Pangdemonium 2019 Season
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Music & Lyrics
Book & Lyrics
Mark Hollmann
Greg Kotis
Starring
Adrian Pang Andrew Marko Benjamin Chow Bright Ong Edward Choy Erwin Shah Ismail Ethel Yap Farhan Hassan Jo Tan Joash Tang Kimberly Chan Mae Elliessa Mina Ellen Kaye Sean Ghazi Seong Hui Xuan Muhammad Shafiq Haziq Vanessa Kee Musical Direction
Vocal Coach
Choreography
Joel Nah
TJ Taylor
Andy Benjamin Cai
Production Design
Lighting Design
Costume Designer
Eucien Chia
James Tan
Leonard Augustine Choo
Sound Design
Props
Jeffrey Yue (Ctrl Fre@k)
Daniel Sim & Melissa Ho
Hair Design
Makeup Design
Ashley Lim
Bobbie Ng (The Makeup Room) Directed by
Tracie Pang Produced by
Tracie Pang & Adrian Pang Drama Centre Theatre • 27 Sep to 13 Oct 2019
URINETOWN was produced on Broadway in September, 2001 by the Araca Group and Dodger Theatricals in association with TheaterDreams, Inc. and Lauren Mitchell URINETOWN, THE MUSICAL is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also provided by MTI. 423 West 55th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10019 USA Phone: 212-541-4684 Fax: 212-397-4684 www.MTIShows.com
The duration of this performance is approximately two hours & 20 minutes, including a 15-minute interval
Artistic Directors’ Message 6
“Fight for the right to pee for free, wherever you like, whenever you like, for as long as you like, and with whomever you like!”
anger and fear. But at the behest of the mayor, the show reopened, together with the rest of Broadway, inviting audiences to return nine days after the attacks. The audience that turned up appeared anxious, but eager to be in one another’s company. Director John Rando walked onstage before curtain up and addressed the audience, saying simply that “another word for life is creativity”. Theatre, he said, could not save lives, nor put out fires, but it could offer creativity and life, which was what Urinetown hoped to offer that night.
Nineteen months after premiering at the Fringe, Urinetown opened Off-Broadway on 1st April 2001, a presumed April Fools’ joke for some. Miraculously, it was a hit all over again. Urinetown was headed for Broadway.
Kotis recalls: “Whatever fears that group of theatre-goers had, for themselves, or for their city, the actors and musicians and crew had also. But those fears were shushed away for the evening by the choice to be together, in that place, at that time”.
After two weeks of previews at its Broadway home, the Henry Miller Theatre, and a promising press night on 10th September 2001, things were looking good for its official opening three nights later. But that performance, of course, never took place. Because on Tuesday, 11th September, two planes struck the Twin Towers. Broadway, as did everything else in New York, went dark. Amidst the shock and grief, the creators of Urinetown could not imagine presenting their musical comedy lampooning a city in the grip of confusion, anger and fear, to a city in the grip of a new kind of confusion,
The once-“unproduceable” Urinetown turned out to be more than just an acclaimed, multi-award winning musical. In the darkest of times, it offered a shared experience that people didn’t know they would need: it became a symbol of hope, comfort, solidarity, laughing and singing in the face of fear, and “the most gripping and galvanizing theatre experience” (New York Times). Today, 20 years after its inauspicious premiere, with the world at a another new level of confusion, anger and fear, it seems we need Urinetown again. Part hilarious absurdist parody, part ironic tongue-in-cheek satire (thankfully, deemed by the Media Literary Council to not be fake news), part sobering mirror to society, it addresses some of the most pressing problems in our 21st century world: patriarchal control vs. personal freedoms; corporate corruption masquerading as entrepreneurial innovation; the challenges of environmental conservation; the rising tide of populism; the growing divide between rich and poor. And as we cast judgments on our neighbours’ civil unrest, and dissent over university courses on dissent, Urinetown even dares to question well-intentioned change-makers who are ill-equipped to meet the demands of change. We hope you find it as invigorating, exhilarating and galvanizing as it has been for us.
Speaking of invigorating, exhilarating and galvanizing, 2020 will mark ten years since Pangdemonium debuted with six naked, dancing men in our sold-out production of the musical THE FULL MONTY. So what better way to celebrate a decade of “ass-kicking adventures in theatre” than to have six men kicking and baring asses (and more) all over again?! We are also privileged to be giving a Pangdemonium spin to Tennessee Williams’ hauntingly beautiful memory play, THE GLASS MENAGERIE. And we’re thrilled to bring you the latest gem by playwright Florian Zeller (The Father), a devastating drama called THE SON. Yes, 2020 is gonna be extra memorable, and Season Tickets are already on sale, so grab yours at pangdemonium.com or SISITC now!
Artistic Directors’ Message
In 1999, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis somehow got their “unproduceable” musical Urinetown on the bill of the New York International Fringe Festival. Performing in a converted garage, it became a sleeper hit. The show was then “adopted” by a group of upstart producers, The Araca Group, who took a chance (and many loans) to fund further development of the piece. This led to a staged reading for industry players, including Dodger Theatricals, perhaps the biggest players at the time, who wanted to play with Hollmann and Kotis.
Many thanks to our brilliant 2019 Season Sponsor, DBS, who is returning as our 2020 Season Sponsor! Deepest appreciation also to our Production Sponsors and Official Supporters, the National Arts Council, our sexy Season Ticket holders, foxy Friends of Pangdemonium, and wonderful White Knights Anthonia and Leo. To the Urinetown cast, creatives, and stage, production and technical teams, thank you all for kicking ass beyond the call of ass-kicking duty. And as always, love and gratitude to the amazing Pangdemonium family. For now, hold on to your bladders and get ready for Urinetown! Lots of love,
Adrian & Tracie Pang Artistic Directors
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Playwright’s Message
Urine deep water if you think there’s no crisis
“Hail Malthus!” the Urinetownsfolk proclaim in the musical. “Who dat?” you might well respond.
Thomas Robert Malthus: “Basically, we’re screwed.”
Well, Thomas Robert Malthus was an English cleric and scholar in the late1700s, who gave the world a reality check by observing that mankind has a propensity to utilize abundance for population growth rather than for maintaining a high standard of living. Populations, he said, have a tendency to grow and expend resources until the lower classes suffer hardship and greater susceptibility to famine and disease, a view that is sometimes referred to as a Malthusian catastrophe. In 1989, respected writer Isaac Asimov was asked, “What happens to the dignity of the human species if population growth continues at its present rate, and water resources continue to deplete?” Asimov replied: “I like to use what I call my bathroom metaphor: if two people live in an apartment and there are two bathrooms, then both have freedom of the bathroom. You can go to the bathroom anytime you want to stay as long as you want for whatever you need. And everyone believes in freedom of the bathroom…But if you have twenty people in the apartment and two bathrooms, no matter how much every person believes in freedom of the bathroom, there is no such thing… In the same way, human dignity cannot survive [overpopulation]. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more people onto the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn’t matter if someone dies, the more people there are, the less one person matters.’’ How very Urinetown. Common sense tells us that water is precious. But here in our first world bubble, we still waste it.
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The 1962 Water Agreement between Singapore and Malaysia allows Singapore to draw up to 250 million gallons of raw water from Johor daily at 1.01 Singapore cents per 1,000 gallons. Johor in turn buys treated water from Singapore at 16 Singapore cents per 1,000 gallons. Following recent comments from Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that his government needs to discuss with Singapore the price at which water is being sold both ways, we are reminded how fragile this whole deal is, and indeed, how delicate our water resources are. For years, dry spells in Johor and difference of opinions between Singapore and Malaysia, have raised concerns about the nation’s water resources among Singaporeans. There has been muttering about the possibility of water rationing, even though the last time this was carried out was in the 1960s. In 1995, in an unusual campaign that lasted six days, an island-wide water rationing exercise was conducted in Singapore, involving 30,000 households. During this period, the water supply was interrupted for 14 hours on each day. The objective was to remind Singaporeans, especially youths, about the importance of water. Since 1965 when Singapore became independent, our population has increased exponentially, with the country reinventing itself many times while amassing more water resources. It has increased its size by about 25% through land reclamation, and has developed 17 reservoirs from the three in 1965. The land area from which it is possible to collect water has increased to more than 67% from 11%. Singapore has become the leading country in producing reused water with NEWater covering up to 40% of daily demand. Desalination produces up to 25% of daily requirements. Singapore has also invested, and continues investing, in research and development, education and training when it comes to water.
Water consumption in Singapore has since decreased in the last few years. While some have attributed the decrease in water consumption to the contentious increase in water prices in 2017, does this mean that the price of water should increase every year, as it is the case with electricity, for people to be more conscious of its use? And with the Hyflux debacle this year there is a renewed anxiety about new water price hikes. In many countries, water scarcity has been a ticking time bomb. Cape Town, one of Africa’s most affluent metropolises, was on the brink of disaster when it rapidly approached “Day Zero” – a moment when dam levels would be so low that taps would be turned off, and people must start queuing for water. While the city narrowly missed “Day Zero” as predictions pushed the day to 2019, the rest of the world watched closely, reminded that water scarcity is an ever-present threat for all nations.
