Khaleef’s 1st Theater : Roald Dahl’s ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’

I absolutely LOVE theater, plays and stage performances. since my school days, I’ve been staging plays annually for teachers’ day – as the script writer, or director, or actor – I’m just so in love with performing LIVE in front of anticipating audience. it was such a thrill.

click here to read about my theater craze!

 

I still keep a collection of my theater tickets!

 

staging the plays is just as fun as watching them. been to countless plays at the actors’ studio in dataran merdeka (closed after the devastating KL flood), in bangsar, istana budaya, and many other venues in between. I just LOVE it so much!

and now that I’m a mom, I’m hoping to channel that interest to my boys. starting last week when I took my eldest khaleef to see the staging of roald dahl’s ‘george’s marvellous medicine’ by the birmingham stage company. I was more excited than he was, I’m sure!

it was staged at centerpoint theater, DUCTAC (dubai community theater and arts center) at the mall of emirates.

 

 

fans of the masterful roald dahl should be familiar with the story of ‘george’s marvellous medicine’. a boy named george concocted a medicine for his cranky grandma using all sorts of everyday stuff around his house – shampoo, lipsticks, powder, and even paint! eww! when his grandma drinks the medicine, well, things starts to get pretty weird!

I am a huge fan of roald dahl – his children’s books as well as his stories for adults – always quirky, always witty and funny; and with an unexpected ending! so knowing that it’s gonna be staged as a play really gets me excited – how will they achieve all the visual effects on stage with a wonderfully weird story of george and his marvellous medicine?

 

(pictures are from google)

 

apart from the funny story, wonderful acting and adorable set; what I love about the play roald dahl’s ‘george’s marvellous medicine’ by the birmingham stage company :

• it’s interactive – in the story, the stove broke down and george needed heat to mix the medicine well, so he asked the audience to rub their hands together and channel the heat towards the pot of medicine. khaleef enjoyed this part very much! very good for restless little kids, and get them to move and do all sorts of hand gesture
• personalizing the audience – the character george started out his scene by speaking to the audience. khaleef was immediately hooked. george also kept asking the audience “in?” whenever he picked up some random stuff from the kitchen or bathroom to put in the medicine. nice one! this made the little kids very attentive to the storyline
• george and his family live in a farm. there are chickens, pigs and cows – the whole house, barn and shed done really well to appeal to the younger audience.
• the repetitive song or music in the play was not annoying, thankfully – in fact, khaleef liked it and everyone anticipated something funny will happen when that song went on

 

overall, a fantabulous first experience for khaleef, watching an awesome story like roald dahl’s ‘george’s marvellous medicine’ being staged and performed really well by the birmingham stage company. in fact, it was MY first children’s play. I’ve never seen so many little children in a theater hall before! haha.

kudos to the birmingham stage company! I look forward for more stage plays from them! click here to read the interesting interview with the play’s director, phil clark on time out dubai about this play.

 

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entrance of DUCTAC (dubai community theater and arts center) in the mall of emirates – there’s also a library at the red building

 

where we watch ‘george’s marvellous medicine’ come to life!

 

for mak & khaleef. yay!

 

we got the balcony seats as the seats down below are all sold-out! and this was already the last few days of performances. ingatkan dah tak crowded!

 

but the view was still good, as we got the middle seats. mind you, the cheapest ticket is already quite pricey, so settling with the balcony seats may not be a bad idea. view is still ok! maybe for khaleef’s next few theater and plays we’ll try and get the seats closer to the stage

 

love, love, love the set. adorable, quaint little farm house where magic was about to happen. really well done.

 

 

I can see a lot of MOMS bringing their kids to watch the show, and just a few dads. haha. and there are a few teachers too bringing in their little students in uniform.

really, this is the first time I’m in a theater hall full of little kids. and it was loud with laughter and sounds of ‘yessss!!!’ or ‘nooooo!’ whenever george ask them questions. selalu tengok theater senyap je, and you can’t even whisper without getting angry stares!

 

glad you enjoyed the show, my little khaleef! hopefully this is one of many, many more that you will like!

