My last day as Group Exercise Manager

Tomorrow when I step into FF Menara Manulife... sorry, I mean tomorrow when I step OUT OF FF Menara Manulife at 5pm, I will be stepping out for the last time as group exercise manager.

Instead writing about how I feel leaving the company, I"ll just let some of the pictures express it for me:)

Loyalty has its rewards

Last Saturday night was FF's annual dinner and ever since I joined FF, I have never failed to attend the annual dinner. But this this time round I had to miss it because of my ongoing musical at klpac. 

Monday morning when I went to club, I was surprise to receive my LONG SERVICE AWARD for working with FF for more than 5 years!!!

The recognition:)

So what did I get for being loyal?

It's a... what is it?

I got this box and inside the box was this half crystal ball-like thingy that says "Fitness First Long Service Award". Looks nice, not sure what to do with it yet, but will figure it out eventually. I also received this:

A plaque to remember for life

Thank you so much!! I'm so happy to receive these awards. Back in the previous company I worked with, the only thing they gave for long service was RM1000 cash. With this plaque & crystal, I'm sure I'll remember this for a very long time,.... even after I leave next week:)

KLUE, DOH!

Just came back from KLUE, DOH! and boy it was very interesting to watch!

A couple of months back during S+S Malaysia Musical, Jon told me that he would be in this "whodunnit" play where the audience would be split into 2 groups to watch 2 separate rooms within the same play. After intermission, the audience would then swap room to see the other side of the play to get the whole story. I was sold by then and was hoping to catch it. And I almost missed it!!!

You see, as I have Malaysian Girls rehearsals almost every evening, and I found out that about a month back that there was no rehearsal on 2 Dec and it would be the only evening to run BC50 tuition. It was later that I found out that 2 Dec was also the only day I could watch KLUE, DOH! as I would be at the rehearsals or performing as well on their other show nights. But since I have already set the date for tuition, I thought I would have to give it a miss. However last week, I realized that only 2-3 instructors signed up for the tuition. So I cancelled the tuition and asked the instructors to join the other tuition instead... And I am so glad I get to watch this play!!!

Unlike conventional plays, you actually need to see the 2 perspectives of the play before you are able to get to the bottom of this murder mystery. If you just watch one perspective, you will be left scratching your head wondering who the killer is. If you sit through both perspectives, regardless of where you are, everyone will get to find out who the killer is at the same time!

I think the play was well executed and I salute the cast for their effort. The cast are on stage 90% of the time as when they leave one room, they are actually going to the other room to perform. This also means that in order for the audience to see both perspectives, the actors have to perform the same thing twice every night!

Acting wise was good, with a few standouts; I thought Anne James was fantastic!! Overall, it is exactly what the producer wanted to achieve- to offer theatre-goers not just a play but an experience.

I highly recommend that you watch it at MAP Solaris. For more info on the play, head on to their FB event page.

Oh You Didn't Know?

If you haven't heard, let me officially announced that I have tendered my resignation as Group Exercise Manager from Fitness First. My last day of work is end of Dec 2011. 

Why?

In short, FF & I can no longer fulfill each other's needs and expectations....  kinda like what happens when a couple decide to break up, isn't it?

So what do I want?

If you have been following my blog, it is quite obvious that I'm very much into doing stage performances nowadays and I have been rather unhappy over the last one year. So, it is the best decision for both myself and the GX team.

What's next?

Well, there's a bit of uncertainty at the moment about what I will be doing but suffice to say I will be leaving Fitness First at the end of the year. My current project "Malaysian Girls" will start its run from 10 - 30 Dec 2011 in klpace before heading to Penang for 6 shows from 10 - 15 Jan 2012. However, I am doubling as assistant stage manager for the production, I will be heading back to my hometown 1 week earlier for bump-in.

With that, I leave you with another video clip of our media preview. For information on our shows, please click here:)

Malaysian Girls the Musical Preview

What do you know, we are just 2 weeks away from the premiere of Malaysian Girls!

Last Tuesday we had a media preview at klpac and did a 20 minute performance for our sponsors & media friends. Below is the video edited by StageKL.

We'll be performing from 10th Dec right till 30th Dec at klpac before heading up north to penangpac for 6 shows from 10th - 15th Jan 2012.