Urine deep water if you think there’s no crisis
Technology has allowed us to reconsider our relationship with the water system, which has traditionally been a one-way process, moving water from supply to demand. Realtime sensors and data analytics are increasingly used in Singapore and the region to conduct pre-emptive and predictive maintenance of the entire system. Intelligent technology can also predict changes in demand, and proactively adjust water pressures to prevent excessive stress on pipes. On the demand side, data can help increase public awareness of water issues and strengthen conservation efforts. One study by the PUB and the National University of Singapore found that a person could save up to 5 litres of water a day using smart shower devices. The Singapore Government will be deploying these devices in new homes under a demonstration project with the Housing Development Board.
The threat in Asia is more present than ever – water demand is predicted to increase by 55% by 2050, as populations also increase. A recent study by MIT found an additional 200 million people across Asia would be vulnerable to severe water shortages by 2050. Worsening climate conditions such as droughts further dwindle our limited water resources Despite national and regional cooperation to tackle water issues, progress is not coming fast enough as Asia’s water woes worsen. In October last year, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) painted an even more alarming picture, claiming that there are only 12 years left for countries to limit the impact of climate change. Left unabated, it could lead to extensive drought, floods and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. And in May this year, a report from Australian think-tank Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration warned that a dystopian world beset by “outright chaos”, overwhelming threats to global security and political panic, could be upon mankind by 2050. Titled “Existential climate-related security risk: A scenario approach”, noted that if the world continues on its current trajectory over the next decade, it will likely lock in at least 3°C of global warming.
Asian countries have their own issues: Myanmar loses some 100 million gallons of water daily in the supply process due to theft, metering inaccuracies or leaks caused by wear and tear in pipes from high water pressure conditions. In Malaysia, water pressure in ageing pipes results in pipe bursts, causing frequent water supply shortages that affect both citizens and businesses.
Not quite water under the bridge
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Urine deep water if you think there’s no crisis
This could lead to a number of ecosystems collapsing, including the coral reef systems, the Amazon rainforest and the Arctic, said the report. North America would suffer from devastating wildfires and heatwaves, summer monsoons in China will exacerbate, while rainfall in Mexico as well as central America would fall by half. More than a billion people across South-east Asia, West Africa, South America and the Middle East will be displaced as their environment becomes unliveable, owing to deadly heat conditions that persist for more than 100 days per year. Water availability will decrease sharply, affecting about two billion people, while there could be a significant drop in food production amid an increasing number of extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods and storms. The impact on the environment could have consequences on national security too, said the report. Nations will be “overwhelmed by the scale of change and pernicious challenges” such as pandemic diseases. They have painted a “disturbing picture of the real possibility that human life on Earth may be on the way to extinction, in the most horrible way”. “The internal cohesion of nations will be under great stress, both as a result of a dramatic rise in migration and changes in agricultural patterns and water availability,” said the report. Armed conflict could break out between nations over resources. Worse, a nuclear war “is possible”.
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The authors of the report pointed out that the scenario “provides a glimpse into a world of ‘outright chaos’ on a path to the end of human civilisation and modern society as we have known it, in which the challenges to global security are simply overwhelming and political panic becomes the norm”. And in June this year, Philip Alston, the UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty, warned that democracy, could be at risk as governments struggle to make major changes to cope. “The human rights community,” he wrote, “has been every bit as complacent as most governments in the face of the ultimate challenge to mankind represented by climate change. The entire human rights community has failed to face up to the fact that human rights might not survive the coming upheaval.” Alston’s report said that “sombre speeches by government officials at regular conferences are not leading to meaningful action.” He added: “The Human Rights Council can no longer afford to rely only on the time-honoured techniques of organizing expert panels, calling for reports that lead nowhere, urging others to do more but doing little itself, and adopting wide-ranging but inconclusive and highly aspirational resolutions.” He warned of a possible “climate apartheid”, where the rich pay to escape from the climate emergency, “while the rest of the world is left to suffer.”
Here in Singapore, environmental and ecological concerns seem to only be dawning on people in recent years. For most of us, it is easier to live in denial of the impact that the climate crisis has on how we live day to day – the energy we misuse and abuse, the senseless waste we generate, and the water that we take so much for granted. What is the Achilles’ heel in the case of Singapore’s water supply? Public inertia to water waste? The water supply from Malaysia? Climate change? The answer is: all of the above. Yes, Singaporeans are notorious for being apathetic about conserving anything. Yes, the water deal with Malaysia is fragile. Yes, we are on the brink of an ecological disaster. And all these have direct impact on our delicate water resources. It is clear that water management is one of the biggest socio-economicecological issues of the 21st century. And as Singapore’s “cross-border water crisis” continues to unfold, common sense would dictate that, for the sake of human dignity and survival, we all need to spare a thought for the preciousness of water, and not flush away something we need so much but so easily take for granted, and avoid a Malthusian catastrophe. Otherwise we all might as well be living in Urinetown.
“I give a shit. Do you?”
“I give a shit. Do you?” 19th November is World Toilet Day, an official United Nations international observance day to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. On 19th November 2001, the World Toilet Organization (WTO) was founded by Jack Sim, a philanthropist from Singapore. Twelve years later, the UN General Assembly declared World Toilet Day an official UN day in 2013. UN-Water is the official convener of World Toilet Day, choosing a special theme for each year, including “I give a shit. Do you?”, “toilets and jobs” and “toilets and nutrition”. Events are planned by UN entities, international organizations, local civil society organizations and volunteers to raise awareness and inspire action. The WTO believes that toilets are important because access to a safe functioning toilet has a positive impact on public health, human dignity, and personal safety. Sanitation systems that do not safely treat excreta allow the spread of disease. Serious soiltransmitted diseases and waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid, dysentery and schistosomiasis can result. The Human Right to Water and Sanitation was recognized as a human right by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 28th July 2010. Still, 4.5 billion people live without “safely managed sanitation” worldwide. Around 892 million people worldwide practise open defecation. Of those, 678 million live in just seven countries. India has the highest number of people (about 525 million) practising open defecation, a task that is especially hazardous for women and girls. 58% of all cases of diarrhoea worldwide in 2015 were caused by unsafe water, poor sanitation and poor hygiene practices, such as inadequate handwashing. This resulted in half a million children under the age of five dying from diarrhoea per year. Providing sanitation has been estimated to lower the odds of children suffering diarrhoea by 7–17%, and under-five mortality by 5–20%.
World Toilet Day: addressing the number one (and number two) issues facing many countries
In 2013, a joint initiative between the Government of Singapore and the World Toilet Organization led to Singapore’s first UN resolution, named “Sanitation for All”. The resolution calls for collective action to end the world’s sanitation crisis. Meanwhile, wielding a jar of poop at the Reinvented Toilet Expo in Beijing last November, Bill Gates proved he gives more than a shit about sanitation: he has invested over US$200 million to create a “pathogen-killing” toilet that can break down human waste and destroy germs. The new toilets leave behind clean water and solids that can be used as fertilizer, or disposed of safely outdoors without further treatment, Mr Gates claims. Of the revolutionary process, he said: “I watched the piles of faeces go up the conveyer belt and drop into a large bin…They made their way through the machine, getting boiled and treated. A few minutes later I took a long taste of the end result: a glass of delicious drinking water. I’m not kidding, I would happily drink it every day”.
Bill Gates is not taking the piss - he really does give a shit
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Toilet stories from around the world
Toilet stories from around the world The Little Girl and the Big Toilet Standoff
Hanifa and her dream toilet
A recent study found that 89% of rural Indians defecate in the open because they do not want to clean toilets or live close to one - an attitude which, researchers say, is “rooted in the social forces of caste and untouchability”. 7 year-old Hanifa, who lives with her parents in Ambur in Tamil Nadu, did not have a toilet in her house. “I was ashamed to go outside and I felt bad when people looked at me,” she said. She was especially motivated to ask her father to build a toilet after learning in school about the health problems caused by open defecation. Her father said he would build the toilet if she topped her class, which she did, but he rescinded on his promise. So, armed with a bag filled with trophies and merit certificates, she submitted a letter to the police. “I have been topping my class since nursery,” she wrote. “I am in the second grade now. And he is still only saying he will do it. This is a form of cheating, so please arrest him.” Her unemployed father told BBC Tamil he had actually begun building the toilet, but did not have enough money to complete it. He said: “I asked Hanifa to give me more time but she stopped talking to me.” Hanifa’s efforts won the support of the police. District officials raised money to build more than 500 toilets in her neighbourhood, and she became the local face of the national Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign). Hanifa hadn’t spoken to her father for 10 days but the police brokered peace and they finally shook hands.
