Radio DDC

Musical theatre is a form of theatre that combines song, dance and dialogue in a performance to tell a story. Musicals derive their power from words set to music, but equally important, the words of another group of people, the arts journalists and theatre critics, who also give musicals the wings to soar in the public imagination. Singapore's theatre scene became more vibrant in the 1980s, and buoyed by this popularity, original Singapore musicals took off at the same time.

Dive into the conversation between our literary arts librarian, Michelle Heng, and our guest, Clarissa Oon. Clarissa was a Straits Times journalist between the late-1990s and the mid-2010s, and as a theatre critic, reviewed many plays and musicals for the broadsheet. She is also the author of the book, "Theatre Life!: A History of English-language Theatre in Singapore Through The Straits Times (1958 to 2000)”. She now works as head of communications and content at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. In her role, she developed the National Performing Arts Centre's Esplanade Offstage digital platform, which streams performances and behind the scenes content on the arts in Singapore and Asia.

[05:40] Clarissa explains how musicals can impact people and which pieces are some of her favourites.

[18:51] Clarissa shares the growth of Singaporean musicals and development of musical theatre in the recent years.

[26:34] Clarissa talks about the challenges of developing new musicals and her thoughts on the future of the musical theatre scene in Singapore.

Listen to the podcast as we take you down memory lane and explore Singapore's musical history and the development of its music scene through the National Library's collections and digital archive, MusicSG.

Credits:

1. "Beauty World (Cha Cha Cha)” from the 2015 staging of "Beauty World” at Victoria Theatre, presented by Michael Chiang Playthings.

2. "Makanplace” by Act 3 Theatrics Pte Ltd.

Listen on MusicSG: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/music/track/fa414ff3-fa93-48b9-8f4b-45037e9bd5f0

3. "Mai Phen Rai” arranged by Iskandar Mirza Ismail.

Listen on MusicSG: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/music/track/63bbb3bd-c3af-4375-bee7-5322f9e9c288

4. "My Only Chance” composed by Dick Lee, Performed by Cheryl Tan in "Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress” (2017), jointly presented by Singapore Repertory Theatre and Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.

5. "Fried Rice Paradise” by Dick Lee, Performed by Benjamin Kheng in "National Broadway Company” (2012), Conceived, Written & Directed by Ong Keng Sen for Esplanade's 10th Anniversary weekend titled Dedicated to You.

Many would know that the 1950s and 1960s was a golden age for Singapore Malay cinema. But this period was also striving for Mandarin and dialect cinema in Singapore. There were several productions in Singapore and local talents were involved in the productions in Hong Kong including directing, songwriting, acting and others.

Dive into the conversation between our Chinese literary arts librarian, Goh Yu Mei,and our guest, Su Zhangkai. Zhangkai is an independent researcher on the history of entertainment in Singapore. He has published several publications such as 《雪霓芳踪：庄雪芳》 on the Queen of Amoy films, Zhuang Xue Fang in 2017 and 《弟喂, 做人阿甲阿甲就好：王沙和野峰的90个人生故事 = Agak-agak: 90 stories of Wang Sha and Ye Feng》on the well-known comedians Wang Sha and Ye Feng in 2019. He is also an avid collector of memorabilia from this era such as posters and song albums.

[09:10] Zhangkai discusses how the growing demand for entertainment contributed to a flourishing film industry in Malaysia and Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s.

[14:38] Zhangkai talks about how he learnt of Zhuang Xue Fang and how he met her for the first time.

[22:43] Zhangkai shares the importance of dialect in the performance and expression of the early artistes.

Listen to the podcast as we take you down memory lane and explore Singapore's musical history and the development of its music scene through the National Library's collections and digital archive, MusicSG.

Credits:

1. "Getaran jiwa” performed and composed by P. Ramlee, lyrics by S. Sudarmaji.

