Tuesday I worked with Tim, who's playing the Angel Gabriel a.k.a Gabe. Early Wednesday morning (at 1030am, which, trust me, is early for a singing rehearsal, croaky voices galore!!) I worked with Liang, Tony and Xavier, who are playing the Wise Men. (A full cast list will be announced shortly; watch this space!)

The latter session was a lot of fun as the three guys are already bringing their own distinct personalities to their characters even though we haven't yet got round to working on characterisation proper. And when you eventually see the way the Wise Men are envisioned in our wacky version of the Christmas story, you'll understand why we did as much laughing as we did learning and rehearsing. Wait, I shouldn't say that - that sounds unprofessional and unfocused. We did more laughing as we did learning and rehearsing. Much better.

This early stage of rehearsals involves the use of music scores, for those who read notation, to teach individual lines of melody to the respective players, while simultaneously allowing them to improvise and come up with their own harmonies and variations on the tunes. It's quite an organic process in that sense, which, as I've mentioned in my welcome note below, I think is great. What I'm already finding interesting is, from the viewpoint of a composer, it's easy to believe that something you've written is easy to sing just because you, the writer, are able to sing it. And then, when you teach it to others, you realise, "Ooo, it's not necessarily straightforward, is it??" By no means is it a reflection on the calibre of the singers (we've got an awesome selection of talented folks, believe you me!); rather, it's a case of remembering that what's familiar, and therefore "easy", to you is often foreign, and therefore challenging, to someone else.

But therein lies the fun, i.e. in helping someone learn how it's all supposed to sound. And if you're lucky, in the process, you get questioned on - which hopefully leads to an understanding of - your own creations, leading you to take a closer critical look at your work. Take, for instance, this little moment during rehearsal with Tim on Tuesday. (Tim, please forgive me for putting this up!) Note how the video clip reveals a sneak-peek of music, untidily played by yours truly on the keyboard. (It'll sound better during the show, boys and girls. I can almost promise you that.) Note Tim's rather impressive first-attempt at a protracted falsetto (we sure are aiming to reach beyond vocal "safe zones"!). Note, also, how I conveniently cut off the video clip at a critical juncture:

In case you didn't hear it, my last words in the clip were "Oh boy." Heh!!

Anyway, this is how it's like at this point, folks. From now until early October, the focus will be on learning the melodies and securing the harmonies, and making sure everyone knows what they're supposed to be doing singing-wise. October onwards will see the introduction of choreography (during which point, hopefully, our choreographer will write something on this blog on the process!), and the latter part of rehearsals as we approach the more critical November stage will involve acting, characterisation and blocking (ditto the director!). While all this is happening I'll be working with the band to get all the live music nailed. The plan now is for seven-piece rock band; details to be finalised shortly. How exciting, no??

Okay, that's it for now, boys and girls. Check back again soon on more updates, y'hear?? And in case any cast members are wondering if videos of them are going to be put up on this blog, let me assure you... I can't promise that won't happen. *straight face*

Hehehehe. Till next time! ~Nick

First Meet-Up, 2 Sept 2010

Last Thursday, 2 Sept 2010, we had our very first get-together of the FTL cast (as of that point in time). Yup, after months (years!) of uncertainty, drama, hubble, bubble, toil and trouble, we managed to get everybody together for a meet-and-greet, complete with rather awkward ice-breakers (there's an oxymoron for ya! An awkward ice-breaker!) courtesy of Colin, who had brought along a pack of getting-to-know-you cards that asked questions that ranged from the mundane to the personal. Stuff like, "What were your favourite subjects in school?" and "Share your most embarrassing moment" and "Describe something that you strongly believe about love". Oy.

