Musicals: a Singapore Perspective

Musical theater is a relatively young art form in Singapore. This website attempts to reflect the views and ordeals of both the active participants as well as the critics of the shows. I have taken the opportunity to write about my personal experiences, philosophy, successes and failures in musical theater. I have had to learn things the hard way, starting from the basics of how to write and stage musicals in Singapore. Putting a show together is a great challenge. It is a collaboration of many creative people. If all the elements are right, you have a truly memorable performance. The exhilaration of success is intoxicating and addictive. This is why I keep coming back for more. Have fun exploring this site. The views expressed belong to the respective authors, and they retain copyright to their writings.

In June 2005 we staged five original made-in-Singapore musicals in a festival of new musicals, "Five Foot Broadway 2005". It was a resounding success. Since then we have launched a further 12 more musicals, 6 in March 2006 at the Arts House, and another 6 in June 2006 at the Esplanade Recital Studio. The latter was included in the Singapore Festival of Arts fringe 2006. 

In 2007 we incubated 5 more musicals: "Five Foot Broadway 2007 ". Two of them were staged at the Esplanade Recital Studio: "Georgette" written by Ng Yi-Sheng with music by Clement Yang, and "Believe" written by Alex Wang. Musical Theatre Ltd also conducted a performance workshop called "The Heart of Musicals" in December 2007.

This February 2008, a specially written-for-television musical called School House Rockz will be broadcast on Kids Central. Music and lyrics by Kenneth Lyen, Desmond Moey, and Jack Ho. As part of the Singapore Festival of Arts 2008, Musical Theatre Ltd and the Esplanade Theatres by the Bay  is producing a festival of short musicals called Five Foot Broadway Mini Musicals. This will comprise musicals lasting 10-15 minutes, and will be staged in June 2008. For details see Five Foot Broadway Mini Musicals.

Ken Lyen
http://kenlyen.bravejournal.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_lyen
2005-2008