teamwork wins championships...

in michael jordan's words" “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

i'm dedicating my day off work today to updating my blog. last saturday, i decided to watch P.Ramlee from a different seat in the audience. i have always wondered what the show would look like from right up close, so chose to sit right behind the main keyboardist and conductor, the talented young Jason Voo.

this must be the best seat in the house, in my opinion. if you appreciate watching talent, energy and focus at work, that is. i could see from right up close, just how every single member of the cast, ensemble, musicians and even the "transformers", really give their all both onstage as well as off. the energy coming from the stage and from the orchestra pit is so infectious one can't help but whoop and cheer them on. i watch in awe at this group of 70 onstage and the 11musicians and 8back-up vocalists who have been performing 11 shows in a row since the 29th may, and am amazed at how dedicated every one of them are to their job, telling the story of the rise and fall of Malaysia's greatest entertainment icon.

in a production like p.ramlee, what you don't see from just being in the audience is just what it takes for every single one of the many, many elements in the whole production to happen at exactly the right time, on cue, or we fail. if at any one time, ANYONE decides it going to be his "day off", and he or she switches off for even a split second, forgets a line, messes up a music cue, forgets a dance move, forgets to run onstage, wears the wrong outfit, touch wood lah of course.. or even the guy you DON'T see onstage, the back projection operators Danny Hoo and team, imagine if they put on the wrong slide or played the projection late, or if Pat Gui or any of her super stage management team "switched off" and lost focus for even a split second and forgot to cue oneof the sets to come flying down or to be pushed on, that would be unforgiveable. but every one of the 200 people in the production know just how their part no matter how big or small is so integral to the success of the whole production.

i'm watching every single show and usually have my mobile phone handy so i can take notes on little details we need to fix - timig of the train coming in, norizan's bra back that bugged me cos i can't help but notice it (tks shada for fixing this!), the azizah-ramlee duet, watching out for details like whether baby erin's side slits show off too mck leg, whether musly looks good in all his outfits in each scene, actors audio levels in specific scenes etc. and everyone knows i'm watching and taking notes when they see me whip out my infamous bling baby mid-way through a performance. nothing escapes me, and they know i'm there to keep everyone on their oes and i do this cos i want the show to be absolutely perfect and i expect nothing short of PERFECT. i don't think we will come across the opportunity to do something like this very often, not unless we get a special grant for it or something falls out from the sky, so i want us to deserve the credit and accolades and not feel we cold have done better.

i watch the show and i must say i am so proud of everyone involved in making P.Ramlee-the Musical the show everybody calls "world class" and the show that proves Malaysia Boleh. hats off to you, cast, emsemble, stage management crew, transformers, musicians, projection team, sound team, lights, front of house, enfiniti's production maagement team, and the talented bunch of ppl i call my creatives. you are the reason why we ROCK.

Earvin Magic Johnson said this: “Everybody on a championship team doesn't get publicity, but everyone can say he's a champion.”