Sinbad sails in

DIRECTOR Joe Hasham will tell a story of love, war and adventure in his latest theatre production Sinbad the Musical.

The two-hour musical will be staged at Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (klpac) from Friday (April 11) and will end on April 27.
This production is a collaboration between Australian and Malaysian talents in terms of cast and crew. The script was written by Australian writer, director and producer Mark Cleary.
Cleary has been working on the script for more than a decade. But it was only a year ago that he had showed the script to Joe who was immediately attracted to the story besidesthe music and lyrics.
“I thought the script will make a lovely production for the whole family to watch,” says Joe who is the artistic director for The Actors Studio Malaysia and klpac. “The songs have a lot of variety too."

The musical will feature 18 original songs with the cast and crew of over 80 people.
The musical centres on the well known sailor and warrior Sinbad and his crew who after years of sailing, arrive at a port city.
With time, Sinbad learns that the city is under the influence of an evil Vizier who has imprisoned the king and also enslaved the king’s beautiful daughter Princess Yasmin.
Eventually, Sinbad falls in love with Princess Yasmin. It does not take long for Sinbad to starts a revolution in the city to overthrow the evil Vizier and to rescue the king as well as the love of his life, Princess Yasmin. But defeating Vizier is not going to be easy.
The Actors Studio Malaysia in association with Short +Sweet Australia, klpac and Performing Arts Centre of Penang (penangpac) will also be staging the musical in Penang. The shows in Penang will be held from May 2 to May 11 at penangpac.
There are four well known Australia actors in the cast including Mikey Hart who has years of experience as a musical theatre actor.
He will be playing the lead role as Sinbad while singer and actress Pearl will play Princess Yasmin. Gene Sha Rudyn portrays the evil Vizier.
The Australian actors are Siena Elchaar and Ric Herbert while the Malaysians include Anrie Too, Patrick Teoh and Alfred Loh.
Joe says the Malaysian and Australian talents clicked well immediately and share a warm relationship with each other.
He explains that the set plays a vital role in this production to create the atmosphere for the musical.
Production designer Paul Loosley insists that he did not take the well-trodden path as far as the set design is concerned. He did not settle for the typical Arabian and Middle Eastern design.
In fact, Paul has done his research and found that the story of Sinbad took place after the era of the Syrian and Babylonian empires subsided. He points out that some images of the old civilisation will be featured.
The audience will also get to see some Syrian statues and reminiscences of Ishtar Gate from the Babylonian culture as well as some Arabian architecture in his set.
Paul hints that there will be a huge dhow (a ship) on set. He intends to have a spooky image for the chambers belonging to the villainous Vizier filled with mirror, skulls and vultures.
“Paul does not only make pretty looking sets,” says Joe. “His sets are always practical and they always enhance the stories. He has done much of his homework before making the set.”
After Sinbad, Paul and Joe will be co-directing a dance drama entitled A Streetcar Named Desire, based on the famous playwright Tennessee Williams.
A Streetcar Named Desire is based on the snooty Blanche DuBois who moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law. Slowly, Blanche loses her mind.
“There will be no dialogues in this production,” says Joe. The tragic story will be told entirely in dance form and rehearsals will begin in June, he adds.
The play will be staged in August. After Streetcar Named Desire, Paul will be directing a play called Faith Healer based on the work of a famous Irish dramatist and author Brian Friel.
The play will look at the life of a tormented medicine man. This play comprises only three actors - Zahim Albakri, Na’a Murad and Ida Nerina and will be staged in November.