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Taufik featured in Straits Times LIFE!: 06 February 2010
Taufik In New Fried Rice Paradise
Singapore Idol Taufik Batisah will play the male lead in a rewritten version of Dick Lee’s musical.
A CLASSIC Singapore musical is being served up with a new twist, to commemorate the 50th year of grassroots organisation, the People's Association (PA).
Singapore Idol winner Taufik Batisah will star as the heart-throb next door in a new version of Fried Rice Paradise by music icon Dick Lee. The musical will be restaged with a brand-new story and songs at the Esplanade Theatre from Aug 20.
Tickets will go on sale via Sistic on May 1, while holders of the PAssion card, a PA membership card, can book seats from April 1.
A commissioned production from the Singapore Repertory Theatre, where Lee is associate artistic director, the reworked show is set in the 1970s and promises 'elements of early Singapore nostalgia, racial harmony, friendship, neighbourliness, romance, and thrilling drama with several twists', according to a press statement from the PA.
Lee, 53, is also the artistic director of PA Talents, the cultural and musical arm of the grassroots organisation. The revamped musical will bring out Singapore's multicultural nature through sets and songs. Its star-studded cast includes radio host Denise Tan, singer Rahimah Rahim and actors Sebastian Tan and Lim Yu Beng.
The production will be directed by Steven Dexter, who has worked with Lee on other musicals including Forbidden City (2002), an English musical about the life of Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi.
PA declined to reveal the cost of production but Lee provided a tongue-in-cheek figure of “a gazillion 70s dollars”.
Fried Rice Paradise was first performed in 1991 and was then about the owner of a fried rice food chain trying to determine which of her quarrelling daughters would succeed her.
Lee says the show will now revolve around a girl who tries to keep her father’s old-fashioned coffee shop alive in the face of a rapidly developing Singapore. The character of Young Bee Lean will be played by Tan and the story is set in 1979.
Lee told Life! via e-mail: ”It’s a completely rewritten script with a brand new story.” He added that he felt the original script “was a little too complicated and had a weak structure”.
He also said that while the music has been inspired by the 1970s era, the songs will not be retro at all. The musical is in English but with plenty of local flavour, he added.
“The colours of the multiracial neighbourhood come through vividly and infuse the musical via the different cultures.”
As for the cast, Lee, who leads the creative team behind the production, said singing ability and comedic talent were top priorities in choosing the actors.
“The multi-ethnic cast is an assemblage of some of Singapore’s top talents,” he said.
Mr Tan Boon Huat, 58, chief executive director of the PA, said in a statement that the musical provides an additional and new way for the association to remind Singaporeans of the importance of racial harmony and social cohesionto the continued success of Singapore.
He added: “We are happy to work with Dick Lee, our artistic director of PA Talents and the Singapore Repertory Theatre to produce and stage a musical that Singaporeans and residents young and old can identify with and enjoy.”
Lee said: “This musical is the perfect platform to celebrate PA’s contribution and role to the development of Singapore’s unique culture.”
He added: “It will be a fun roller-coaster ride for audiences from all walks of life.”
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