For details on our KL shows, please click here.

For details on our Penang shows, please click here.

video: TWEET ABOUT IT

This is the musical I did in September 2011 for Short + Sweet Malaysia Musical

How ugly can it get?

We are approximately 1 month away from the year's most glamourous musical. Not only this musical will be performed at klpac, we are going to penangpac in January 2012:)

Presented by The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre & Celcom
Original concept and directed by Joe Hasham OAM
Written by Mark Beau De Silva with added material by Cast & Creative Team.
Original songs & music by Ariff Akhir, Ian Chow, Min’z, Khairil M Bahar, Wani Ardy
Executive Producer Dato’ Faridah Merican
Co-Directed by Kimmy Kiew
Musical Director Mervyn Peters
Music Arrangers Ariff Akhir, Loh Ui Li
Choreographer Lex Lakshman Balakrishnan
Set Designer Melissa Teoh
Costume Designer Dominique Devorsine
Lighting Designer Tan Eng Heng
Sound Engineer John Siew
Stage Craft Christopher Ling
Improvisation Facilitator Kelvin Wong

Featuring: Tabitha Kong, Siti Farrah Abdullah, Aanantha, Zoe Taylor, Anrie Too, Amanda Ang, Sandee Chew, BB Ostella Adam, Alexis Wong, Amelia Chen, Karynn Tan, Shiva Shobitha , Pooja Jugal Kishor, Aliaa Sharif, Aminda Faradilla, with Freddy Tan and Alvin Looi.


KL Premiere
Date & Time:
Opening Night: Saturday, 10 December, 2011 @ 8:30pm
Night performances: 11 – 30 Dec @ 8.30
Evening Performances: 25 & 26 Dec @ 5pm
Matinees Performances: 11 & 18 Dec @ 3pm
No shows on the 12th, 19th & 24th Dec
Venue: Pentas 1, The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre

For Tickets:
Weekend prices (Friday – Sunday)
Adult: RM110/90/70/50
Concession (*): RM88/72/56/40

Weekday prices (Tuesday – Thursday)
Adult: RM100/80/60/40
Concession (*): RM80/64/48/32
* Eligible for students, disabled, senior citizens, TAS card holders & UNHCR card holders


Penang Tour
Date & Time:
11 – 14 January 2012 @ 8.30pm, 15 January 2012 @ 3pm
Venue  stage 1, penangpac
3H-3A-1, Straits Quay, Jalan Seri Tanjung Pinang
Tanjung Tokong, 10470 Pulau Pinang.


Ticket Price
RM60 / RM40 / RM30*
* Eligible for students, disabled, senior citizens, TAS car holders & UNHCR cardholders

(Launch date for ticket sales: 1 December 2011)

Video: LIFE DECISIONS

Here is the play we did at S+S Theatre 2011. It was recorded on the 3rd nighte, which, IMHO, was our best performance during week 1:)

S + S Theatre: LIfe Decisions

My involvement in late October's S+S Theatre can only be described as "full of drama"- I got in, I pulled out, and I got in again. Hmm... This could be a long story:)

OK, let's start from S+S Musical. The moment that I saw that my part in "Tweet About It" was a small one, I had hoped for something meaty in S+S Theatre. I could then have a bit of fun in the musical week and do more serious work in theatre. After all, I wanted to do something that is totally not me, so that I could learn and be a better actor.

I was very pleased to find out that I had 2 offers after the July audition and one of them was BB's "Life Decisions". The script was read in June's Baca rehearsed reading at The Actors Studio and I had a good idea what the story was about and what inspired her to write the grim tale. After reading the 2nd script, I picked "Life Decisions" which required me to play an senior business man who staged his own suicide to frame his enemies. Because I was busy stage managing Cartoon and also "Tweet About It", I was very diligent with "Life Decisions" - I started memorizing the lines from day 1 I confirmed my participation and within 2 weeks, I had memorized all my lines.

would you kill yourself to get back on your enemies?

Complications with the play started when I discovered that the director is based in Penang and would only be coming in early October to rehearse the play. To make things even more challenging, up till late Aug we still had not found a female actor to play the assassin. The director also had his own unique concept on how he wanted the play to be. I felt that I really needed him to be here in KL to guide me.

