Had a last minute invitation to go see Always in Wonderland? at the Black Box in mapkl tonight, the new art space in Mont Kiara. Since I had never been there before, I was just as lost as the friend who invited me (his mum had free tickets, how she got them is a bit of a long story). But the place wasn't that hard to find in the end, really. Left PJ around 7.30 p.m. to allow for traffic, but ended up there pretty early.
There's really not much to be seen there, and still quite unoccupied. The space inside was equivalent to KLPac's Pentas 2. The seats were cushioned, but not all that comfortable, which I guess must be the point so that people don't downright fall asleep watching cos they were getting too comfy. The pillars also didn't really help with some of the view. I was so glad that there was both ceiling fans and air conditioning going at the same time.
According to the Facebook event page, the weekday show tickets are sold out but there were still empty seats in the house tonight. Makes me wonder how many of the tickets were comped. Oh well. Dato' Zahim (Albakri) was also in attendance tonight, but was seated a couple rows behind us on the right side of the stage.
Always in Wonderland? is Nell Ng's first writing and directed maiden production of her brand new company, PAN Productions (Peter Ong, Alizakri Alias and Nell Ng, geddit?). You know you're behind the times in the local entertainment scene when the few faces that you knew are from the 90s, like Chelsia Ng and Rina Omar (in her theatre debut). I literally didn't know anyone else on stage.
The basic premise was is there really a "happily ever after?, even in fairy tale?"
In this musical comedy, Gloria, a young girl seeks out the help and advice from her favourite fairy-tale characters for the secret of ‘happily ever-after’. How will she find her happily ever-after despite her over-bearing Fairy Godmother, a meddling Guardian Angel, and a whole host of over-the-top characters intent on giving their two cents worth? Will love triumph in the end?
It was a weird, cobbled-together musical (and also some Alice in Wonderland sans Alice) where some version of some of the Disney princesses and their beaus, plus main leads Gloria (Chelsia) and Baby (don't ask me why; played by Alexander Amado Johnson) singing love ballads from what seems to be every decade, especially the 80s. People behind us were complaining about how loud it was, but I thought it was fine (which is not saying much because I've been to louder concerts).
The 10 minute intermission was not enough for any lady (I think) to go to the bathroom downstairs in heels and back in time, which might explain why some people came back in a little late. During the second half, Ms Nell parked herself on our side of the stage and was the one initiating the applause and cheer.
People can also have their picture taken with the cast after the show. Just thought you'd want to know.
I will honestly say that I wouldn't have paid for this myself, but if you do want to get tickets, they're RM58, RM68 and RM78 (which I guess includes admin fee, etc) and is running until the weekend. Heard that tickets for the week are sold out and there are only weekend matinee tickets are left.
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