GLASS ANATOMY – The Musical 《搭错车》

Last Friday (3 May), I attended the media preview of GLASS ANATOMY – The Musical 《搭错车》. The show is produced by local theatre company, Toy Factory and omy.sg is the official online partner:

China-born Taiwanese singer, Della Ding Dang (丁当) plays the lead role and sung many of the main songs in this musical. She is known for her singing skills and powerful vocal. I was so impressed with her singing that I went to a CD shop the next day and bought one of her CD and the OST for GLASS ANATOMY. Mind you, I have not visited a CD store for more than a year!

The storyline is adapted from a famous 1983 Taiwanese tearjerker musical film of the same name, 《搭错车》 (Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing), directed by Yu Kanping (虞戡平), starring Sun Yueh (孫越) and Linda Liu (劉瑞琪).This film was released 8 times in Taiwan and 11 times in Hong Kong and won 4 Golden Horse Awards.The theme song “Any Empty Wine Bottles For Sale” 《酒干倘卖无》 by Su Rui (苏芮) is a Chinese pop classic and is of course, featured in this musical.

I did not watch the original film, but am interested to catch it after attending the musical. It is available for viewing here:

SYNOPSIS

什么时候儿时的玩伴都离我远去？ 什么时候家乡变得如此地拥挤？

漫渡了时代的变迁，岁月的磨炼，TOY 肥料厂呈献历经十二年构思的呕心创作《搭错车》。时费三年间搜罗来自中国、台湾、香港、泰国、阿根廷以及新加坡的知名艺术达人与设计师齐聚共同打造这部旷世经典。

《搭错车》改编自1983年轰动整个亚洲的原名台湾电影。此电影在第二十届金马奖中获得了11个奖项的提名，创下金马奖提名最高记录。剧中精髓来自由罗大佑、粱宏志、吴念真、陈志远、李寿全与侯德建创作，铁嗓歌手苏芮演唱的《酒干倘卖无》、《一样的月光》、《是否》和《请跟我来》等经典歌曲，绕粱多年，深入民心。

TOY肥料厂的《搭错车》将由华语音乐排行榜新天后丁当领衔主演，以她高昂嘹亮的歌艺，征服她的舞台音乐剧处女作。

哑叔，一个从小被遗弃靠捡破烂为生的哑巴，盼望幸福有一天降临。清晨陋巷的弃婴声，改变了他单调无依的日子。弃婴阿美长大成了拥有天籁般歌喉的美丽女子，与相依为命的哑叔，过着充满乐符的天伦生活。 阿美被唱片公司送上歌唱的星光道路。她与哑叔、情人、童年的玩伴、成长的小屋与简单的生活有了一片摸不着看不到的玻璃隔膜。当她在大舞台上发光发亮时，年老的父亲已在老旧的收音机旁，渐渐睡去…

Have you ever wondered where your childhood friends have gone? When has home turned so crowded and foreign?

Through these changing times and growing years, TOY FACTORY presents, . A masterpiece that has taken 12 years to produce and 3 years to gather the best creative talents and designers across China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Argentina and Singapore.

Adapted from the Taiwan movie, “Papa, can you hear me sing?”, that took the entire Asia by storm and set the record for the highest number of nominations ever received at the 20th Golden Horse Awards. The essence of the movie is created by vocal powerhouse – Su Rei’s numerous classic hits such as The Same Moonlight. 

Uncle Ya, a mute rag-and-bone man, is always hopeful for the day that happiness will arrive. His dull and lonely life takes a turn when he hears the cries of an abandoned baby in the alley one morning. Being showered with Uncle Ya’s fatherly love, the baby blossoms into a beautiful young lady, Ah Mei. Father and daughter live a simple yet blissful life. Gifted with the voice of an angel, Ah Mei is eventually discovered by a famous record company producer and shoots to stardom swiftly. While Ah Mei lives in her dream, a glass has unknowingly formed between her and the people she loves. Her beloved father, her lover, her best childhood friend, her hometown and the simple life she used to lead are slowly slipping away. As she shines on the glamorous stage, an ailing old man sitting next to the radio that is playing his daughter’s song is slowly passing on…

How did I find the musical?

Great!

Okay, the story is very predictable and comes across very cheesy at time, but it was  based on a movie written in simpler time for simpler audiences.

In any case, I am a sucker for cheesy love stories for they provide escapism into romanticised worlds.

Storyline aside, I think the casting of Della in the lead role is very appropriate, given her similar personal background and rise to fame in real life. At just 18 years old, Della left her home in Zhejiang province, China, to seek chances to be a singer by singing with bands in different bars in Taiwan.

It was delightful to hear Della belt out one classic after another. The other performers sung well too.

If you are interested to catch GLASS ANATOMY – The Musical 《搭错车》, it will be showing at Esplanade Theatres from 3 to 12 May 2013. Tickets can be purchased online via SISTIC. Details:

EVENT DATE
3-12 May 2013
Tues – Sun, 8.00pm
Sat & Sun, 3.00pm

DURATION
Approx 1 hr 50 mins (no interval)

VENUE
Esplanade Theatre

TICKET PRICE (EXCLUDE BOOKING FEE)
Standard – S$129, S$109, S$89, S$69
VIP Box – S$129
Box B – G – S$109
Restricted View – S$129, S$109, S$89, S$69

Please add to above price $3 Booking Fee per ticket for tickets above $20 and $1 Booking Fee per ticket for tickets $20 and below. Charges include GST where applicable.