After he found the actor for the assassin, the director basically asked us to meet on our own to rehearse and he would come later to clean up the play. After meeting with my partner, I discovered that she was going away for 3 weeks in September! How are we going to rehearse then? I was beginning to doubt if this play was going to work.

All bruised

Then things sort of got to a point where I did not want to do the play anymore when the female actor pulled out from the play. I decided to pull out too and suggested to the director to assemble his own team in Penang instead.

And so I put my time and effort into "Tweet About It" and I had fun with the team. However, I was still not happy that I did not get to do something dramatic. Towards the end musical week on Saturday afternoon, I found out from BB that the Penang director had pulled out too and she was getting Nicole Ann Thomas to direct the play. They were also looking for a new cast. Inside, I was thinking perhaps I should "apply" to rejoin the production but I was already busy with the Malaysian Girls rehearsals too. I tried not to think too much about it then.

Conversation between Lee and Tevy

The event that helped me make my decision to rejoin "Life Decisions" was the S+S Musical competition results - wifey won the award for best female lead for her role in "Oriental Takeout". Like I said earlier, as a husband I was very proud of her achievement but as a fellow actor I was envious of it. It was not like I wanted to win the best male lead award as well but I was lamenting what I could have done with "Life Decisions". So within 24 hours I texted BB and asked if they had found anyone to act and offered myself. BB informed me that she would let Nicole know and it would be the director's decision to take me or not.

Fortunately for me, by the next day BB informed me that I was back in "Life Decisions" and we had less than 14 days to put up the play! Nicole managed to get one of her friends Hazlin to play Tevy. Hazlin is a very experience actress who sort of retired 3 years ago after getting married- I would later find out that I watched her performance in "The Odd Couple" back in 2005.. Another one of those "I-can't-believe-I-am-rubbing-shoulders-with-performers-I-used-to-watch" moments!

Regret? Fear?

Under normal circumstances, it would be alright to prepare for this play but with less than 14 days before tech run, it appeared to be one heck of a challenge for everyone! I am usually nervous when doing saomething new but I was really SUPER nervous with this one. I must thank Nicole and Hazlin for their guidance and help in this one. This is the first time I am playing someone older than my actual age. I already don't behave old for my age, what more now playing an Ah Pek?

Slowly, with Nicole, I managed to discover who Lee was for myself and began to become older. I still feel that I have not "aged" to the level I needed to be to play Lee effectively for the performances, but I was moving in the right direction - at least I don't sound like a youngster:)

"Is it selfish to want to die?"

To cut the story short, we managed to stage "Life Decisions" with less than 10 rehearsals and I must say it was tough and yet rewarding to see how far we've come. Our opening night performance was shaky at best, but the subsequent shows we got better. In fact, I believe our 3rd show was our best effort yet - I could sense the uneasiness among the audience watching the drama unfold.

Now that we are into theatre week 2, we will have to wait till this Saturday night to find out if "Life Decisions" will be picked for Sunday's Gala Night performace. If we make it, we'll definitely give our best effort to make this a play to remember. Unlike most S+S entries, it is not a comedy and it requires a lot of work to make the play believable. I do hope that we had managed to do enough to be selected:)

Update: We got in!!! We're performing tomorrow at Gala Night! :))))

"Tevy, what does your name mean?"

S+S Musical: Tweet About It

Last few weeks have rather interesting. Besides attending the Malaysian Girls rehearsals as the assistant stage manager, I am also involved in the annual Short + Sweet Festival Malaysia as a performer in the musical & theatre categories. So let's start with the musical then:)

Attending auditions is one thing,.. to be offered anything sort of depends on your luck I guess. I am fortunately offered a part in a simple straight forward musical called "Tweet About It". Actually wifey was offered the lead in the same musical, but I encouraged her to accept the other offer which was more challenging as a performer. You can read about her experience here.

My role in this is a small one, so it's kinda stress free compared to other productions I've participated in.  It's also a great to make new friends too. Check out our pictures, courtesy of DustyHawk.