Malaysia Tandas Boleh! The Rantau Abang public toilet in Terengganu was named the Best Toilet in the Asean Best Toilet Standard 2019 – 2021 category in conjunction with the Asean Tourism Forum 2019 held in Ha Long City, Vietnam. Caretaker/cleaner Faridah Sariman, 46, was flushed with excitement when she found out about it. “I was so surprised and did not expect for the toilet to be recognised at Asean level,” said Faridah, who’s been cleaning the toilet with her husband Zainuddin Mat Ali, 44, for six years. Faridah added that the toilet had received several recognitions before, such as the silver recipient at the World Toilet Day which was held in Kuala Lumpur in 2016. “In 2017 and 2018, the toilet received an award from Terengganu Local Authority and I’m still proud of that. I care for the toilet like I care for my own. I’ll make sure it stays open, clean and fresh 365 days,” she said. “My job is to make sure the toilet is clean, odourless with good lighting and ventilation,” she continued.
A Shocking Shit In South Carolina in 1981, 28-yearold Michael Anderson Godwin was found guilty of sexual assault and murder, and was sentenced to death. An appeal saved him from the electric chair, amending his sentence to life imprisonment. But in 1989, destiny caught up with him. Godwin was perched on a steel prison toilet, taking a dump while attempting to fix a pair of headphones attached to his television set. He bit into the wire, and was electrocuted to death.
There’s also no store-bought air freshener in the toilet. Instead, Faridah uses traditional method to get rid of the bad odour. “I use pandan leaves and ‘bunga rampai’ to get rid of the smell” she said, adding “Some people look down on my job, but that won’t dampen my spirit to be a dedicated toilet cleaner.”
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Best in Terengganu, Malaysia, and some say Asean
When you gotta go, you gotta go
Toilet stories from around the world
Shit and wait
Game of Thrones In 2009, a woman in Singapore held a two and a half year vigil on the bowl, claiming that she had “felt a force holding her down”.
Very Public Toilet
This is not the only case of a someone holding long term residence of the toilet. In February 2008, authorities were ordered to the home of Kory McFarren in Kansas, reporting that his girlfriend Pam Babcock had been sitting on the toilet for some time – two years, in fact. It was so long that her skin had grown around the toilet seat. When police arrived, Babcock was found doing the ironing while perched on the toilet seat.
Millions of people worldwide have little or no access to sanitary facilities. In the harshest areas of Nairobi the most commonly used method of waste disposal is the “flying toilet”. A plastic bag is defecated in, then hurled away as far as possible. Public areas end up strewn with bags of human waste, causing diseases such as malaria and typhoid fever to breed. In rainy seasons, it is especially treacherous, as floodwaters wash the waste through people’s homes and into their drinking water.
Paramedics were forced to remove the seat, which was then surgically separated from Babcock at the hospital. McFarren was told that Babcock suffered from a mental disorder, to which he replied “No shit.” On the upside, he was grateful for his pristinely ironed shirts. And three years ago in China, a 24-year old man spent half an hour sitting on the toilet, while surfing the net on his mobile phone. Sitting in the same position for too long put a strain on his blood circulation. Furthermore, the air circulation in the toilet was poor due to its confined space. When he suddenly shifted from sitting to standing, his blood pressure dropped, a condition known as orthostatic hypotension, and led to him becoming paralysed.
Squeeze it, bag it, fling it
Singapore’s Most In-Demand Public Toilet On June 24 2018, two men, aged 32 and 29, were arrested for fighting over a public toilet urinal in Aljunied MRT station. The men had been arguing over whose turn it was to use the last available urinal in the toilet. It escalated into a big fight, from inside the toilet to outside, that also involved the men’s respective companions. Officers from the Public Transport Security Command were alerted, and broke up the fight before the shit really hit the fan.
A re-enactment
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Cast Biographies
Cast Biographies
Bright Ong Tiny Tom/Dr Billeaux/Cop
Benjamin Chow Bobby Strong
Adrian Pang Officer Lockstock Adrian’s UK theatre credits include Hair; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Comedy of Errors; The Magic Fundoshi; The Mens Womb; A Christmas Carol; Tormented; The Circles of Paradise; One for The Road; Sleeping Beauty; New Territories; Take Away and Privates on Parade. Singapore stage work includes the title roles in Hamlet and Macbeth; Twelfth Night; Forbidden City; Into the Woods; The Glass Menagerie; Little Shop of Horrors; They’re Playing Our Song; Barefoot in the Park; A Twist of Fate; Boeing Boeing; The God of Carnage; The Weight of Silk on Skin. For Pangdemonium: The Full Monty; Closer; Dealer’s Choice; Spring Awakening; Swimming with Sharks; Next to Normal; The Rise & Fall of Little Voice; Frozen; Circle Mirror Transformation; Tribes; Chinglish; The Effect; Falling; Rent; The Pillowman; Fun Home; Dragonflies; Peter and the Starcatcher; Late Company; This is What Happens to Pretty Girls. At the Straits Times Life Theatre Awards Adrian has won the Best Actor Award four times, for The Dresser; Much Ado About Nothing; Rabbit Hole and The LKY Musical. The productions he is most proud of are his two sons Zack and Xander.
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Andrew Marko Officer Barrel Andrew is an actor and a musician who loves to cook, write, and build houses in The Sims 4. Andrew loves improv comedy and has been spending a lot of time jamming and doing shows as part of the group Improvanopolis, and with his improv comedy band, Lobbyj. Andrew is most known for his role as ‘Joshua’, a teenager with severe autism, in Pangdemonium’s production of Falling, for which he won an M1 The Straits Times Life! Theatre Award for Best Actor. Notable theatre credits: Rubber Girl is On The Loose (Cake Theatre); Peter and the Starcatcher (Pangdemonium); Private Parts (Michael Chiang’s Playthings); Mama White Snake (Wild Rice); Koko the Great (Cake Theatre); Every Brilliant Thing (Bhumi Collective); Electra (Cake Theatre); Falling (Pangdemonium); RENT (Pangdemonium); and The Emperor’s New Clothes (Wild Rice).
As an actor, Benjamin has been seen, notably, as ‘Mark’ in RENT; ‘Smee’ in Peter & The Starcatcher; ‘Benmin’ in Tango (Pangdemonium); ‘Kin Jek’ in Press Gang (Wild Rice); ‘Prince Tun’ in Forbidden City (SRT); and as ‘Lim Chin Siong’ in The LKY Musical (Metropolitan Productions) - the last two roles twice earning him the Life! Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has also been seen in Dragonflies (Pangdemonium); Lao Jiu (The Theatre Practice); My Love is Blind (Generasia); Romeo & Juliet (SRT); Knuffle Bunny and Elephant and Piggy (Players Theatre); The Three Billy Goats Gruff; and Junior Claus (The Little Company). As a director, Benjamin has worked on Into the Woods (TEMAN) in Jakarta, and The Cave, an original work by Annabel Tan presented at the TwentySomething theatre Festival. As a spoken word artist and a singer/songwriter, he has also been featured at platforms such as the Esplanade Waterfront; the Esplanade Concourse; Destination: INK; The New Word Order; The Singapore Art Salon; SPEAK; and the Singapore Biennale. Benjamin is also a working Voice Over professional.
Bright is a performance-maker, actor and puppetry creative. A graduate from the National University of Singapore, he is a participant member of the Closed Community of Artists under The Paperboats Collective (Australia), having performed and created theatrical pieces for several festivals around the world, including the Georgetown Festival (Penang, Malaysia); Festival 2018 (Gold Coast, Australia, Commonwealth Games); Pesta Boneka 2018 (Yogyakarta, Indonesia); Light 2 Night (Singapore); Flipside (Singapore); and the 100 and 100 More Festival (Singapore). He is also an Associate Director with Five Stones Theatre, and Associate Artist with Mascots and Puppets Specialists. Theatre credits include: Pinocchio-The Musical (SRT); Macbeth-Shakespeare in the Park (SRT); Lan Fang Chronicles (Singapore Arts Festival 2012); Pretty Things (Substation); mOOn ballOOn (Esplanade and Patch Theatre, Australia); 2 Houses (Georgetown Festival 2014); Words & Music (NUS Arts Festival 2015); Roald Dahl’s The BFG (Player’s Theatre); Ma’ma Yong (Esplanade Pentas); Lord of the Flies (Blank Space Theatre and Sight Lines Productions); River of Time (Singapore Night Festival 2016, Director); The Pillowman (Pangdemonium); Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress (SRT); Especially on Birthdays (The Paperboats, Australia); Tree’s Company (Esplanade Flipside 2018, Director); Annie Ting and the Dragon (Tiny Feat, Director); Immortal X (The Theatre Practice, A. Director); and Legends of Singapore (Dick Lee Asia, Co-Director and Puppetry Consultant).
