DECEMBER
Diaries of Adam & Eve marks my very first attempt in production design
(set & lighting) since college. I remembered sketching the set on a A4 sized paper and never saw it again after my set builder's 5 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER mistakenly conteng it as rough paper. Now seeing the actual set on stage just overwhelms me to da max and I'm still digesting every bit of it as we prepare for the opening night on Dec 24. It was EXSTACY shopping for the set dressings with Yvette at SSF. We were like kids @ Toys R' Us! Note to self: Need to divert from realistic sets and move into something minimalistic and abstract.Saw Beauty & The Beast: A Pantomime by Wild Rice Theatre at Drama Centre, Singapore. It was the best stress-reliever for me. Had fun and felt like a kid again. The less than 24 hours trip was enough to roll my blues away. Note: Aeroline Bus Shuttle from BU is convinient and affordable way to Singapore.
Project Wayang: Wayang Fajar @ The Annexe was the final league of projects for Five Arts Centre (FAC). Joey was a blessing and a great help to me during bump-in. So nice to have a production assistant. Note to self: Don't try to be a hero and do everything solo, get an assistant!
Vocal lessons @ Young Coral Academy (YCA) definitely helped me find the inner-voice I never knew I had. It all began on a cloudy day, I felt I was lacking some skills and feeling dry about myself. It came down to learning vocals OR learning a musical instrument. After much deliberation and pooling in Facebook, I drove to YCA and enrolled myself in. So much fun and loads of abdominal pain working with Tracy Wong, just to get the techniques right. My very first classical song is by Gershwin, 'A Foggy Day'! Thank you for being so patient with me Tracy. Note to self: Practice...Practice...Practice, there are loads to be done!
NOVEMBER
High Adventure Club (HAC) Children's Camp: Love Saga @ F.G.A Sungai Buloh changed me for better and for worst. I've finally come to terms that I'm UNCLE Adrian. However, if a kid dares to push my button for the 2nd time, I will chew the kid apart like a hungry hyena. Boy, I have much higher respect for children teachers. YVELYN, you go gal! Note to self: Never ever let a kid walk all over you no matter how much tears are shed or how much threatening sounds IT makes! Grrr...:p
Conference Of The Birds: An Electronic Opera was staged in the
DELICIOUS island of PENANG and I was summoned up north by FAC to provide production assistance. Talk about being a big boy: Drove up north solo, stayed by myself for a week @ Nerell's nostalgic boutique hotel, managed a production on unfamiliar territory and living away from home for 2 weeks. I'm still amazed how it worked out smoothly till the end. Of course, mom was worried sick, kept on calling for updates daily. Was operating the lights as well, manually, nerve-wrecking but fun. Also, I must give a loud shout-out to the BIRDS, the beloved performers of the opera. It was such a pleasure and a pleasant journey working with these jovial and down-to-earth characters. To do: Next stop, down south, SINGAPORE ISLAND!Five Arts Centre 25th Anniversary Bash on Nov 14 was truly a
spectacular event! production! I mean event! no production! Oh whatever... It took us weeks to put the...the 'thing' together and it was gone in less than a day. That's the down-side of managing events, before you know it, it's all over. I'm definitely sticking to production management. Thank you Kung Yu for showing me how to throw a party with an attitude! Ahahaha :p One thing I learn: Wanna do, then do it with a BANG! After all, it is our company's 25th Anniversary. The rain did play a part as well.OCTOBER
I Have A Date With Spring: The Musical by Dama Orchestra was
a HIT and also a change of scene for me to work on another musical. It gave me opportunity to experience technical theatre on a different level. Being a backstage crew has turned me into a NIGHT-CRAWLER (wolf howls)! I see and work better in the dark, haha! Joke aside, more importantly, being a stage crew for a musical offered me another chance to improve my brain and brawn capability to be an effective and efficient theatre practitioner (although Melissa still do not trust me with heavy stuff, haih). Note to self: (In Aunty Joyce's voice) You must love your set! Like FAC and TV3, I turned 25 this year and whoa, it's thought provoking to be a QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD. Still making necessary adjustments and far from settling down as to who Adrian Teh Eu-Weng is. My prayer: Continue to shape me into Your likeness my Lord. Amen
SEPTEMBER
Officially became part of the employment pool with EPF registered and running. Wah, actual salary is lesser. Must freelance more. My prayer: Jehovah Jireh, my provider! To do: need to properly sit down and learn all bout TAX now! ADELINE CHEW...HELP!
