Write-Ups

KLue magazine, July 2008

Tiltedworld.org

This is not a review, it's a heads up. My Friday night was spent in Indicine, KLPac, watching the musical workshop performance for The Edge, an upcoming musical written by Nick Choo, directed by Chris Ling.

There are no clear heroes or villains in this musical, which I liked. Just a group of interconnected people, flaws gaping wide, making mistakes and cooking up the pressure that leads to a man standing on the edge, willing to let it all go.

Watching it in Indicine was kinda cool especially with the monologues, when each character sang while a spotlight cast a long, dark shadow across the room. Almost like being left to deal with your darker side which has been made visible.

This being a workshop to get feedback, the musical is not complete yet, but the large, shiny potential is there. The cast/crew is doing a good job so far, and I've seen enough to be so very hopeful on how this will turn out. The voices - holy hell, I teared at some of the scenes (as discreetly as I could, anyway).

Sometimes the characters border upon caricaturing themselves - for those familiar with Avenue Q... you'll probably find some similarities between Rod (the repressed gay man) and one of the characters in The Edge (though he does get more human later). Or perhaps there is a stereotype for portraying bitchy gay men that everyone understands: one of our more modern archetypes...

To me, the one person who seemed the most complex was the one who never appeared in it. The musical effectively paints a murky picture of the enigmatic man. Six people from around him start to narrate how their relationships worked, and I can see so many things about him, but more I didn't understand. Did he really have nowhere else to go?

I have more questions, but none I want to state here (and give away the plot). I'm mentioning The Edge here because for those seeking theatre with queer characters, this is one of them... There is a gay character coming out in a Malaysian musical...

The Edge Workshop performances, July 2008 The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, Malaysia Directed by Christopher Ling Six people’s lives are turned upside-down when someone near and dear to them decides to take the plunge… off the ledge of a building. Suddenly the mother, brother, girlfriend and three close friends are forced to reexamine their individual histories with the boy. In the process, they learn things both startling and redeeming about themselves and one another – about family and friends, love and betrayal. The Edge is a musical that explores the complex relationships between these persons and a young man moved to the point of despair. With musicalised monologues, dialogues and scenes, the show is almost entirely sung-through by a cast of six. Workshop performances ran in Kuala Lumpur from July 24-27, 2008. Book, music & lyrics by Nick Choo. SONGS (as of the workshop performances): 01 Intro/The Greatest Measure 02 Never Always On Your Side 03 Half Been This Content 04 Vexed and Unprepared 05 Soul Searching 06 Wouldn’t Think Twice To Intercede 07 A Mother’s Worst Nightmare 08 Different Places, Different Faces 09 Proximity 10 Pushed to the Sidelines 11 The Edge 12 A Matter of Time 13 Sense of Direction 14 Every Single Open Door 15 Back To What We Were 16 Many Factors Here At Play 17 No Reprieve 18 Finale: The Greatest Measure/The Edge (Reprises) To view the E-Phonic MP3 Player you will need to have Javascript turned on and have Flash Player 9 or better installed. VIDEOS   Promo and demo of the title song, for the workshop production. Vocal by US artiste Kyle Lemaire.     Many Factors Here At Play, from the workshop production. Featuring Zalina Lee.

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