Cast Biographies
Erwin Shah Ismail Mr McQueen
Edward Choy Senator Fipp Edward graduated with a Master’s Degree in Theatre from the National University of Singapore, where he now lectures on a part-time basis, focusing on the fields of Acting Theory and Performance Studies. He has been acting for two decades now, with roles on stage and on screen, ranging from tragic characters in Shakespearean plays (he has spent many hours lying in a pool of fake blood on stage), the last emperor of the Ming dynasty, and as the doctor in Zombiepura, Singapore’s first zombie feature film. He also has a successful career as a voice actor, having voiced over 400 projects. Having worked in retail banking, Edward’s financial knowledge and performing experience allows him to host and moderate public forums for the Singapore Exchange – he firmly believes that financial literacy can really transform people’s lives. This is the third time he’s playing a politician on stage opposite Adrian Pang.
Erwin graduated with a BA(Hons) in Acting from LASALLE College of the Arts in 2011. To date, he has over 40 professional theatre credits with two nominations for Best Supporting Actor and winner for Best Ensemble in Dark Room at the Life! Theatre Awards. He has performed internationally in Malaysia, Philippines, Scotland and Peru. His credits with Pangdemonium include: Spring Awakening; RENT; Peter and the Starcatcher. Some notable credits include ‘Shaman’ in The Great Wall (Glowsticks); ‘Francis’ in La Cage Aux Folles and ‘Mercutio’ in Romeo & Juliet (Wild Rice); ‘Montano’ in Othello (SRT); ‘Xiao Song’ in 天 冷就回来 (The Theatre Practice); ‘Najip Ali’ in National Broadway Company (Esplanade); ‘Simon’ in Lord of the Flies (Sight Lines) and main stage company member of improv group, Improvanopolis. Erwin also wrote and performed his oneman show about a travelling leather crafter called Kulit on the Go and has toured it five times. Screen credits include Apprentice (Zhao Wei Films); Sent (HBO Asia); The Kitchen Musical (AXN); Naluri Ayah; 93m² and Interns (Mediacorp Suria). Aside from being a trilingual stage & screen actor, singer, host, voice artist and playwright, Erwin is a stuntman with Action Horizons Stunts and performs multiple roles for the Waterworld stunt show.
Farhan Hassan Robbie The Stockfish/ UGC Executive #1/Cop
Ethel Yap Little Becky Two Shoes/Cop Ethel Yap is a seasoned theatre actress and singer. She is an alumnus of NUS Theatre Studies (2011) and London’s Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2012). Her recent stage credits include Pangdemonium’s Tribes; The Theatre Practice’s If There’re Seasons, Liao Zhai Rocks!, Lao Jiu: The Musical and Four Horse Road; Gloria Ang’s Project Utopia (M1 Patch! Festival); Glowtape’s The Great Wall: One Woman’s Journey; Jo Tan’s Forked (M1 Singapore Fringe Festival); Dick Lee’s Beauty World; TNS’ Untitled Women; Wild Rice’s Jack and the Beansprout; Our Company’s Dear Nora; Yellow Chair Productions’ The Last Five Years and Toy Factory’s Romeo and Juliet. Her film and tv credits include feature film Our Sister Mambo; OKTO’s After School and Channel 5’s Code of Law. As a singer-songwriter, Ethel comes from a long line of notable local musicians under the Noise Music Mentorship Programme. She released the Ethel Yap EP in late 2017 a single, ‘Like’, in late 2018. You can listen to her music on Spotify, Apple Music and other digital platforms.
Farhan Hassan burst into the music scene in 1995 when he made his way to become a finalist in numerous singing competitions on national TV such as Asia Bagus; Fame Awards; and Mediacorp’s Talentime 2001. Other than singing, his other loves are dancing and acting. Farhan received professional training during his stint in the Singapore Armed Forces Music and Drama Company in 1998. Not one to be just in the limelight, he has also choreographed numerous events such as SYF; Chingay; NDP 2008; the YOG; and even 881 The Musical. He is now running his own dance fitness company and he is the creator of Project Dance Fitness. Proving his versatility on both stage and screen, he was nominated Best Male Supporting Role in a Drama Series in local Malay tv production series drama Anak Metropolitan 3. His theatre credits include Army Daze (2006, 2012 & 2013); Forbidden City; Beauty World; The Swordfish, Then The Concubine; Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs; Sleepless Town; The Little Nyonya Musical; Beauty And The Beast; To Kill A Mockingbird; Fried Rice Paradise (2010); Charged (Man Singapore Theatre Festival 2011); The Secret Life Of Nora (Istana Budaya, KL); Michael Chiang’s High Class; Ah Boys To Men: The Musical; Dim Sum Dollies® - The History of Singapore Part 1 & 2; The LKY Musical; and A Singapore Carol.
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Cast Biographies
Kimberly Chan Old Woman/ Josephine Strong/Cop
Joash Tang Old Man Strong/ Hot Blades Harry/Cop
Jo Tan Penelope Pennywise Jo is an actress and singer whose work has been seen as far as New York, Paris, London and Beijing. In Singapore, she has worked with various companies, with her performance in Checkpoint Theatre’s Frago scoring a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Life! Theatre Awards 2018. She’s also seen on screens of various sizes: On the small screen, she was a lead character alongside Elvin Ng and Felicia Chin in Mediacorp’s Channel 5 sitcom 20 Days, supporting character Hong Xia on Channel 8’s Jalan Jalan, and on Okto as lead antagonist Tigress Hong in Scrum Tigers. On the big screen, Jo played the female lead in Ho Tzu Nyen’s Cannes official selection film, Here, and in the upcoming Tiong Bahru Social Club. Jo’s also starred in various web films including Daniel Yam’s globally viral The Helper, with tens of millions of hits to date. She also sings and hosts, either solo or as one third of the Dim Sum Dollies. Jo has also started writing her own theatre scripts, and after her own one-woman show Forked in August, will also have two works staged this and next year.
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Joash is an actor, stage combatant, voice actor, and visual artist who got his first job in the theatre working backstage on The Full Monty with Pangdemonium. His theatre credits at LASALLE College of the Arts include: ‘The Boy’ in The Golden Dragon (Aubrey Mellor); ‘Bobby Strong’ in Urinetown (George Torbay) ‘Perchik’ in Fiddler on the Roof (Emily Maltby); ‘Mitchell M Mahoney’ in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Nicole Stinton); ‘Radames’ in Aida (Joe Barros); ‘King Henry’ in Henry V (Adam Marple); ‘Detective Sergeant William Henry Blore’ in And Then There Were None (Harris Jahim); ‘Arthur Goring’ in An Ideal Husband (Toby Papazoglou). Externally, his theatre credits include: ‘Danny Hiatt’ in The Last Five Years: A Gender Reversal (Cherilynn Woo); and as the Assistant Stage Choreographer on SRT Stage Two’s production of Dick Lee’s Rising Son (Eric Ting). Screen credits include: ‘Sonny’ in KIN: Matthew’s Story (Gavin Yap); and ‘Agent W’ in Zero Calling II (Lee Thean-jeen).
Kimberly Chan graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with a degree in Musical Theatre. Her theatre credits include: George’s Marvellous Medicine; Coraline (The Players Theatre); Three Billy Goats Gruff; Treasure Island; The Nightingale (SRT); Great Wall One Woman’s Journey (Glowtape Productions); Detention Katong (Dream Academy); Pintu Pagar (GenerAsia); Monkey Goes West (W!ld Rice); 守护海洋的神岛 (The Fool Theatre). In 2018, she wrote and performed her solo show, In Her Shoes directed by Samantha Scott-Blackhall. She is also an Artist-in-Residence of Gateway Theatre (2018-2019), studying Classical Voice under the mentorship of Jonathan Charles Tay. Trained in Spanish Dance, Flamenco, Tap & Jazz, Kimberly frequently choreographs and teaches for various schools and productions in Singapore. She has taught workshops and classes for Rose Borromeo Spanish Dance Company, BUDS Theatre, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE College of the Arts.
Mae Elliessa Little Sally
Mina Ellen Kaye Mae is a theatre performer from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She first started performing musical revues under the tutelage of Farah Sulaiman and Sabrina Hassan at the age of 12. Over the years Mae has had the privilege to work with production companies in Malaysia and Singapore in the likes of PAN Productions, DAMA Asia, Wild Rice, and now Pangdemonium. Mae’s stage credits include: ‘Natalie’ in Next to Normal (2019); ‘Kathy’ in Company (2018); ‘Anne’ in La Cage Aux Folles (2017); Merrily We Roll Along (2014); The Producers (2013); Wizard of Oz (2012). Upcoming appearances include ‘Wendy’ in Wild Rice’s Peter Pan in Serangoon Gardens staging November 2019. Off stage credits include voice acting and dubbing, recently as ‘Hogie’ in Hogie the Globehopper. Mae is trained in playing the piano (ABRSM Grade 8) and has informally trained and performed in styles of dance including ballet, tap, ballroom and latin dance, and street style; other skills include rock climbing. Mae is also an instructor in rock climbing and teaches a burlesque class for beginners.
