Is There A Singapore Musical Theatre?
by Kenneth Lyen

Are Singapore musicals a 'copy' of Broadway/West End musicals?

Yes, there is a very strong Broadway/West End influence in Singapore musicals in English. Most of our musicals are fashioned after the Western model. Is this desirable? No, not in the long run. We need to find our own voice, our unique identity.

Do you see any distinct difference in local and foreign musical productions?

Yes, it is still fairly easy to differentiate a foreign from a local. Foreign musicals are usually slicker, more self-assertive, better marketed, and tend to have higher ticket prices. Singaporeans, in general, hold a higher opinion of overseas productions compared to local ones.

With a few exceptions, most locally produced musicals are not as polished or as lavish as foreign productions. The more conspicuous foreign productions that have come to Singapore, like Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Cats, etc., cost millions of US dollars. In contrast, most local productions are way under one million Sing dollars. With a budget of millions, one can attract world class singers, directors, designers, beautiful costumes, stunning sets, etc.

Of course a high budget does not guarantee quality. But a high budget usually results in better production values, and more effective marketing. Unfortunately it is a vicious cycle. Local shows are strapped for finances. As a result corners are cut, compromises made, resulting in most performances lacking the pizzazz and the wow factor. Audiences come home disappointed, and their opinion of local shows being of inferior quality becomes increasingly ingrained in their psyche.

Singapore musicals are still in their infancy. Do you agree?

Musicals in the West have been evolving over the course of 100 years, whereas Singapore's first musicals were staged in 1988, only 21 years ago. We have on average had about 2 to 4 original musicals publicly performed annually in these 21 years. This is in contrast to the 40 or more musicals produced annually in Broadway and West End, of which in good years, some 10-20 are newly written musicals.

What is lacking and what are the strengths of Singapore musicals?

Because of the relative poverty of musicals staged by local theatre companies, it has been a struggle to sustain a thriving musical theatre industry. There are too few opportunities for writers and composers to have their works staged. This results in directors not getting the opportunity to direct, performers getting the opportunity to perform, and technical crew getting the opportunity to develop their expertise. Furthermore, this affects the quality of musicals because we do not have a strong base of outstanding directors and performers. When the public watches a Singapore musical, they are often disappointed, and they may not return to watch another made-in-Singapore musical. Hence the audience base for local musicals is very small.

On the other hand, we do have our own Singapore stories to tell. We are situated in Southeast Asia and we are influenced by many Asian musical and theatre styles. Our ability to fuse eastern and western styles may prove advantageous. Hence our potential for creating a genuine Singapore musical fashion is not only possible, but given time, is very likely.

Has the local arts scene developed in any way as compared to previous years?

The arts scene has improved dramatically (sorry for the lame choice of word) over the past few decades. Before 1988 there were no locally written musicals. Nowadays we can look forward to a few new made-in-Singapore musicals each year. Overall, production values have improved, with better singers, actors, dancers, sets, sound, and lighting. Audience size has expanded, and there is a larger core group of supporters. There are more venues for staging shows, but the price of rental has remained high.

Why aren't we developing our own brand of musicals?

We are strongly influenced by Western musicals, and the big mega musicals like Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and Cats, have made their mark in Singapore. Audiences like to watch these large scale spectacular musicals, and they in turn influence the style of musicals written.

Furthermore, producing musicals is relatively expensive compared to straight plays and concerts. We do not have sufficient financial support from either government or private companies. Few production companies are prepared to take the risk of staging new local musicals.

Writers and composers therefore have scarce opportunities to see their works staged, and many are discouraged from writing. Without a flurry of new works, our prospects of evolving our own brand of musicals is dimmed.

What is the solution? The answer is if you want to create a brand of musical unique to Singapore, there must be more concerted and pro-active support by the National Arts Council together with the private sector.

What does it take to make our own world-class musicals?

We need to tell our own special Singapore stories in a way that engages our audience. To be world-class the quality of the musicals must be of the highest level, with world-class performers and staging. This requires a leap of faith and courage to write ground-breaking original musicals coupled with the best production values. It is only through writing and staging many more musicals that will enable us to push our standards up to an international level.

What elements would go into it?

We should be more willing to explore Asian music and theatre. On the one hand we can explore the fusion of Western and Eastern styles, and on the other, we should write about ourselves, and let our imagination soar. We need to explore developing our musicals with film, television, puppetry, multimedia, animation, and computer games. There is considerable creative synergism when different media meet.

In general, we need to continue writing and to stage more original musicals, at ticket prices that people can afford, so we can develop a new audience base.