But it was all good fun, and then we had our first sing-through of one of the company numbers from the show, They'll Call it Christmastime. I realised through that session that as musical director for the show (not to mention composer!), I probably need a clearer game plan as to how to approach these company numbers, heh! Never mind, it's all part of the learning curve, and I think for the most part it went really, really well; nothing a little more preparation can't fix. And I love the collaborative aspect of the show where everyone is open to experimenting and contributing ideas. For instance, the cast can improvise while singing the melody, and we'll see if it works - if it does, fantastic; if not, that's cool, at least we gave it a shot! So yea, that shall be the approach, though I do realise it's also important for me to know what we're aiming for with each song, so that we're not all just winging it and flapping away with nothing to tether us to the ground. Hmm, that's a rather murky metaphor.

Anyhoo, here are some pics of the first get-together that Thursday. We'll be releasing a finalised cast list soon as there's still one remaining character we need to nail down; otherwise, the people featured in these pics (who, apart from our esteemed director, are deliberately unnamed, though those who know who they are will clearly, like, know who they are) are the lovely folks whose talent you're going to get to get to see onstage this December! (Unless, y'know, you're not in the country or somethin'. But that's besides the point. Heh.) Click on the pics for enlarged and slightly sharper views. Till next time... enjoy!!

Gettin' to know you

Colin delivers his welcome speech

Everyone looking slightly apprehensive as they scrutinise the ice-breaker cards


He hides. Yes, he does


Another glimpse of the team

Welcome Note!

Hey, everyone! Welcome to the Follow The Light blog, keeping you up to speed with developments and updates on my Christmas musical titled... um... Follow The Light. It shall subsequently be known as FTL, as much as I realise that FTL is also an acronym for a scientific term related to the space-time continuum (fans of Stargate Universe shall understand!), as well as a rather crude declaration of disgruntlement, in addition to various other urban definitions. However, we're accustomed to calling it as such, so FTL it shall remain!

This blog is an offshoot of my personal journal Madcap Memoirs of a Maniacal Musicmaker (warning: contains stories, jokes, gripes and moans relevant and irrelevant with FTL), but I just thought it would be cool to create a separate blog for the show.

Just a bit of background: FTL (the musical) is written by yours truly, Nick Choo, and was first presented as a university-level production at Nexus Theatre in Perth, Western Australia, in late November 2005. It's a contemporary, modernized version of the Christmas story (Mary, Joe, Angel Gabe, Wise Men, Shepherds, baby in the manger, the whole motley crew!), told through 20-something songs that range from pop and rock to jazz and emotive Broadway ballad. The show is almost 100% sung through, and therefore it's quite a vocally demanding piece, requiring performers of high calibre.

Having staged it in Australia, I returned to Malaysia in 2006 and approached Colin Kirton to see if he would be interested in directing and producing it. He was, and we've been working since then to update, tighten and improve the songs and script. We felt that we were ready to stage the show in 2009, but due to some constraints, decided to postpone it to this year instead. And now it's September 2010, and we've finally, FINALLY finalised our casting after a protracted period of uncertainty, and we're pretty much ready to do this, all systems go!!

You can read more on my thoughts on the journey it has taken to reach this stage by checking out this blog post on Maniacal Musicmaker. Please note that all opinions are strictly my own and were written in context of the developments and related emotions I was feeling at the time (nice disclaimer there, eh? Arf!). There are also various other FTL-related posts on that blog, including many related to the 2005 production, which Colin strictly denies any affiliation with (and rightly so: that, really, was a workshop production done with practically zero budget, the limited vision of budding theatre directors learning the ropes, and novice-level performers); the show in its current incarnation is a totally different animal altogether.

But I hope, all in all, that this blog, coupled with Maniacal Musicmaker, will create a fascinating record of the journey of this zany Christmas production... if for no other reason than for memory's sake. We'll try to keep this blog as positive as possible so that it also serves as a publicity tool of sorts, but I'd rather be open and transparent, as much as possible, on how things are going. After all, staging a production is always a bumpy ride filled with mountainous ups and valley-like downs, and I don't think enough has been recorded of these highs and lows to inform the non-theatre practitioner on the challenges of mounting a full-fledged stage production. So hopefully this blog will do some service in that department also. We'll see.

Okay, guys and girls, I'll be back soon with more updates and will release information on an as-and-when basis. Till then.... bookmark this blog and check back in soon!! Cheers!!