Hope Cladwell Mina is excited to be back on stage again! She was last seen in Pangdemonium’s production of RENT as ‘Maureen’ in 2016. Having an extensive career in Singapore as a musical theatre performer, Mina was offered a scholarship for the masters degree program at The Boston Conservatory. She graduated with an MFA in Musical Theatre in 2016. Since then, Mina took a 3 year hiatus to focus on her family and is now happily married and a mother to an energetic little 1-year-old. Other notable roles include ‘Queenie’ in The Wild Party (The Boston Conservatory); ‘Cathy’ in The Last Five Years (Dream Academy); ‘Marta’ in Company (Dream Academy); ‘Rapunzel’ in Into the Woods (Dream Academy); ‘Little Voice’ in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Pangdemonium). Mina also won Best Actress at the 2015 M1 Life! Straits Times Theatre Awards for her role as ‘Little Voice’. She will be seen next in Sing’Theatre’s production of A Spoonful of Sherman this coming November.
Cast Biographies
Seong Hui Xuan Soupy Sue/Cop/ Cladwells secretary
Muhammad Shafiq Haziq Billy Boy Bill/ UGC Executive #2/Cop Shafiq is a vocalist, actor and dancer. He has been involved in numerous productions such as The Necessary Stage’s ActorForty; Pangdemonium’s Urinetown: The Musical; Variasi Performing Arts Pestariasi 9 Terang as ‘Hakim’; and also landing himself a supporting role in Mediacorp’s Channel 5 Whispers of the Dead Season 2 as ‘Shafiq’. A versatile vocalist, Shafiq was offered vocal recording projects such as iTheatre’s Hop and Honk Musical; and Sharity Musical 2019 as ‘Buddy’. He was also cast in Singing Chef, led by Irene Jansen; invited to sing for Because of You Music Recital (Charity for Cancer Survivorship); Esplanade performance in the Singerporean Cantente led by Windson Liong, a classical crossover quartet; and recently in SURIA’s Sinar Lebaran 2018 vocally led by Ann Hussein. Being a triple threat performer, Shafiq danced for Esplanade’s da:ns Festival 2018 and their Flipside Festival 2015 in A World Gone Sideways. A diligent and passionate performer, Shafiq has worked with companies such as Simply Orangez, in their Willy Wonka’s Factory Show; Wildfire Entertainment in their Shadowgraphy/Dance; and other several mascots, singing and dance events. Shafiq aspires be apart of the local musical and film scene while creating his own original music.
Sean Ghazi Caldwell B. Cladwell Sean works in Europe, Southeast Asia and in the United States on stage, on screen and in music. West End credits include ‘Thuy’ in Miss Saigon; ‘Angel’ in RENT; and ‘Lun Tha’ in The King and I at the London Palladium with Elaine Paige. In Singapore he appeared in A Twist of Fate; and more recently La Cage Aux Folles (Life Theatre Award nominee). In KL, he has played the title role in P. Ramlee The Musical and collaborates frequently with The Instant Cafe Theatre Company. Films include ‘Paul’ in C.O.G starring Jonathan Groff and ‘Balat’ in Anna and the King with Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fatt. He is also featured in a major role in the upcoming Malaysian film, Spilt Gravy. Following the release of his album Semalam, Sean has performed with Pink Martini at the Hollywood Bowl; the Seattle Symphony; and most recently at The Esplanade in Singapore. Other concert appearances include Pacific Symphony in Orange County; The Cadaques Orchestra from Barcelona; The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra; and The Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Currently Artistic Director of Bobo Kuala Lumpur, Sean is also the creator and lead singer of the retroinspired Malaysian big band TARAKUCHA! which recently featured at The Esplanade for Pesta Raya last year.
Hui Xuan (BA (Hons) Musical Theatre (First Class)) is a professional actor, singer, dancer and choreographer with over 14 years of performing and teaching experience. Urinetown marks Hui Xuan’s seventh production with Pangdemonium, having previously been seen in Rent (2016); Gruesome Playground Injuries (2013); Spring Awakening (2012); The Full Monty (2010); and Rabbit Hole (nominated Best Supporting Actress at the 2014 Life! Theatre Awards). Other performance credits include: Coraline; Tropicana the Musical; The Last Bull: A Life In Flamenco; My Mother Buys Condoms; The Witches; The Emperor’s New Clothes; The BFG; Great World Cabaret; 2 Houses; Rising Son; Machine; La Cage aux Folles; Twelfth Night; James and the Giant Peach; and Into the Woods. She also won Best Supporting Actress at the 2013 Life! Theatre Awards for her performance as ‘April’ in Company (Dream Academy). As Musical Theatre choreographer, her credits include: Liao Zhai Rocks (2019) and Lao Jiu: The Musical (2017) (The Theatre Practice); Forever Young (Sing’theatre); Chicken Little (Singapore Repertory Theatre); associate choreographer for Forbidden City (2017), 三只山羊 and 小红帽 (Singapore Repertory Theatre); assistant choreographer for Rent (Pangdemonium) and The LKY Musical (Metropolitan Productions); and dance captain for Tropicana the Musical (Spare Room Productions) and Company (Dream Academy).
Vanessa Kee Mrs Millenium/Cop/ Poor woman Vanessa is an artist who aspires to encourage empathy through her work. Her selected works include playing ‘Aida’ in AIDA the musical (Dir. Joe Barros); ‘Tzeitel’ in Fiddler on the Roof (Dir. Emily Maltby); The Great Wall: One Woman’s Journey (Dir. Darren Yap); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Dir. Nicole Stinton); A Chorus Line (Dir. Nikki Snelson); and ‘Josephine “Old Ma” Strong’ in LASALLE’s production of Urinetown: The Musical (Dir. George Torbay). As a fresh graduate with a BA(Hons) in Musical Theatre, she was also awarded both the prestigious Future Leaders Scholarship and the LASALLE Scholarship during her time at college. Having gained her first professional musical theatre exposure at Pangdemonium’s Triple Threat Workshop for youths in 2016, Vanessa is thrilled to be coming full-circle by making her postcollege professional theatre debut with the company that she started her journey with. Vanessa will be seen next in the Asian Premiere of A Spoonful Of Sherman by Sing’theatre this coming November.
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Behind the Scenes 18
Behind the Scenes
Behind the Scenes
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Creative Biographies
Creative Biographies Joel Nah Music Director
Greg Kotis Book & Lyrics
Mark Hollmann Music & Lyrics Hollmann is an American composer and lyricist who grew up in Fairview Heights, Illinois, where he graduated from Belleville Township High School East in 1981. He won a 2002 Tony Award and a 2001 Obie Award for his music and lyrics to Urinetown. He is a former ensemble member of the Cardiff-Giant Theatre Company in Chicago. He played trombone for the Chicago art rock band Maestro Subgum and the Whole, and also played piano for The Second City national touring company and Chicago City Limits, an improv company in New York City. He attended the musical theatre writing workshop, Making Tuners, at Theatre Building Chicago and the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop in New York. While at the Making Turners workshop he began a show with Chicago-based writer Jack Helbig that became The Girl, the Grouch, and the Goat, which has had professional productions in Los Angeles and Chicago. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and ASCAP. He lives in Manhattan with his wife Jillian, and their sons Oliver and Tucker.
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A New York-based playwright, who specializes in dark, disturbing comedies with socially relevant themes, Kotis studied political science at the University of Chicago. He dropped out when he took a course on the Short Comic Scene, realizing that he wanted to be part of the theatre industry instead. Kotis started working with (and became a member of) the Cardiff Giant Theatre Company and the Neo-Futurists. In 1995 he and his wife, writer and actor Ayun Halliday, moved to New York. They worked day jobs, and then quit them when theatre work came along. They remained in fringe theatre until he started work on Urinetown. He is best known for writing the book and co-writing the lyrics of Urinetown: The Musical. He got the idea for Urinetown when, on an ill-budgeted visit to Paris in 1995, he had to limit his trips to the pay toilets that are ubiquitous in that city. Urinetown: the Musical received ten Tony Award nominations. His most recently produced play is Pig Farm, which premiered at The Roundabout Theatre in New York City in June 2006. He has appeared on stage with and written for the Neo-Futurists and Cardiff-Giant. He holds a degree in political science from the University of Chicago where he was a member of Off-Off Campus. He and Halliday have two children, India and Milo.