What about turning local stories into huge stage musicals?

Indeed, we have a wealth of local stories, myths, and folk tales. This is a huge reservoir of untapped stories, to be told in our own incomparable way. Huge stage musicals are expensive and the risk of failure is high.

Therefore, to start off, we should do small-to-medium-scale musicals, until we are confident in producing quality musicals.

Do you think we can export our musicals around the world?

Yes, I believe there is a hunger for new musicals worldwide. A local Singapore story with universal themes can be exported internationally. We need to concentrate on creating a large number of original works because it is unpredictable which ones can be exported.

What stories or material are worth turning into stage musicals?

Personal stories, historical stories, myths, and folk tales are eminently suitable for turning into stage musicals. But in essence, we are only limited by our own imagination. It used to be said that horror, action, and extremely sad stories are not suitable for musical theatre. However, this is being disproven, as musicals in these genres are being produced and gaining popularity. In short, the sky's the limit!

Singapore has seen a rise in the staging of local musical like Beauty World, Forbidden City, Man of Letters, Sleepless Town, etc. In your opinion, what could have contributed to this? (i.e. larger audience? Esplanade’s drawing power?)

Local musicals can tell stories and touch Singaporeans in ways that imported foreign shows may fail to do. The audience is there. But there are not enough local musicals being written and staged.

Every production of a new musical is important. It sparks the creative process, it helps discover new talent, and it widens the audience base. Furthermore, for the creators of new musicals, each time one is staged, something will be learnt, new experiences gained. This is absolutely essential for the evolution of musical theater, and in time, we will find our own unique Singapore artistic voice.

The Esplanade has been actively encouraging the incubation of new works, and they should be applauded for this. Our audience size is expanding, but it is still relatively small. Local shows can barely last more than a couple of months at best. We could market our shows better both locally and to the region. Perhaps the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board could be more active in tapping on the tourist market.

What are your views on the local market for musicals: Is Singapore ready? Do we have to stick to certain formulas e.g. commercial mass appeal? Or should we merely import Broadway scripts to succeed?

The best time to develop and market our musicals is now. We need a multi-pronged approach. There is value in producing well-known musicals, like Cabaret and Little Shop of Horrors. We get to see what the international standard is, and this allows us to benchmark ourselves.

However, we must develop our own Singapore musical. While considerable latitude should be given to the writing-composing teams, this does not mean there is a free-for-all. Sadly, some artists tend to forget there is an audience, and become a little too self-indulgent. The result is that their works may either be incomprehensible or somewhat boring. Hence the need for intelligent reviews, especially by the critics writing for the mass media.

The problem of nurturing our own creative works is made more difficult by the relative lack of support by our institutions. For example, there have been no Singapore musicals in the main program of the Singapore Festival of Arts for the past 10 years.

With large productions being staged here, can Singapore be the 'Broadway of the East'? Hollywood for musical performance? Or do we have a long way to go?

Yes, Singapore can indeed be the Broadway of the East. We have several unique attributes. Firstly, there is a wealth of stories waiting to be told in the genre of musical theater. We also have a fascinating variety of Asian music, with different rhythms and different instruments. Our talent pool is immense, and largely untapped. We have not reached the stage where musical theater prohibitively expensive to stage.

We have a long way to go. Funding Singapore shows is immensely difficult, and attracting large audiences to watch our local shows is an uphill struggle. Our talent is still not quite world-class in ability, but we are reaching international standards very rapidly. We are at a critical level of development, for we have the creative talents, but limited opportunities to stage the musicals that have been written. If we are truly to become a major tourist attraction, integrated resorts notwithstanding, we need to have a more vibrant arts scene, and our institutions should take a more proactive role.

What do you think is the formula for success for theater productions in Singapore? i.e. adopt Broadway productions, scripts, engage world class directors, train local talents, etc.

Musical theater is a collaborative art form. Every element must work for a show to be successful. The corollary is that failure in any one of its components can result in failure of the entire show. Thus, the main elements of success are:

a) Teamwork: collaborative creativity is one of the most difficult and yet the most vital skill that we must learn in Singapore. Choosing the right team is critical for success.

b) Attention to detail: it is said that a musical is not written, but rewritten. One needs to adopt a perfectionist attitude. The book, the lyrics, the music, the choreography, arrangement, performance, etc., needs to be close to perfect. This can only be achieved by paying attention to detail, and polishing until the performance sparkles.

c) Training: we should learn from the best, and therefore going overseas for training in musical theater is important. Inviting foreign directors, choreographers, are part of the learning process, but it is important that there is transfer of technology. It is sometimes far too easy to invite a famous overseas person for the sake of selling a show, but if there is no attempt to have the person give workshops, tutorials, master classes, it is an effort that goes to waste.

d) Flexible mind set: we should not have any rigid mind set about musical theater. Often I encounter people who tell me that they do not support musicals because it is too expensive, too old-fashioned, too plebeian, too superficial, and too western. Of course, musical theater can be all of the above, and also, none of the above. It is up to us to create our own unique and distinct art form. Thus, we should all keep our minds open and flexible.

