Alison the Adams has asked me to do a little review on the Sing to the Dawn performance so here it goes…

Even though it was unpolished and so rough round the edges, Sing to the Dawn was a commendable effort from both schools.

Musical Reviewer, Miss Sing-apore, gives it seven stars, out of ten, for the virginal musical performance.

It was heard through the grapevine, and through my ears, that the lead actress was suffering from some malady which affected her voice. This was evident throughout the production. Nevertheless, it was agonizing seeing her trying to trudge through and drift along even if her voice was really not in the best mood to cooperate with her. Concerting was her showmanship, and even if some notes were way off, and the high notes had so blithely flown away, she portrayed the role of Dawan, little girl who won a scholarship and not allowed to go for it, with incredible poise and elegiac ease. Interesting enough, she really looked the part-burnt, scrawny, and downtrodden. Please note: this is a compliment.

But who gave Dawan a run for her money for the Miss Sing-apore Best Actress Award was none other than Bao, sister of the obnoxious Vichai (who also happens to have ironically won the Miss Sing-apore Best Actor Award). Feisty and full of life, Bao reflects the personality of Miss Sing-apore herself. Loud and outspoken (me), is encouraging (me), eggs people on (me), is generous and gives away flowers (me), is kind (me) and is extremely funny (me), it is no surprise that she won my award. I love her so much!!! She definitely must get something with me. Bao definitely had a wonderful audience following, as we sympathized with her plight and her hope, of a better future. Her rapport with those sitting below was definitely the strongest and the name “Bao” is definitely one of my favourites.

Why did Vichai win Best Actor? First, he was the loudest and most easily heard, and secondly, the rest of the actors (not actresses) put up stiff and awkward performances (you can imply that they _ _ _ _ big-time, although the demure and submissive Miss Sing-apore is not used to such strong language).

I must add though, Cheng Chai (Clitoria)  and Waikit did wonderfully, but even as their roles were so insignificant, they have both garnered recognition otherwise and have won Miss Sing-apore’s Best Actor in A Horrendously Miscast Role and left to Rot in Non-Existent Part Award. Well done indeed! God job, (considering your roles)! Underutilized these budding talents were, and certain lead role should have been given to certain other people who may not have such lofty positions in RP. PS: This feels like how the lead role person was trying to snatch the scholarship away from Dawan, but in this case, he got the role even when deemed unworthy by Miss Sing-apore…it’s just sick. Period.

Well let’s see, oh yes, the other market girls who were the sisters of the schooling boys were fantastic. They looked like…err…peasant folk! Good job, looking like …err…peasant folk! My compliments on looking like…err…peasant folk go out to you all. Your performance as…err…peasant folk was really convincing, note the costumes and props. I loved the lotus blossoms and the part where you all were releasing the birds and looking at the ceiling. I looked there and there were no birds.

The mother and grandmother also put up nice performances. Big roles with big personalities! I love the grandmother’s lines…One point though; the grandmother should have been made up to look older than the mother. Nevertheless, she drew many laughs from the audience.

Besides the people I have talked about earlier, including the entire ensemble of RGS girls, the rest are not worth mentioning about. Furthermore, the abbot was a big joke. Miss Sing-apore is way above cheap humour. Do trip on your robe and fall to your death…oh yes…someone should really touch you.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed myself, even if many negative aspects are mentioned here. The good cast members, namely all the girls and some boys, did the performance justice, while others just tried to sabotage their effort. If given a couple more months, the performance would have really scored, and a couple of people axed.

Miss Sing-apore cannot rate you people on singing as essentially you all are actors and not born to sing. But wonderful effort on the most part, except certain personalities who were a pain to tune in to. A real pain. (once again, insinuating that someone is lousy and does not deserve his part)

The music people did well and so did the ticketing and programme people and the flower sellers. They were at least good at what they were doing…

Finally, the performance gets a 7 out of 10 stars from Miss Sing-apore aka sujatabhatt herself.

Wait there, the make up people made the entire cast look like bronzed beauties. How did you all know bronzer is in this season? I thought only real divas, like yours truly, knew that.

Do tag your comments on my review…