Listen on MusicSG: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/music/track/42fb46e2-7e29-48fc-9516-716b74b8ef2f

2. Read more about Zhuang Xue Fang on MusicSG: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/opencmscontent.aspx?id=1bce12a1-aa42-43b9-949e-dd67324181b1

Independent music, or indie music for short, covers a wide spectrum of music genres including pop, rock, metal and folk. It is usually associated with non-mainstream productions, artistes or small independent recording companies. When talking about the Singapore indie scene, we should start with the history of English pop music in Singapore. The first wave of local pop/rock bands began in the 1960s when rock ‘n' roll swept the world by storm in what some may call the British Invasion.

Dive into the conversation between our performing arts librarian, Kong Leng Foong, and our guest, Sai Akilesh. Akilesh has been a programmer at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay since 2015. He was involved in various projects and festivals such as "Kalaa Utsavam” and "Baybeats”, and has developed programmes such as "All Things New” and "Soundtracks”. He has also conceptualised programmes which are aimed towards providing opportunities for local Indian classical musicians.

[10:19] Akilesh talks about how "Baybeats” started and how it has evolved alongside its audience.

[30:40] Akilesh talks about how the production team and artistes had to pivot as they put together their first virtual festival.

[37:15] Akilesh shares about the platforms that showcase and nurture indie music and what the future holds for Singapore indie music

Listen to the podcast as we take you down memory lane and explore Singapore's musical history and the development of its music scene through the National Library's collections and digital archive, MusicSG.

Credits:

1. Audio excerpts from performances by Wormrot, Zamaera and Disco Hue at Baybeats 2018, courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.

2. Excerpts of audio from a performance by Bottlesmoker at Baybeats 2020, courtesy of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.

3. Listen to featured Singapore indie artistes on MusicSG: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/page/indie

4. Browse BigO magazine on the NLB catalogue: http://catalogue.nlb.gov.sg/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=1&BRN=4633511

5. Learn more about Singapore indie music on Infopedia: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2015-03-11_152805.html

Since gaining independence in 1965, Singapore has conducted many nation-wide campaigns to lay the foundation of a young nation. These have covered a wide range of topics such as courtesy, workplace productivity and observing good personal hygiene. As part of these campaigns, songs and jingles were some of the ways used to get the message across more effectively.

Dive into the conversation between our arts librarian, Kong Leng Foong, and our guest, Dr William Wan. Dr Wan is presently the General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement and also a Justice of the Peace. He is active in community-based work with grassroots and organisations such as Project We Care, Singapore Scout Association (SSA), SG Cares Culture Building Committee, and others. Dr Wan has received several awards, including the Active Ageing Award (2011), President's Volunteerism and Philanthropy Award (2017), and the SSA Distinguished Service Award (2018).

[09:40] Dr Wan talks about the 1980 Courtesy Song ("Make Courtesy Our Way of Life”) and the Singapore Kindness Movement's song released in 2018, "Greater Everyday”

[26:14] Dr Wan shares some of the human stories that he has encountered in Singapore that show little acts of kindness.

[39:36] Leng Foong and Thiru revisit iconic campaign songs of yesteryear.

Listen to the podcast as we take you down memory lane and explore Singapore's musical history and the development of its music scene through the National Library's collections and digital archive, MusicSG.

Credits:

1. The songs "Make Courtesy Our Way Of Life” (1980) and "Greater Everyday" (2018) appear courtesy of the Singapore Kindness Movement.

Listen on MusicSG ("Make Courtesy Our Way Of Life”) https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/music/track/ebdd7595-bd86-4f7c-8b4d-f7f9c47e83b0

2. "Good, Better, Best” (1982) Source: Enterprise Singapore, courtesy of the National Archives of Singapore.

View on Archives Online: https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/audiovisual_records/record-details/5ac06c24-1164-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad

3. "大家说华语” (1980) courtesy of the Speak Mandarin Campaign.

View on Archives Online: https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/audiovisual_records/record-details/59ddeec4-1164-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad

4. "There's A Part For Everyone” (1988) by Gerald Png, courtesy of MINDEF.

Listen on MusicSG: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/music/track/df2681b9-f516-4304-ac3c-93a225ff675b

5. "Together” (1999) © Government of the Republic of Singapore. Permission required for reproduction.

Listen on MusicSG: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/music/track/35946efc-972d-4ea5-9d7b-abe3f5c9a13e