Tracie Pang Director Tracie trained at Croydon College, London, and has clocked up more than 25 years working in theatre throughout the UK and Asia. In Singapore, she set up The Little Company, for whom she wrote and directed numerous productions for children aged 3 –14. She was Associate Artistic Director for Singapore Repertory Theatre from 2006-2010. In 2010 Tracie founded Pangdemonium Theatre Company with her husband Adrian. At the Straits Times Life Theatre Awards, she won the Best Director Award for Pangdemonium’s Falling, and received nominations for Pangdemonium’s The Full Monty; Dealer’s Choice; Rabbit Hole; Next to Normal; Fat Pig; Tribes and Dragonflies; and also for SRT’s The Dresser; The Snow Queen and The Pillowman. Other productions she has directed for Pangdemonium include Closer; Spring Awakening; Swimming with Sharks; Gruesome Playground Injuries; The Rise & Fall of Little Voice; Frozen; Circle Mirror Transformation; Chinglish; The Effect; Rent; The Pillowman; Tango; Fun Home; The Father; Peter and the Starcatcher; Late Company; and This is What Happens to Pretty Girls. Tracie was awarded the 2015 AWA International Woman of the Year for The Arts, and the 2017 Women’s Weekly “Great Women of our Time” Award for Media and the Arts.
Selected musical theatre credits, as music director/ bandleader: RENT; Next To Normal; Spring Awakening; Peter and the Starcatcher; Stephen Sondheim’s Company; and Forbidden City - Portrait Of An Empress. As musician/associate MD: La Cage Aux Folles; Into The Woods; Little Shop Of Horrors; The Lion King; WICKED; The Addams Family; Evita; West Side Story; Phantom of the Opera; and Aladdin. Other Singapore musical theatre credits: Beauty World; Crazy Christmas; Dim Sum Dollies’ History of Singapore; 881 The Musical; and The Best Of Broadway with Earl Carpenter. As composer: Ramesh Meyyappan’s Off Kilter. As orchestrator: SIFA 2019 Festival Closing Concert with the SSO. A recipient of Singapore’s National Arts Council Arts Scholarship in 2014, Joel studied classical piano with Ong Lip Tat, and was mentored by Cultural Medallion recipient Iskandar Ismail. At Berklee College of Music, Joel studied film music composition with Alfons Conde, conducting with Constantino Martínez Ortz, orchestration, arranging and audio mixing masterclasses with Conrad Pope, Nan Schwartz, Dr. Norman Ludwin and Alan Meyerson. Joel is also a member of the TENG Company, overseeing the music department. He is thrilled to be working in Pangdemonium’s production of Urinetown, so excited that he will withhold his privilege to pee. (At least until the show’s intermission. Fingers crossed.)
Set Designer
TJ Taylor Vocal Coach
Andy Benjamin Cai Choreographer Andy started his formal dance training under the direction of Lionel Araya, before joining the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts Dance programme in July 2002. He has also performed the works of international artists Jaime Redfern (Australia), John Mead (John Mead Dance Company), Natalie Weir (Australia), Cheng Hsien Fa (Taiwan), Gerard Mosterd (Amsterdam), Zhang Xiao Xiaong (Taiwan), Swee Boon. (T.H.E Dance Company), Caren Carino (USA) and Tammy Wong (Singapore) He was finalist with the Soul Fusion group in the first local television dance competition, The DanceFloor (2006) and received a Best Dancer Award. His choreography won his students numerous Distinction Awards for Singapore Youth Festival (2007-2018). He has also represented Singapore in numerous global competitions, competing in Italy, France and Russia and receiving Overall Champion titles and bringing back other prestigious awards. Andy has performed in and/ or choreographed numerous local theatre productions over recent years, including La Cage Aux Folles (2012); Victor/ Victoria; Lightseeker; Voyage De La Vie; Crazy Christmas; Great World Cabaret; Dim Sum Dollies; The LKY Musical; December Rains; Turandot; RENT; Monkey Goes West; and Mama White Snake. In 2017 Andy was Chief Choreographer for The Singapore National Day Parade. He is currently busy choreographing for a Singapore Toggle series, TV ads for the Merdeka Generation and also for cultural events to celebrate Singapore’s Bicentennial year.
TJ is originally from the UK where he graduated with a First-Class Honours Degree in Musical Theatre. Since moving to Singapore in 2013 he has developed an excellent reputation as a practitioner of musical theatre, singing technique and teaching. He is the proud Associate Artistic Director of Sing’theatre and Head teacher of its academy, Singapore’s only dedicated Musical Theatre academy. TJ also has a thriving private singing studio where he helps guide the vocal technique of local performers and up and coming students working to gain places at conservatoires around the world. TJ is a lecturer of singing technique at LASALLE College of the Arts. He recently graduated from The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with a PGCERT in Learning and Teaching in Higher Arts Education. Vocal Coach credits include; Souvenir (Sing’theatre); Triple Threats (Pangdemonium); Sparks (Pangdemonium); and The Sound of Music (Base Entertainment). TJ is also a director and regularly creates and directs shows of Sing’theatre Academy including their adult musical theatre ensemble Showstoppers. In November this year he will make his professional directing debut with the Asian premier of A Spoonful of Sherman for Sing’theatre. TJ is thrilled to be working on Urinetown with some of the best musical theatre talents in Singapore and working on such great songs.
Urinetown is Eucien’s eleventh production with Pangdemonium, following his recent set designs for This is What Happens to Pretty Girls; The Father; and RENT. Previous collaborations with Pangdemonium include the plays The Pillowman; Fat Pig; Frozen; and Chinglish. His work on Pangdemonium’s musicals Little Voice and Spring Awakening both received nominations for Best Set Design at the ST Life! Theatre Awards. Eucien’s set design career started when he was selected to design the set and floats for the inaugural NDP at the Float@Marina Bay in 2007. His next production was Shanghai Blues, a lavish musical at the Esplanade with Toy Factory, followed by many midsized productions at the Drama Centre. He finally got the chance to design for a professional blackbox production years later with Normal, by Checkpoint Theatre. Selected productions: A $ingapore Carol; La Cage (2017); Boeing Boeing (2017); The Emperor’s New Clothes (Wild Rice); A Good Death (Esplanade Studios); H is for Hantu (STAGES); Sing To The Dawn (I Theatre); Awards: ST Life! Theatre Awards Best Set Design winner for Company (Dream Academy); December Rains (Toy Factory); and Dealer’s Choice (Pangdemonium). Eucien thanks God for his amazing family.
James Tan Lighting Designer James (Pangdemonium’s Associate Artist/ Independent Lighting Designer) was conferred The Young Artist Award and awarded a Arts Professional Scholarship by The National Arts Council of Singapore. He was recipient of the Arena Stage - The Allen Lee Hughes Lighting Design Fellowship; the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) YD&T Lighting Design Award; the USITT Commissioners Grant & International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) - Education Trust for IALD Enlighten Americas; and The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards - Best Lighting Design 2017/2018. He also holds a Master of Fine Arts in Lighting Design, UC San Diego. Selected Theatre Lighting Design Credits: Press Gang & Public Enemy (W!ld Rice); Disgraced & Hello Goodbye
(Singapore Repertory Theatre); Red (Blank Space Theatre in collaboration with Esplanade – Theatres On The Bay); Lord of the Flies (Blank Space Theatre with Sightline Productions); and Ah Boys To. Men. – The Musical (Running into the Sun). Selected Events/Architectural Lighting Design: From Singapore to Singaporean: The Bicentennial Experience (Singapore Bicentennial Office); OCBC Garden Rhapsody: Rainforest Orchestra – Asia & Australia Edition (Gardens By The Bay); and The Art of the Brick® Exhibition by Nathan Sawaya (MBS ArtScience Museum). International & Regional Tour: Relatively Speaking (The British Theatre Playhouse) and God of Carnage (Singapore Repertory Theatre).
Creative Biographies
Eucien Chia
Jeffrey Yue (Ctrl Fre@k) Sound Designer Jeffrey is co-founder/director of Ctrl Fre@k - a show, system design and management company specialising in areas like performing arts, themed attractions and commercial events. The brainchild of likeminded individuals who, based on their extensive experience working in key areas of technical production including sound, lighting and video as well as both production and technical management for all scales and manners of productions in these ever-expanding fields. Since January 2010, Ctrl Fre@k seeks to provide well-researched, ingenious and high quality design solutions that increase the production value of every projects that we have undertaken. At the same time, providing reliable technical support and acute problem solving sensibilities that safeguard the interest and integrity of the production from conception, rehearsal and ultimately, the show(s). Our expertise in both hardware and software based production equipment, bridging creativity and methodical workflow enable us to tailor-make solutions to specific requirements. Notable sound design work for Pangdemonium includes Next to Normal; The Rise and Fall of Little Voice; RENT; Fun Home; and Peter and the Starcatcher. 21
Creative Biographies
Orchestra Ashley Lim Hair Designer
Leonard Augustine Choo Costume Designer Leonard is an international costume designer, textile shopper, and bespoke maker currently based in Singapore. He designs costumes for dance, opera, theatre, and film, and was the principal fabric shopper for the costume department of the New York City Ballet for 12 seasons, working on over 75 unique ballets. Design credits include: Late Company; This is What Happens to Pretty Girls (Pangdemonium); Guards at the Taj; Gretel & Hansel; The Truth (Singapore Repertory); iSing International Opera Festival (Suzhou, China); American Ballet Theatre Fall 2018 Campaign Video (Ezra Hurwitz); Forest Boy (NY Musical Theatre Festival); Imagining Madoff and Pattern of Life (New Repertory Theater); Don Giovanni (BU Opera Institute and Huntington Theatre); and House (Boston Center for American Performance). Leonard has draped and tailored for the Juilliard School, the television shows Gotham (FOX) and Crashing (HBO); Trans-Siberian Orchestra; Ballet Academy East (New York); Barrington Stage Company; and Opera Omaha, and has also lectured at the Arkansas Arts Center and library@orchard. Leonard holds a Master in Fine Arts from Boston University, and in 2011 was awarded the Singapore National Arts Council Overseas Arts Scholarship – the first and only costume designer to have received it.
