Stage Review: P. Ramlee The Musical

The day the sale of P. Ramlee - The musical (PRTM) tickets started, I very quickly bought 2 prime-view seats for RM 120 each. With the return of the amazing PGLM production team and the addition of mega-big theatre names, PRTM was a show I simply couldn't miss. But miss it I did, when my meeting was extended, and I couldn't come back in time to catch it. Gy went with Keong instead (as part of his peng-kultur-an process). Ha.

But Gy, bless her funny bunny, managed to get me a 180-ringgit ticket for the last-minute additional show - the matinee on 3rd November! Yata!!!

I was at Istana Budaya (IB) with 20 minutes to spare. I rushed to the box-office, being the fifth in line. There were three IB staff manning the counter, but only one was issuing tickets. The pakcik on the left had a concerned look, as he toyed with his mouse. The budak on the left couldn't seem to sit still, as he moved from his seat to the printer, to the pakcik, back to his chair. Only the anneh in the middle printed tickets. Yet it took 4 minutes, on average, to serve each person. 4 blardy minutes! In this time of technology and teh tarik in space!

The lady behind me grumbled audibly, "Takkan nak cetak tiket ambil begitu lama? Biasa-lah, ini Malaysia kan?!" What was frustrating was that those IB idiots behind the counter didn't even attempt to look as if they were in a hurry. The lackadaisical, almost retarded, pace resumed. Then one IB lady popped up from behind the counter - with a brainwave! "Semua yang sudah bayar datang sini!" she gestured to the left end of the counter. A split second later, all ranks broke (Malaysians wat, what do you expect?) and the crowd pushed towards the counter. 5 minutes to 3.00 pm, mind you. The IB genius walked out to the box-office foyer and shouted again "Sudah bayar datang sini!". Ok, was it sini counter, or sini foyer? Confused looks all around. I couldn't care less, pushed my way to the front, and firmly said,"I've paid for my ticket, and I have seat number. Can I go up now?" Immediately I got some attention; another IB lady signed my print-out and told me I was good to go. I worked my way out of the (by then) bloodthirsty crowd, and proceeded into the theatre. IB, IB... tsk tsk: Inikah Budaya?

PRTM began.

An amazing show, by any standards. Focusing on the loves of P. Ramlee, Azizah, Junaidah, Norizan and Saloma, is a pretty interesting angle. It sure makes for a good musical premise. The musical traces the great star's 'humble' beginnings in Penang, his meteoric rise to fame in Singapore, his many wives, to his final days.

The music by Dick Lee this time does not really stand out. He seems to be recycling formulaic chord progressions and movements. This usually works, provided the melody line is memorable... For me, Mulanya Cinta shows him at his best - predictable yet original (does this make sense?). As for the rest, the arrow appears to have missed the bulls-eye, by quite a distance.

The lyrics suffer from a are-they-good?-I-don't-really-
know-because-I-cannot-hear-what-everyone's-singing malady.
Could be. But I cannot tell... Sorry, Adlin Aman Ramlie.

Which brings me to another point, diction and enunciation were rather poor - considering that the songs are mostly in BM, which should have been much clearer. The chorus tended to miss their first-syllable entry and mess up the clarity by not enunciating. They should have roped in Mervyn Peters to work his (sorely needed) magic here!

To see Sean Ghazi perform is really fun. Energetic and confident with two happy feet, it's a joy to see a well-rounded performer on stage. He has studied P. Ramlee well, doing justice to his numbers.

Melissa Saila as Norizan earns kudos from me simply because of her magnetic stage presence (though not her singing). She plays the arrogant, spoilt blue-blooded wife to a hilt.

Liza Hanim is perfectly cast as Saloma - gorgeous voice and such great chemistry with Sean Ghazi. To me, the play really started on a roll once Liza Hanim appeared. If I were not so kedekut, I'd have thrown her roses in addition to my standing ovation.

Chedd Yusof clearly relished his role as Sukardi.

Joseph Gonzales as BS Rajhans did not caricaturize his character enough, methinks. He was only slightly Indian, and this made many jokes flat. If BS Rajhans is meant to be the comic relief, he can afford to be a bit over in his Indian portrayal. As Shaw, Douglas Lim is Douglas Lim is Douglas Lim. As the other Shaw, Colin Kirton dropped his Cina accent for a brief moment, but only very brief. The song A Dollar For A Dollar does not do justice to both their voices, unfortunately.

Raja Malik - breathtaking sets. He is way too good for a local production! The train (as everyone had talked about) was a stroke of genius! But for improvements, perhaps he should look into sets that could be changed faster between scenes, as sometimes the set changes were a bit cumbersome. But that's just a very very minor complaint - bravo!

Infinatez as the paparazzi. Unnecessary.

While Mac Chan ran five steps ahead with his ingenious lighting for PGLM, Teo Kuang Han backtracked seven steps in PRTM. Flat, dull, unimaginative - Teo clearly let the production down with his banal lighting design. Pity.

Costumes were delightful, as befits a lavish production as this.

Choreography was not as lively or engaging as expected. Pat Ibrahim shone in PGLM, but here he's merely ok. But that's already a very good ok, considering the standards this musical is setting.

Directors Adlin Aman Ramlie and Zahim Albakri, congratulations on yet another astounding musical. For a 3-hour sitting, I humbly feel that a snip or two of the scissors may help a bit in tightening the flow. There were moments where one's concentration could easily stray.

On the whole, it was a darn good production. Not better than PGLM, but definitely one that pushes the boundaries of local theatre a lot further. The Tony has to go to Tiara Jacquelina for her (almost) golden touch, creating wonder after wonder on the Malaysian stage. A female Cameron Mackintosh - who has an innate ability to draw the creme de la creme together (except the ill-advised lighting designer). Congratulations, all.