Having said all this, I don't anybody really knows what the formula for success is!

Why do kids seem to love musicals, and how can we foster and turn them into a loyal audience base?

Musical theatre is telling a story through a combination of acting, singing, and dancing. It is a very entertaining art form, and with the aid of music, can be very powerful emotionally. Provided we produce quality musicals that can speak and touch our audiences, we will find a very large and loyal audience. Families love musicals, and children are often enthralled by the experience. It is good to start young, and introduce musicals into schools.

Where will Singapore go in the next ten years?

Development in the arts needs to expand in all directions. At the high end, we need to create high quality shows that can travel internationally. This can only be done if attention is given to the developmental process. Incubation of new works is a high priority in this regard, and funding should be given for this. Training singers, actors, dancers, directors, choreographers, and technical staff, etc., need to be enhanced. More courses should be made available, and subsidies given to allow more people to attend these classes.

Production costs for world-class musicals is high, and therefore a system of selecting the best for financial support should be set up. At the community, schools and tertiary educational institution level, encouragement should be given, not only for the writing of new works, but also in having more opportunities to showcase the works and talents. This is where young and promising talent can be spotted and nurtured. Also, those who have been involved in musical theater productions, then to be the most ardent supporters. Therefore, schools, tertiary institutions, and community centers need to have an active program that is focused on the promotion of musical theater.

You have been known to advocate musical theater in Singapore, being the brain child of Five Foot Broadway, a program that staged 5 locally produced musicals. Why the initiative and how has it helped?

Actually we have already staged over 30 new Singapore musicals under this initiative, and we are continuing our successful incubation program. Content is king, and we are focusing our efforts in creating new Singapore musicals. We have discovered that Singapore has a large pool of tremendously talented individuals in the creative as well as in the performance side. All these people need are encouragement and opportunities to showcase their works.

The spinoffs are important and wide-ranging. These include the creation of a wide range of new musicals. Collaboration with filmmakers, animation and games creators, television, puppetry, and the music industry, is already under way, and it underscores the centrality of musical theater in media and entertainment. Musical theater is an important art form in its own right, and there is cross-fertilization with other creative industries.

In these difficult economic times we believe that more support is critical in ensuring that this art form continues to grow and evolve. Our National Arts Council needs to play a more pro-active role in this regard.

Prescription for the Development of Musical Theatre in Singapore
by Kenneth Lyen

“What drives the economy today is human creativity.”
- Richard Florida author of The Rise of the Creative Class

Musical theatre in Singapore is still relatively undeveloped compared to Broadway or the West End. Since the staging of the first Singapore musicals in 1988, there has been some progress over the past 21 years. However, development has been uneven, and the better “Singapore” shows are actually written at least in part by non-Singaporeans e.g. the book and lyrics for Forbidden City is written by Stephen Clark, and for A Twist of Fate, the lyrics are written by Anthony Drewe, and the book by Stephen Dexter and Tony Petito.

While it is expedient to get higher quality bookwriters and lyricists from abroad, this is definitely not the way to go in the long run. Indeed it has often been commented that Forbidden City and A Twist of Fate do not feel like musicals with a Singapore sentiment. Indeed they are really quite un-Singaporean, and they do not represent Singapore artistically or spiritually.

To put us back on the right track in creating Singapore musicals, I believe the Government should play a key role. It needs to focus specifically on musical theatre, and to draw up a coherent long-term strategy.

Why musical theatre? Because this is the centrepiece of the performing arts, embracing all its major elements, including acting, music, dance, and multimedia. Musical theatre can complement the related entertainment industry, including television, film, animation, advertising, and design. As an added bonus, musical theatre has the potential to a revenue generator in its own right, supporting the tourist industry, and becoming a major player when the integrated resorts become established. Finally, musical theatre plays an important role in encouraging social cohesion, and through its stories, music and dance, it will help us find our own unique creative and artistic heart.

