本地华语音乐剧《雨季》阔别14年，今年8月将再度上演。这次的主角和导演都是全新阵容，但编剧仍是梁文福，大部分歌曲也保留了梁文福和叶良俊的创作。

TOY肥料厂（Toy Factory）为庆祝成立20周年，8月将再次上演本地第一部原创华语音乐剧《雨季》，并邀来陈洁仪担任女主角。

上周五的记者会，TOY肥料厂艺术总监，也是这次《雨季》导演吴文德，形容和陈洁仪的关系是“a long courtship”，因为他这些年来多次邀请陈洁仪演出舞台剧，对方的时间却一直无法配合。

终于有机会合作，陈洁仪开心地跟吴文德说：“Let’s have a hot date!”

这次的演出对陈洁仪也有重大的意义：“我在台湾和香港都演过华语音乐剧，讽刺的是，在新加坡却从来没有，It’s time。”

陈洁仪大方送吻

《雨季》说的是一个横跨50年代至80年代的爱情故事，一对恋人在时代的交替和社会的动乱中，恋情备受考验。

陈洁仪在剧中的情人是田伟鸿，这是两人继“Forbidden City：Portrait of an Empress”之后再次合作。

两人在记者会上默契不错，田伟鸿要陈洁仪告诉大家她在剧中有多爱他，她立刻大方地在他脸颊亲了一下。

陈洁仪与另一个男主角刘俊葳是第一次合作，但她看过他在舞台剧《李大傻》的演出，对他印象深刻，大赞“He’s so good”。

市场期待很大

选择再次演出《雨季》，吴文德表示，这10多年一直有人在问他要不要重演这部剧，所以他相信市场对《雨季》的期待很大。

梁文福也表示，与全新的组合合作，对他是一个重新学习的经验，他也相信这将是“新加坡华语音乐剧的一个里程碑”。

TOY肥料厂庆祝成立20周年，8月还有以下活动：

¤ Hailstones：放映TOY肥料厂过去6部经典作品。

¤ White Soliloquy：谢燊杰呈献的独角戏，向本地资深艺人白言致敬。

雨季》演出详情日期：8月6日－15日

地点：滨海艺术中心剧院

票价：$69, $89, $109, $129

售票：www.sistic.com.sg

热线：63485555

source: OMY

Straits Times Life!
by Adeline Chia

Pressed up against the wall, singer Kit Chan smoulders at the camera. A haughty ice-queen glare for a second-click; sexily parting her lips-click; elegantly popping the collar of her cream dress-click.

Big in the 1990s for her moving Mandarin and Cantonese ballads, she has been out of the news in recent years.

But she still works the camera like a pro and is clearly in her element. So it may come as no surprise that the 37-year-old is announcing a return to show business after being out of action for about six years.

She has plenty on her plate now. She has just completed filming her feature film debut in a Hong Kong movie, Love’s Discourse, a portmanteau film with five stories. It is the directorial debut of Derek Tsang, son of Hong Kong veteran actor Eric Tsang.

Next, she will headline December Rain, the Mandarin musical directed by Toy Factory Productions’ artistic director Goh Boon Teck, in August. She plays the female lead, Li Qing, a student in Singapore’s tumultuous 1950s, during the time of the Hock Lee bus riots.

And in the meantime, she is planning a new album and concert. She is coy about whether the album will include covers or new songs.

Her comeback is a little belated, considering that she had quit her job in public relations in April last year. She says she had been resting and travelling to recuperate from the corporate lifestyle.

She meets Life! at a salon in Orchard Road, where she gets her hair and make-up done. The glacial diva during the photo shoot melts into a girlish and chatty interview subject.

She says she lasted 19 months at her PR job. ‘Nineteen months,’ she says, savouring the idea. ‘That was a huge achievement for me. When I started, people were taking bets on when I’d quit. One month, three months or six months.’

She eventually left Hill & Knowlton because she had ‘learnt enough about the corporate world’.

She calls that job ‘an adventure’, adding: ‘I never said that I was going to retire from performing anyway.’

During her time in the firm, she picked up general knowledge of different sectors because of the variety of her clients, which ranged from the civil service and car companies to healthcare companies.

She also found pleasure in the little routines of office life, which opened up a whole new world to her.

‘There was the lunch hour, the office pantry, the stationery drawer, watercooler talk. All that was new to me.’

Her computer skills had also improved beyond knowing how to e-mail. Now she can put together a Powerpoint presentation in a short time. ‘With animation,’ she adds with a laugh.

These details may seem mundane compared to her high-profile first job of ‘regional star’.

Signed on by Singapore label Ocean Butterflies when she was 19, she became an overnight success here and in Taiwan and Hong Kong for hit songs such as Liking You and Heartache.

She released more than 20 albums and ventured into theatre, acting in the critically acclaimed Cantonese musical Snow.Wolf.Lake with Jacky Cheung, and local musical Forbidden City: Portrait of An Empress, where she played the young Empress Dowager Cixi.

