meet our new p.ramlee!

gosh it really HAS been ages since i last posted. so much has happened i can't even find a point to start. been travelling - to egypt, on a gorgeous nile cruise and a very historical journey back in time, and then to greece, for the continuation of that historical trail (for 2 days, at least - then i couldn't stand it any longer and had to get away to the gorgeous greek islands to get my sanity back again. well thats the excuse i needed to give myself anyway, ha ha)

the greek islands part of the vacation wasn't much of a work-free vacae anywayz, my dear friend and compatriot adlin saw to that. SOS SOS CALL ME BACK URGENT was his sms to me. now, nothing freaks me out more than the word SOS cos that almost always means trouble. adlin told me that we had a fantastic turnout at our recent auditions for p.ramlee singapore tour/season2, and one of the new faces that walked through the door almost made him fall off his chair - this guy was p.ramlee reincarnated. in the audition, he even behaved, sang and spoke like p.ramlee, God rest his soul... the big question adlin posed to me was whether or not enfiniti was prepared to take our chances with a new p.ramlee, with only 6 weeks to go til showtime.

gosh babe, don't do this to me,i said - not when i'm thousands of miles away like this! we were due to announce the cast line up officially to the singapore press in 2 days.

thats what happens on an "ordinary" day in the life of tiara i guess. and like they say in tinseltown, THATS SHOWBUSINESS! anything can happen, change is challenge, and we have to be ready to take chances if we want to be part of that change. thank heavens for technology. i had to watch a quicktime video audition of this new guy and decide.

that day, a new star was born.

last thursday eja and nora broke the news of our new cast line-up to our friends in the media. this was our media statement:

Tiara's statement on P. Ramlee The Musical's cast line-up.

As producer, I enjoy the excitement of how different elements change the dynamics of "live" theatre. I also love exploring with and discovering fresh talent, new energy, which is integral for the growth of the arts industry. One of the most fulfilling part of my job is the opportunity to realize peoples' full potential and realizing their
dreams.

I'm glad we are able to stage this musical again, because even though 25,000 people came to celebrate this tribute with us, when P.Ramlee's premier season opened on 18th October 2007 at Istana Budaya, many more missed the chance to watch the show as all tickets were sold out before curtains went up on opening night.

This season, we have the opportunity of presenting a fresh take on our musical based on the life, the loves and the inspiration of P. Ramlee. With this, we also have the opportunity to enhance the show and to
heighten the pace, making it more engaging and entertaining than the first season. With "live" theatre, every time you change any of the creative elements, it completely changes the dynamics of the show.
This is one of the wonders of theatre that I personally enjoy very much.

the cast line-up for P. Ramlee Tour Singapore & Season 2 Istana Budaya:

Principal:

Musly Ramlee - P.Ramlee

Liza Hanim (nominated for best actor, theatre category – boh cameronian awards 2008)- Saloma

Melissa Saila (nominated for best supporting actor, theatre category – boh cameronian awards 2008) - Noorizan

Atilia Haron ( nominated for best female vocalist and best newcomer (female) – AIM) - Junaidah

Emelda Rosmila - Azizah

Supporting Actors:

Chedd Yusuf (nominated for best supporting actor, theatre category – boh cameronian awards 2008)-P.Ramlee's best friend Sukardi

Andy, Alvin and Rafik of "Infinatez" - The Paparazzi

Azrul "Cham" - The Paparazzi

Baby Erin, Ruzana Ibrahim & Nadia Aqilah - Tiga Dara

Douglas Lim & Colin Kirton - The Shaw Brothers

Joseph Gonzales - BS Rajhans

Wan Kenari Ibrahim - D'Harris


On Musly Ramlee:

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I watched a recording of his audition, to see how much like P. Ramlee he looked and sounded. He has captivated the imagination of Adlin Aman Ramlie who is the writer and director for this season, and when Zahim (associate director for season 2) auditioned him, they both agreed that Musly WAS P. Ramlee. I believe Musly will bring to the show a fresh interpretation of the character of P. Ramlee, and literally "bring to life" the persona of this great man.