What is the current state of musical theatre in Singapore? Let us look at the development of Singapore’s musical theatre from different perspectives. One can examine the state of musical theatre from a developmental standpoint, seeing where we have been in the past, and where we are going in the future. Are we going to follow the West, or are we going to develop our own unique voice? One can look at musicals from a bird’s eye view, seeing where it stands in relation to the overall state of Singapore entertainment, and how it will fit in with the integrated resorts and tourist industry. One can also examine musical theatre from an economic perspective, how it will enhance Singapore as a creative city, and how it can help attract and keep creative people in Singapore.

This last point is worth emphasizing. The increasing importance of the creative industries in our economy, the need to attract and retain creative people, and the necessity of anchoring people to its social fabric and cultural roots, make musical theatre an ideal vehicle for enhancing creativity and social cohesion.

Why? The reason is that a musical is a collaborative art form par excellence. The members of musical theatre’s creative team are of equal or near-equal importance, and this makes it one of the best training grounds for developing group creativity.

Musical theatre is at the crossroads of several art forms. It combines bookwriting, lyric writing, music composition, and choreography. It requires the performers to act, sing, and dance. Set designers, sound designers, and lighting designers, work together to create the appropriate atmosphere essential for theatre. All this is done in real-time, and therefore allows for immediate review, and changes can be made on the spot.

Musical theatre is also at the junction between live theatre, and the film industry. Royston Tan’s film, “881" and “Lotus 12” are two good examples where musical theatre (getai) can touch the nerve of the nation, generate some revenue at the same time. This film musical is also exportable, and by being shown overseas, it will enhance Singapore’s reputation.

Unfortunately, Singapore’s musical theatre industry is lagging behind, despite being around for 21 years. This is attributable, to a significant extent, to its neglect by the Singapore Government. There are grants given to playwriting and screenwriting, but none for the writing of, music composition and choreography of new musicals. The performance and technical complexities of staging a musical compared to a straight play means that more time is needed for mounting a production. However, no help is given to cover the increased staging costs.

The National Arts Council has advised musical theatre creators to write small-scale “chamber” musicals, and to volunteer for the neighborhood arts festivals. This has led to the writing of small-scale and cheap-to-stage musicals. While this is good for the short-term, I have some reservations about the implications of this advice. Currently, Singaporeans are directing their energies into writing and performing low-cost small musicals. These are unlikely to generate much revenue, are less likely to be exportable, and tend to be mired in the realm of amateur or community theatre. To date the National Arts Council has given relatively little financial support to content development for musical theatre.

I believe there should be no restrictions on creativity. Some musicals are small-scale, and others are large-scale. We should not exclude the development of mega-musicals.

To redress the problems faced by the entertainment industry in general, and musical theatre in particular, there needs to be greater Government and corporate involvement. I would like to make the following practical recommendations. I am aware that there are some grants already available (eg scholarships for individuals in the performing arts). As for grants for creative writing, the eligibility criteria are sometimes a but too stringent so, that organizations that need this support are not receiving it.

A. CREATIVE WRITERS, COMPOSERS, CHOREOGRAPHERS
1. Annual grants for writing new musicals.
2. Annual scholarships or bursaries for talented writers, composers and choreographers to go overseas to study the writing/ composing/ choreographing for musical theatre.

B. DEVELOPMENTAL WORKSHOPS AND STAGING
1. Annual grants for development and workshopping new musicals.
2. Grants to invite prominent overseas writers/composers/choreographers to come to Singapore to conduct workshops and give keynote addresses.
3. Annual grants for Singapore artists in residence (creative) to write and teach.
4. Annual grants for workshop no-frills staging of the newly developed musicals.

C. STAGING AND FILMING
1. Annual grants to stage the best musical at the Singapore Festival of the Arts or an equivalent festival.
2. Annual grant to bring a Singapore musical overseas.
3. Travel bursaries for directors, performers, technical personnel, and the creative team, to accompany and perform in the Singapore musical overseas.
4. Assistance in advertising and marketing Singapore musicals both in Singapore and overseas.
5. Grants for filming musicals for television and for feature films.

D. AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
1. Encourage schools to perform musicals, especially musicals written by Singaporeans for Singapore schools.
2. Allow the use of Edusave or other similar funds to encourage school children to attend musicals.
3. Encourage corporations, community groups, retirees, disabled people, to have musicals specially written for them, and wherever possible, to have community groups retirees, and disabled people perform these musicals.

E. FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
1. To research and develop new forms of musicals, and to help bridge musicals with other media, e.g. internet, multimedia, animation, film, puppetry, “Cirque du Soleil” style of performance, etc.
2. To foster links of musical theatre with all the other art groups in Singapore.
3. To consider the development of an annual Asian Festival of Musicals, similar to the annual New York Musical Theatre Festival http://www.nymf.org/ . Already Korea, Japan and Malaysia are writing and staging new musicals, and shortly China will follow suit. We need to take the initiative and prepare for such an Asian festival of musicals.

The role of musical theatre and its role in the shaping of Singapore’s future will depend on the steps taken today. We are at a critical junction. Judicious and wise policies established now will have a profound impact for the future.

It is the creative individual that the future of Singapore will depend.

Content Development for Musical Theatre
by Kenneth Lyen

The Singapore Renaissance City Plan III report published in 2008 concluded: "Content is at the core of arts, culture and the creative industries. While technology has advanced rapidly, creating new platforms for creative content, at the heart of every work is a story to tell. Writer, composers, choreographers, artists and curators are story-tellers that draw on their past and their imagination to create artistic works that delight and educate. Some of these works will go on to drive the digital media, television and design sectors as intellectual capital."

What are the problems associated with developing new musicals, and why is it so critical to assist writers and composers in this process?

Musical theatre is a highly complex collaborative art form requiring the combination of skills from different talents, including storytelling, music and movement. Getting a musical right is much more formidable than with a straight play. Writing a musical can be likened to assembling a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece must be placed exactly. If you remove one song, you might land up with two ballads in a row, which could affect the scene’s momentum. Or if you add an extra song to a minor character, you might undermine a main character’s developmental arc.

Mastering the craft of writing a musical is a long journey that requires guidance. All roads lead to Rome, and this is equally true of musical theatre writing. You can start with a synopsis or plot outline, or you can start with fashioning the main characters. You can start with the book or the songs. No matter which route you take, it is usually difficult for rookie writers and composers to come up with a masterpiece on their first attempt.

Each participant is assigned a mentor. A series of readings in front of experienced writers, directors, and performers, who are primed to give diplomatic critiques, is invaluable in the developmental process. A set of assessment rubrics has been developed to allow for more accurate and detailed evaluation of the musical.
1. The first reading focuses on the book and story.
2. The second reading adds singing of the songs.
3. The third is a concert-like performance of the entire musical with no sets, no costumes, and scripts held in the hand.
4. The fourth and final step is a no-frills performance in a small stage.

It is through such a process that we can develop thrilling, vibrant and ground-breaking musical theatre.

Major cities with a thriving musical theatre scene have organizations dedicated to the creation of new works. These include:
a) New York BMI Musical Theatre Workshop http://www.bmi.com/genres/C2687
b) Chicago Theatre Building http://www.theatrebuildingchicago.org/
c) Mercury Musical Developments http://www.mercurymusicals.com/

These companies have played important roles in developing new musicals in New York, Chicago, and London respectively. The developed musicals are then showcased to production houses, who, if they like the musical, take the show to the commercial stage.

We have studied the above models when in 2004 we set up Musical Theatre Society (later called Musical Theatre Limited) to develop original Singapore musicals.

The founding members have already had 10 years’ experience in writing and staging Singapore musicals before setting up Musical Theatre Limited. In a few short years, we have already established an outstanding track record in identifying and nurturing writers, musicians, choreographers, directors, and performers. Since our formation, we have successfully staged over 30 new Singapore musicals. Among our alumni are Iskandar Ismail, Bang Wenfu, Kenny Ngo, Clement Yang, Jack Ho, who are now very successful professional musicians. Our writers include Stella Kon, Robert Yeo, Ng Yi-Sheng, who are also successful professionals. In addition, we have discovered and mentored more than a dozen younger writers and composers.

One of the songs written by Sean Wong for the musical “Heartstrings” was picked up by Universal Music for one of their Hong Kong pop singers. The musical "Georgette", featuring the life of pioneer Singapore artist Georgette Chen, has received critical acclaim, and we brought it overseas for a performance in Manila in 2008. Our puppet musical "The Legend of Red Hill" has won second prize in an international puppet festival in 2008. We were invited to write the television musical "School House Rockz" received the highest AC Nielsen rating of 11% by a local show, and was nominated for an Asian Television Award 2008.

Musical Theatre Limited has developed musical content not only for live stage, but also for television, movies, puppetry, and for the pop music industry. In future, we will be exploring the writing of musicals for animation and new media.

Musical Theatre Limited is ideally placed to help Singapore develop quality content for musical theatre and its allied industries, and to propel Singapore into the international arena.