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Ashley started his hairstyling career in 1986 and set up Ashley Salon in 1999 to further pursue his dedication towards the art of hairdressing, especially for the theatre. Since 1987, he has worked on over 300 productions locally and abroad. He is privileged to be widely recognised by the local theatre community as a veteran in his artistry. Some of Ashley’s most memorable creations include his headpieces for Forbidden City and Monkey Goes West. Recent credits include The Great Wall; Michael Chiang’s Army Daze 2; Pangdemonium’s Fun Home; Wild Rice’s Boeing Boeing; La Cage Aux Folles; and HOTEL; The Theatre Practice’s Liao Zhai Rocks! and Dream Academy’s Broadway Beng: 10th Anniversary Concert. He recently took home the Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre, presented by Mediacorp.
Bobbie Ng (The Makeup Room) Makeup Design Bobbie Ng and Low Jyue Huey, have been passionately involved in makeup for the past 20 years. They believe in Beauty, and believe in a space that appreciates and respects your Beauty, and The Make Up Room was started with this belief. The Make Up Room has been involved in local theatre productions for the past 15 years, and have been working closely with Pangdemonium, Wild Rice, Dream Academy, The Theatre Practice, as well as various shows at Singapore International Festival of Arts 2019. Apart from theatre, their makeup artistry expands to blissful brides on wedding bell days as well as an academy where they share their skills and knowledge to women who wants to look good and are keen to learn this art form. In small and big ways, The Make Up Room never cease to grow and develop their artistry.
Joanne Ho Keyboard 2 Joanne is the first Singaporean to graduate from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with an MA in Music Directing. She was nominated for Best Musical Direction in Broadway World’s West End Awards. Recent music directing credits include The LKY Musical (Metropolitan Productions); Fun Home (Pangdemonium); Aida; Urinetown; Spring Awakening (LASALLE); Fantastic Mr Fox; Chicken Little; Red Riding Hood; Peter Rabbit; Three Little Pigs; Treasure Island; Three Billy Goats Gruff; Junior Claus (SRT’s Little Company); Carnival Carnivale (ITheatre); The Addams Family (Edinburgh Fringe); Nine (RCS); Songs for a New World (Theatre Lab Productions); and Triple Threats (Pangdemonium). Other selected theatre credits include Wicked; La Vie En Rose; Aida; Company; Betty Blue Eyes; Cabaret; Spelling Bee; A Chorus Line; and Legally Blonde. Joanne currently teaches Musical Theatre at LASALLE College of the Arts and has also trained performers at Universal Studios Singapore, NUS, SOTA, Singapore American School and Stamford American School.
Brandon Wong Acoustic & Electric Bass Brandon’s name is synonymous with the classical, jazz, pop and musical theatre scene in Singapore. A recent graduate of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, he is a brilliantly versatile double bassist and electric bassist. He has shared the stage with countless international and local artistes to date. Between 2006 and 2019, encompassing all musical genres, Brandon collaborated with major ensembles including the Singapore Armed Forces Bands, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra and the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra. Brandon was actively under the baton of Singapore’s music man and renown composer, the late Iskandar Mirza Ismail. Brandon’s involvement with major touring shows is prolific; he was the resident bassist for Disney’s The Lion King, an inaugural musical for Marina Bay Sands in 2011; and Michael Nyman’s Facing Goya at the official reopening of Singapore’s Victoria Theatre in 2014. Brandon recently toured with six-time Grammy award winner, Daniel Ho and the world’s premier pipa virtuoso, Wu Man this summer. His 2019 musical theatre performances include The Phantom of the Opera and Disney’s award-winning musical, Aladdin. Brandon is both thrilled and extremely delighted to be working with Pangdemonium once again!
Creative Biographies
Fabian Lim Soprano Sax, Alto Sax, B-Flat Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Rizal Sanip Percussion Rizal Sanip served as a regular in the SAF central band for 13 years. His home-grown passion for music has propelled him into musicals starting with Honk! in 2002. A studio musician as well, he plays drums, percussions and trumpet. His working relationship with Pangdemonium, Double Confirm Productions, Wild Rice Productions, Dream Academy, SRT, Vizpro, Toy Factory, Base Entertainment and LASALLE College of the Arts has provided him with ample opportunities to work in theatre productions. Musical Theatre credits include: Into the Woods; Dim Sum Dollies; Crazy Christmas; Broadway Beng (All instalments); SingDollar; Little Shop of Horrors; Rocky Horror Picture Show; Getai The Musical; Jack and the Beansprout; Cinderel-lah; Oi! Sleeping Beauty; 881 the Musical; Spirits; Aladdin; December Rains; Glass Anatomy; Spring Awakening; Once on this Island; Great World Cabaret; LKY The Musical; Rent; Urinetown (LASALLE College of the Arts); The Great Wall; the award winning Next to Normal; Fun Home; Peter & the Starcatcher; and The Lion King. Concert credits include: Kit Chan, Dick Lee, Joanna Dong, Sebastian Tan, Hossan Leong and JJ Lin. Rizal feels blessed to have a career in music and is overjoyed to be involved again in a Pangdemonium production!
Fabian performs in contrasting music genres, from theatre to jazz and classical. Fabian has performed and recorded with David Foster, Jam Hsiao, Kit Chan, Stephanie Sun, Eric Moo, J.J Lin, Joanna Dong, Elva Hsiao, Olivia Ong, Chyi Yu, Wan Fang, Jeff Chang, Sandy Lam, A-Mei, Sky Wu, Joanna Wang, Wang Chi-Ping, Soda Green, Dick Lee, Jeremy Monteiro, Iskandar Ismail, and many others. Fabian has performed and recorded for popular theatre productions such as Disney’s Aladdin, West End-casted The Addams Family; Tropicana the Musical; Singing in the Rain; Facing Goya; Company; Santa Claus The Musical; and Fried Rice Paradise. Fabian has performed recently at the Shanghai Jz Music Festival with Jazz Association Singapore (Jasso) Big Band. He has also performed with the Nita Aartsen Trio and Dwiki Dharmawan in the Batam Jazz Festival; and also at the SingJazz and Java Jazz Festivals; as the countdown launch for the SEA Games 2015 and at Mosiac Festival at the Esplanade. He has also performed at the SummerSonic (Tokyo, Japan), Zandari (Seoul, Korea) and Brisbane Arts Festival (Australia). Fabian opened for Incognito at The Indigo at the O2 (London) in 2015, and performed with them again in Singapore and Bintan, Indonesia in 2016. Fabian’s saxophone has been featured in National Day Parades and in MediaCorp Mandarin radio jingle, FM 95.8. His flute and clarinet was featured in Eric Khoo’s film productions, Tatsumi and In the Room; and saxophone in the new 2019 Wawa movie release, When Ghost Meets Zombie (女鬼爱上 尸). Fabian recently recorded in Dreams, a soundtrack in Dick Lee’s new television series, Fried Rice Paradise. Fabian performed with David Foster in Asia’s Got Talent, playing the well-known saxophone solo for Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire.
Regan G. Wickman Trombone, Bass Trombone, Euphonium Regan worked as a professional freelance trombonist in Los Angeles, California for many years as both player and instructor. His varied career included travels throughout North America, Europe and Asia, working with ensembles as diverse as the Disneyland Band, Capistrano Pops Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Caribbean Cruise Line, and Kenton Reunion Orchestra. As principle trombonist with the Music Theatre of Southern California, he spent 12 years in the orchestra pit playing various Broadway productions. He also has numerous credits in television, film and radio as well as working with artists such as Richard Carpenter, Debby Boon, Andy Williams and Paul Anka. Since relocating to Asia in 2003, his work has included the Bangkok Symphony, Hong Kong Big Band, Nagasaki HTB Orchestra Japan, as well as performing at numerous regional jazz festivals in Shanghai, Borneo, Thailand, Singapore, India and Nepal. In addition to teaching at United World College, he has worked closely with BASE Entertainment Asia for the past eight years as both musician and orchestra contractor for shows such as Wicked; Phantom of the Opera; Sound of Music; A Chorus Line; and most recently, Aladdin. Regan studied jazz at the University of North Texas, and also holds a Masters Degree in classical trombone from California State University.