Apart from the opening night, we performed to a packed house for the other 3 nights. It was a fun experience to do this. While most of the plays were either okay or very good, there were a couple that I didn't like(I watched the video taping). Well, I now know who to avoid in next year's musical:-)

Overall "Tweet About It" did okay- our supporting actress Sachie won the Festival Director's award for her performance and so we didn't go home empty handed. Big winers were "A Taste Of Love", "My Prince Will Come" and wifey's "Oriental Takeout". Wifey also took home Best Actress Award for her role as the prostitute. Was I happy? Well, to be honest, the husband part was very proud of wifey's performance but the actor part was envious that I didn't get something more I can work with.Eventually this led me to my re-involvement in S+S Theatre which I had pulled out from earlier... but that's another blog entry:-)

Priorities in Life

Have been thinking lately on my priorities. It's interesting to note that priorities change as we age:)

When I was a little boy, my priority was to watch my daily cartoon at 5pm- not sure if the current TV scheduling is still the same, though. One of the memories of my childhood was my mom telling me to take a short nap at 4pm and wake up at 15 minutes before the show.

As a teenager, I would say my priority was sort of more religious- attending saturday youth service(Inter School Christ's Ambassadors or ISCA) and getting involved in church activities,especially Christmas & Easter shows. While I did ok in school, I was never the studious type as some of my friends were.

By the time I hit late-teen, I started focusing my time & energy on my first gf. We were quiet inseparable, which, in hindsight, was not a healthy thing. The relationship became quite exclusive to the point that I began to alienate my buddies.

Early 20s saw me doing my studies in Sydney, Australia. My priorities then were more of less to explore & learn from this new world beyond my own country. Yeah, I fell in love with someone I shouldn't have & suffered one of the worst heartaches in my life, but that too was a learning experience.

Back from Australia, it was more about finding a job than pursuing a career. What do I really know what I wanted to do right? I thought I did when I enrolled to study government & industrial relations. I came back at the time when Malaysia was still recovering from recession. As much as I wanted to stay in Penang, I couldn't find a job that I want. Eventually I landed in KL and got my first job as a management trainee in Padini. The proudest moment in my time there was together with 10-13 newbies like me, we opened the first 10 PDI outlets across Peninsular Malaysia.

Anyhow, I've digressed. After a couple of other jobs, I sort of missed out a bit on my priorities. I can't recall much at the moment but if I really have to pinpoint something that was constant then, it would be about spending time at home with parents & reconnecting with my friends. Oh yeah, I was back working in Penang for a while.

By mid 2000s, I was back in KL. By then, my priorities was perhaps pursuing my hobby in GX as a part timer &  also establishing my relationship with then-gf(now wife). The hobby turned in a job/career and this is where I am now career-wise.

Then I got married and that triggered a fabric of events; Spending time with wife was getting more important. Pursuaded by wife to attend audition for a musical. Finding a new hobby after my old hobby has become a job.

So what is next?

I am interested to find out as well:)

Life of mundanity or excitement?

Given the choice, what would you choose?

The usual stuff, day in & day out? You wake up at the exact time, you do the same thing, eat the same food, go back to bed.... and start all over again the next day?

Or would you look for something different, non conventional, challenging, exciting?

Finally...

After doing this for the last 2 years, wifey and I will be working together in the same production!

What will it be? Will tell later, but suffice to know that this production will involve the Who's Who of klpac and a bunch of great performers!

Stay tuned for more:)

Who am I?

Life used to be so simple. A couple of years back when people asked me what I do, my answer was quite straight forward -"I work with a medical supplier but I teach GX classes on a part-time basis."

Then it got even simpler:

"I work with Fitness First as a Group Exercise Manager and I teach GX classes."

Nowadays, I dunno what I should say... because over the last 12 months, I have done the following:

Performed in musicals

sang for weddings(a couple of occasions)

Emceed a wedding

Acted in a Maxis product launch

Took on a dramatic role

Sang in recitals

Emceed an event

And soon, I will be adding one more thing- stage manager...

So who am I?

Drums Alive Launch @ Miracle 2011

(L-R) Cindy, Winnie, Me, Jacquline, Zila, & Nic



The ladies in front are from IOI Mall





First time see so many balls in a class:)



I reckon everyone did well as first timers

Thanks for your energy!