On Emelda:

Emelda Rosmila is an established TV actress, and has garnered a huge base of fans through her dual role in the popular TV3 series, ManjaLara.

Playing Azizah, P.Ramlee's first love, will be her first experience acting for the stage. Emelda delivered a very soulful audition,
pleasantly surprising us with her singing, but being an actress first, she has managed to bring a different meaning to the P. Ramlee-Azizah love scenes as well as the lyrics of the Azizah-P. Ramlee love theme.

In a musical, the criteria for selection is always the acting capability first, and the singing second.

With the new Musly-Emelda partnership playing P. Ramlee and Azizah respectively, I'm looking forward to something fresh and more exciting to watch.


On Roslan:

Enfiniti is happy to be working with Roslan Aziz again, after our very successful partnership on Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical. Being a musical, the music makes up more than 50% of the "soul" of the show, and having a different man at the helm will no doubt give the show a whole different feel. Roslan is a huge fan of P. Ramlee, and has
researched his work thoroughly for past album projects such as Sheila Majid's "Lagenda". I'm looking forward to being wow-ed again by the magic that only Roslan Aziz can create with his music.

On Adlin:

This will be Adlin's first foray as solo director for this season. Zahim Albakri will play the role of Associate Director. The creative team (Adlin, Zahim, Pat, and Malek) and I had a very thorough post-mortem session of season 1 and we looked at the different ways we could further improve on the show for this season. Adlin is working on
the changes and the new season promises to be more fresh and exciting.


Adlin on Musli:

Creative people are never satisfied with our work. We shouldn't be, if we want to keep improving. I want to take this opportunity for a second staging to further enhance and improve the show wherever possible. I'm glad that we received lots of feedback and comments from our friends in the media, as well as the public and people that considered themselves "specialists"(pakar) on the topic of P.Ramlee.

In our premiere season of P.Ramlee the Musical, we were aiming for a more "Broadway" traditional style of musical theatre. For the second season, we will try to present more of the "soul" and "spirit" of P.Ramlee, and also feature more of P.Ramlee's original songs.

When Musly turned up to audition, Zahim and I looked at each other and basically said to each other, do you see what I'm seeing? Musly was SO MUCH like P.Ramlee! I feel I would be doing a great injustice to my story and to the production if we didn't try him out.

Musly has "mastered" P.Ramlee from studying his past films and songs. "P.Ramlee" memang ada kat Musly – rupa dia, suara dia, gaya dia… cuma sekarang ni yang kita nak work on tu dalaman P.Ramlee.

On working with him – memang seronok dia lain kali ni. I'm enjoying this process because we share our different experiences – him from his study of P.Ramlee, and me from my point of view as writer and director. Its really exciting, and I think audiences will be in for a wonderful surprise.


Melissa Saila on Musly :

He impressed us all by being a carbon copy of P.Ramlee especially with the singing. It was scary to see a "jelmaan"
P.Ramlee & read the script with him! I hope we can get more insight of the LEGEND himself since Musly is a master of impersonating P.Ramlee. More importantly,i hope we will be able to achieve more than a predictable presentation and maintain the musical and theatrical aspect of performance. Musly is diligent and a high achiever and I think we should work hard to bring this guy another level higher.


Chedd on Musly :

"With musli, the rehearsals aren't complete without laughter and it is weird and scary at the time because he looks and sounds like the real thing!"


so, fingers and toes are crossed, and rehearsals are looking very very very promising, and i hope everyone in singapore and k.l will welcome a fresh new musical star who's here to stay. check his first promotional pics out for yourselves:














friends in the media have been real supportive - THANK YOU GUYS! here are links to the articles on musly ramlee so far:

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/Features/20080410152749/Article/index_html

http://www.bharian.com.my/Current_News/BH/Monday/Hip/20080414065629/Article/index_html

http://www.murai.com.my/article/default.asp?article_id=1063&c=1&s=1



till the next post...