Music Theatre International [www.mtishows.com] is one of the world’s leading dramatic licensing agencies, protecting the rights and legacy of composers, lyricists and bookwriters and supplying scripts, musical materials, and other theatrical resources to theatres around the world. MTI has been a driving force in extending the production life of such classic musicals as Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Annie, and in promoting newer shows like Little Miss Sunshine, Honeymoon in Vegas and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder as well as Urinetown, the Musical. With over 450 titles in its catalogue including hits from the Broadway and London stage, musical revues, the Broadway Junior Collection [70-minute adaptations of Broadway musicals especially geared for performance by young people] and other youth musicals, MTI shows have been performed by 45,000 amateur and professional theatrical organizations throughout the US and in over 60 countries around the world.
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Urinetown Team
The Urinetownsfolk Pangdemonium Team Cast Adrian Pang Officer Lockstock Andrew Marko Officer Barrel Benjamin Chow Bobby Strong Bright Ong Tiny Tom/Dr. Billeaux/Cop Edward Choy Senator Fipp Erwin Shah Ismail Mr. McQueen Ethel Yap Little Becky Two-Shoes/Cop Farhan Hassan Robbie The Stockfish/Ugc Exec #1/Cop Jo Tan Penelope Pennywise Joash Tang Old Man Strong/Hot Blades Harry/Cop Kimberly Chan Josephine Strong/Old Woman/Cop Mae Elliessa Little Sally Mina Ellen Kaye Hope Cladwell Muhammad Shafiq Haziq Billy Boy Bill/UGC Exec #2/Cop Sean Ghazi Caldwell B. Cladwell Seong Hui Xuan Soupy Sue/Cop/Cladwell’s Secretary Vanessa Kee Mrs Millennium/Cop/Poor Woman
Creative Team
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Mark Hollmann Music & Lyrics Greg Kotis Book & Lyrics Tracie Pang Director Joel Nah Music Director Andy Benjamin Cai Choreographer TJ Taylor Vocal Coach Eucien Chia Set Designer Grace Lin Assistant Set Designer James Tan Lighting Designer Jeffrey Yue (Ctrl Fre@K) Sound Designer Jing Ng (Ctrl Fre@K) Associate Sound Designer Leonard Augustine Choo Costume Designer Ashley Lim Hair Design Bobbie Ng (The Makeup Room) Makeup Design
Orchestra Joel Nah Keyboard 1 Joanne Ho Keyboard 2 Brandon Wong Acoustic & Electric Bass Rizal Sanip Percussion Fabian Lim Soprano Sax, Alto Sax, B-Flat Clarinet, Bass Clarinet Regan G. Wickman Trombone, Bass Trombone, Euphonium
Production Team Cat Andrade Stage Manager Sunitha Nayar Assistant Stage Manager Ruth Chee Assistant Stage Manager Oops & Undo Technical Managers Noorasmidah Rashid Costumes & Wardrobe Coordinator Zuzu Wagiman Lead Dresser Tabby Koh Dresser Izzati Nian Dresser Lily Zorrilla Solk Wardrobe Apprentice Daniel Sim Props Master Melissa Ho Props Assistant Marc Andre Therrian Scenic Consultant Natalie Chung Scenic Artist Pek Limin Lighting Board Programmer Daryl Norman Soh Lead Followspot Lee Yew Jin (Ctrl Fre@K) Sound Operator/HOD Jean Yap (Ctrl Fre@K) Sound Operator No. 2 Raymond Goei (Ctrl Fre@K) Sound Operator No. 3 Michelle Wai Hair Assistant Michelle Ler Music Assistant
Tracie Pang Artistic Director/Producer Adrian Pang Artistic Director/Producer Debbie Andrade Company Manager Crispian Chan Creative Director/IT Kelvin John Lim Business Development Manager Clarissa Tan Fundraising Manager Kristal Zhou Marketing Manager Jasper Lim Creative Designer Leah Sim Production Manager Kimberly Wong Company Administrator Leau Xin Ning Company Senior Accountant Kusum Sandhu Sales & Ticketing Manager Amanda Chan Ticketing Assistant Vicki Thirumoolan Ticketing Assistant Stephanie Street Resident Playwright James Tan Associate Artist Karisa Poedjirahardjo Production Apprentice Natalie Lim Pei Ying Production Apprentice
Pangdemonium Board Aun Koh Tan Kheng Hua John Currie Raeza Ibrahim Tracie Pang Adrian Pang
Musical Numbers
Musical Numbers
Act I Overture Orchestra Too Much Exposition Officer Lockstock and Company Urinetown Full Company It’s a Privilege to Pee Pennywise and the Poor It’s a Privilege to Pee (Reprise) Officer Lockstock and the Poor Mr. Cladwell Cladwell, Hope, Mr McQueen, and the Staff of UGC Cop Song Officer Lockstock, Officer Barrel and the Cops Follow Your Heart Hope and Bobby Look at the Sky Bobby and the Poor Don’t Be the Bunny Cladwell, Mr McQueen, Senator Fipp, Pennywise, Hope, Lockstock & Barrel Act One Finale Full Company
Act II What is Urinetown? Full Company Snuff That Girl Hot Blades Harry, Little Becky Two Shoes, and the Poor Run, Freedom, Run! Bobby and the Poor Follow Your Heart (Reprise) Hope Why Did I Listen to That Man? Pennywise, Fipp, Lockstock, Barrel, Hope and Bobby Tell Her I Love Her Little Sally, Bobby and the Poor We’re Not Sorry Full Company I’m Not Sorry (Reprise) Cladwell and Pennywise I See a River Hope and Company
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Friends of Pangdemonium!
Become a Friend of Pangdemonium! Join our philanthropic friends and help us tell the stories that you want to hear.
Pangdemaniac Champion Hero Superhero Crusader Winged Crusader White Knight
$500 $1,000 $2,500 $5,000 $10,000 $25,000 $50,000
You will receive complimentary tickets, priority seating, discounts on additional purchases, pre-show drinks, backstage tours, and acknowledgements. Pangdemonium Theatre Company Ltd is a registered charity with IPC status and your cash donation is eligible for a 250% tax deduction. For information on joining our Friends of Pangdemonium programme, contact fundraiser@pangdemonium.com Donate directly at: www.pangdemonium.com/ support-us/
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Friends of Pangdemonium!
Thank you for being our Friends Champions
White Knights Anthonia Hui & Leonardo Drago
Winged Crusaders The Grace, Shua Jacob Ballas II Charitable Trust
Crusaders Anonymous Holywell Foundation Jeanette Tan Ai Lin
Superheroes Conrad & Andrea Lim Jim Rogers & Paige Parker Mrs. Lee Li-Ming
Heroes Azmeen Moiz Christian Peter Lukey Wee Chwee Heng Jaime, Erin, Emily, Erica & Evelyn Katherine Krummert & Shawn Galey Lucy Reed & Michael Glennon Dr. Roopa Dewan
Agnes Ee Alvin & Christina Liew Anonymous Avon Neo & Sophine Chin Toh Bao En Benedict Ong Bernard Lau Beth Hollahan Catherine & Elvin Too Cecilia Ee David Neo Douglas & Christy Lee-OLoughlin Ferdinand DeBakker & Yoon Lai Cheng Heng Gek Hwah Gerry & Sharon Craggs Gretchen Liu Dr. Irene Lim & Prof. David Stringer Jackson See & Diana Lim Jake, Ta & Sasithon Jacobs James & Rebecca Orme Dr. Jason Tan John Currie & Hong Sun Chee Jordan J Dea-Mattson Leslie Lee Mary Ann Tear Mylene Tay Nick & Nikki Weber Ronald Gwee Ronald & Janet Stride Sardool Singh Steven Mark Miller Prof. Tommy Koh Yvonne Tham Mohamad Zaki Bin Jumahri
Pangdemaniacs Andrew Lim Anonymous Benedict See Toh Cherilyn Chia Chiming Ngu Cynthia Wong Dominik von Wantoch-Rekowski Lee Eng Hin & Saralee Turner Geoffrey Baker Janet Y.K. Lim Jupe Tsui Kelvin Loh Liew Kim Fui Lauren Mehrbach Matthew Flaherty Matthew Hing Maurice de Vaz Kang Mei Ling Lim Mingcheng Nicholas Deroose Nithia Devan Phyllis Tan Ronald Wong Sandra Gwee Siva Govindasamy & Malini Sitaram Susan Sim Tasneem Rehana Haq Lim Tze Min Foo Yee Ling Wei Yiming Yap Zhi Jia
We would like to express our sincere thanks to our new Friends who made their kind donations after this list went to print.
27
Acknowledgement
Tracie and Adrian would like to say a big thank you to the following for creating further pangdemonium with us on our production of Urinetown: The Musical.
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