She also sang the National Day theme songs Home and There’s No Place I’d Rather Be.

In 2004, she announced an indefinite break from her singing career. After chilling out for a few years and pursuing her own interests, she joined Hill & Knowlton in 2007 to stretch herself.

She says the relatively static corporate lifestyle caused her to put on about 5kg. She says, still judging herself by the strict standards of the entertainment industry: ‘I was so busy, I felt that I could eat whatever I could find. I really let myself go.’

She lost it all by jogging once a week and doing Pilates. She says: ‘I’m 37 and I have never been fitter in my life.’

Now that the office chapter of her life has come to a close, she seems eager to embrace a performer’s life again – but on her own terms.

She says she will not sign with any record labels (‘Record labels own you’) and she will work at a pace she feels comfortable with.

Embracing life as it comes seems to be her philosophy. She says: ‘I am a bohemian, it’s very hard to pin me down. Maybe that’s why I am not married.’

She adds though that she is still dating her long-time banker boyfriend, who is in his 40s.

‘I’m not trying to run away from marriage, I’m just busy chasing all my other to-do lists. We’re happy and comfortable. I believe I will get married one day – but I don’t need to plan it.’

Source: http://www.divaasia.com/article/7891

December Rains is a love story, that kind of love that invites endless joy and perpetual pain. It is 1950s Singapore. The innocent relationship of a pair of young lovers is convoluted by strikes organized by Chinese students, a marriage of convenience and strong parental disapproval. The symphony of pain resonates to a third party who is waiting desperately in vain for his unrequited love. In 1980s, past grievances and mistakes are contagiously wounding the younger generation. Only a personal sacrifice and the surfacing of an undelivered love letter would resolve all these entanglements. However, no one knows when the rain will depart in December.

DECEMBER RAINS is created by the pivotal figure of Singapore Mandarin Pop, Liang Wern Fook, composed by Jimmy Ye and produced by celebrated show producer James Toh. Directed by multiple award-winning Director Goh Boon Teck, this coming new staging starring Singapores international singing sensation Kit Chan, Broadway Star George Chan and Singapore-Hong Kong theatre luminary Jeffrey Low is a dream production that promises to wet your eyes and melt your heart.
For more information, please visit www.toyfactory.com.sg

Date: 6th－15th August 2010
Venue: The Esplanade Theatre
Time: 8pm (Tues to Sun) 3pm (Sat & Sun)

Tickets from Esplanade Box Office and SISTICs authorized agents. SISTIC hotline: (65)6348 5555. SISTIC website: www.sistic.com.sg
(Tickets will go on sale starting 6th March 2010)

TOY肥料厂 (Toy Factory)

《雨季》（华语）

·讲什么：

以50年代学潮、工潮及反殖民地斗争为背景，描写两代人的爱情故事。

·谁主演：

陈洁仪（本地知名女歌手，本地音乐剧《慈禧太后》女主角）

田伟鸿（《天冷就回来》男主角，本地知名音乐剧演员）

刘俊葳（本地出色男演员，演出过《李大傻》《天冷就回来》等）

·有什么看头：

本地首部华语音乐剧，当年由梁文福、叶良俊等音乐才子联合创作。

陈洁仪继《慈禧太后》后，再次复出演出的音乐剧。

戏剧导演吴文德执导力作。

·什么时候演：

8月6至15日，滨海艺术中心剧院

Source: Zaobao (Thanks to Henry for the news!)

Kit Chan: A song of “One World” (Our World, One World Pt 6) 05:06

(right-click, save as…)

* Scan thanks to Catherine

Min Lee is playing a Dick-Lee composed piece, Taufik is singing Heal The World and What A Wonderful World, while Chan will croon a Dick Lee-penned theme song, Our World, One World.

INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed violinist Min Lee, Singapore Idol winner Taufik Batisah and homegrown songbird Kit Chan will be performing before a distinguished audience that includes US President Barack Obama at the Esplanade Concert Hall on Nov 14, 2009.

Lee is playing a Dick-Lee composed piece, Taufik is singing Heal The World and What A Wonderful World, while Chan will croon a Dick Lee-penned theme song, Our World, One World.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama will be here for the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Leaders Week meetings, which will take place from Nov 8 to 15. It is the pinnacle event of the annual year-long Apec meetings, which Singapore is hosting at a cost of $100 million. About 10,000 delegates from the 21- member economies are expected to be here.

Entertainer Dick Lee is also the creative director for the 30-minute multimedia show that is part of Singapore Evening at The Esplanade, a key highlight that 2,000 invited guests, including political leaders and delegates of the 2009 meetings, will get to enjoy.

The Esplanade will be closed to the public on that day.

After the musical extravaganza, delegates will be treated to a unique waterfront dining experience, conceptualised by event organiser Pico Art International and theatre director Jeremiah Choy.

source: Straits Times

* thanks to ting for the scan

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