AUGUST
Zan Yamashita from Kyoto, Japan did a residency program with FAC and it was a pleasure to assist Fahmi in overseeing his stay in M'sia for a month. Unfortunately the first week for Zan wasn't smooth sailing as he was burned by spicy M'sian food and bitten by bed ticks. Showing him around did put my International PR skills (which was non-existent) to the test. Thankfully, I had a back-up plan, improvise along da way, haha :p
The Krishen Jit Astro Fund 2009 was like a bundle of joy for me and Marion. We were both working closely together close to 2 months sending out and compiling applications in preparation for the paneling in October. Had to keep close tabs on mails and emails daily to ensure no one is left out. Boy, when the 'text-book' was collected from the printers, we sat back and smiled at the bundle of joy :p
JULY
I did a checklist of some of my resolutions for 2009 and realized I was neglecting my health for the first half of the year. Made a drastic decision to pump myself with health supplements beginning July 1st onwards and bought hundreds worth of Shaklee health supplements from a friend. Cut story short, the swallowing of gigantic pills was tremendously torturous (Marion & Mark Teh are my witnesses) and I lasted for 3 months only. Ever since that, the products have been starring at me from the shelves. But to be frank, I did feel a boost of stamina and no sickness within that 3 months duration.
HAC visited Pastor Samuel Phun's church in Singapore to observe how they conduct their children service on a regular Saturday. I'm fortunate to have that opportunity as I have no training in dealing with massive number of children at a go. The team really had a spirit of excellence and order when running the activity and better yet, managed to pick up some strategies and formulas that will maintain the children attention towards you and only you. Note to self: Never ever take a train-ride down to Singapore!
JUNE
Cuckoo Birds @ The Annexe, was a collaboration between FAC and Singapore's Cake Theatrical Productions. It was my very first production management after graduation. The production kicked-off with workshops and rehearsals in April. No mentor, no lecturer, just you against the rest of the world! Ok ok, not that dramatic but as I roamed aimlessly along the busy streets of K.L hunting for production stuff, it suddenly struck me that I was indeed on my own from then on, no more an assistant, therefore I had to BUCK-UP and take charge like a MAN!
MAY
Prince Siddhartha: The Musical by Musical On Stage became ginormous when we bumped-into Istana Budaya. As an assistant, I learned a lot from Mel by observing and watching how she plan and handles things at a larger scale. Tech-week was nerve-wrecking as my sensory awareness to up down left right and everything around me was inactive, every corner literally spelled D.A.N.G.E.R. If I had to name 3 things that never left my mind since the production ended, it would be vegetarian, sweeping the stage, colourful belly dancers, dry ice, prison wall, kok boon, charging walky-talky, anime devil daughters, intercom... Wow, the show is still fresh in my memory!
Gostan Forward: A Lecture-Demo by Marion D'Cruz gave me the opportunity to know my boss' history, story and better yet, get a glimpse of her performing. The show toured various colleges and local universities in KL as well as Penang. It was indeed an experience as the show go mobile although I have been loathing that heavy TV set which sat in my car wherever the show goes!
APRIL
Watched CATS at The Esplanade Theatre, Singapore. Was lost and clueless in Act 1 but then awed by the genius and exposition in Act 2!
Into The Wilderness was an original musical I wrote, inspired by God. For the first time in a very long time, we had a cast ranging from children, youths and adults all sharing the same stage. It was a race against time to direct non-performers in a duration of a less than 2 months (once or twice a week). The show was performed during Easter Sunday and also at the home for the elderly in Sungai Buloh Village. It was a blessing in return to see the children bring smiles to the elderly at the care centre.
JANUARY - MARCH
Began attending rehearsals for Prince Siddhartha: The Musical in March. It was challenging to take notes during rehearsals as mandarin isn't my forte but thankfully, the cast members were willing to translate whenever my face turn blank :p
Went to Krabi with mom and dad during Chinese New Year holidays and that was the last time we ever bonded for 2009 -_-"
Started my stint with FAC on Jan 15 and worked closely with Ummi in revamping the space to a cleaner and organized working environment.
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