My Date With Anuar Zain @ Secretaries Week, KLCC

haha. what a misleading title!

ok, let me start with : 10 fun facts on my awesome day with ANUAR ZAIN during the secretaries week show 2012 at KL convention center on the 10th of april.

# 1 : ANUAR ZAIN sat next to me on the stairs of the stage!

but really, i was just sitting at the foot of the stairs of the stage trying to take a picture of myself with anuar zain in the background. anuar zain was about to sing at the time, i think it was ‘ku berjanji kerna cinta’. all i wanted was background of anuar zain. SUDDENLY, anuar zain himself came down and sat next to me! on the stairs. right next to me! while still singing! hihi. *hati berbunga-bunga dan berpopcorn garrett*

he was absolutely charming!

 

 

ok, you can’t actually see ME in this youtube video, but at the beginning of the clip, right before he sang, he can be seen creeping down the stage to sit on the stairs – that was ME next to him! hihi. lepas tu barulah berduyun anuar zain fans nak bergambar dengan dia! opps! siap ade yang kiss lagi. oh, no. please don’t violate my darling anuar zain!

 

* * *

ok, lemme rewind for a moment.

# 2 : my husband mr. khairul surprised me with a ticket. i didn’t even ask to go to this show!

it was 10th april, and my mr. khairul (LOVE YOU!!!!) surprised me with a ticket to see anuar zain at the secretaries week 2012 show at KL convention center. mr. khairul was still in dubai at the time, and he would only arrive in malaysia a day before my sister’s wedding.

mr. k : u akan stay ipoh je ke nanti?

me : yup. nak prepare for wedding suma. hantaran pun belum gubah lagi.

mr. k : no, you KENA pegi KL.

me : apsal?

mr. k : tuesday. anuar zain.

me : WHAT??!!

i was completely overwhelmed by the surprise, because i know mr. khairul mmg boring dgn anuar zain ni (coz the wife is such a hopelessly devoted fan! hihi) but still managed to grab me a ticket! he only bought ONE ticket, though coz the tickets are so expensive. so i was about to go alone on this show.

 

this was the perfect stranger who sat next to me during the whole of anuar zain secretaries week show at KLCC – mazlina, or just maz.

 

# 3 : alone at a concert. lucky to sat next to a great gal, and one sombong makcik.

alone at a concert? that’s gonna be weird. i gotta make friends at my table to better enjoy the show! when i first sat down, the table of 10 was nearly full. i tried to start a conversation with the girl sitting next to me.

ok, aku tanya korang lah kan, kalau aku duk sblah korang senyum-senyum, then tanya elok2, korang sudi tak nak sembang dgn aku? i did the same to this pretty girl sitting next to me, “korang ni keja tempat yg sama ke?” referring to the group at the table. i expected the ball to get rolling and we’d be talking about working place. but the girl simply said a short, “tak.” and then she looked away. amboi, sombong nye cik kak! paling2 koman pun tanya la balik aku keja kat mana. oh, mentang-mentang aku dtg sorang, ko bawak geng ko malas nk layan ye. kesian kat aku tau.

and that’s when another girl came and sat next to me. her name is maz, and she turned out to be the coolest person i ever wanted to meet at an anuar zain’s concert.

i thought i’d be all alone during the show with noone to cheer with, but she was very friendly and we clicked right away. THANKS MAZ! thanks so much for being *crazy* with me during the show – changing tables closer to the stage (nasib aku blah dari cik kak nyombong tu), going up front to the stage to get closer to anuar zain, clapping and cheering aloud, and of course, for taking the lovely picture of me with anuar zain! i hope this friendship continues until the next anuar zain secretaries week 2013? haha. (*hint* to mr. khairul!)

 

also stumbled upon my aunt cik’s niece (on her husband’s side) farra. what an absolutely endearing person, so soft-spoken and feminine. she was so lucky – she won two tickets to anuar zain’s show! just like that!

 

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# 4 : opening act by comedian ‘sepahtu’. aku serius tak pernah tengok these guys in action, but not-bad lah!

the show started with an opening by stand-up comedian sepahtu. ok, i haven’t been watching ANY of their maharaja lawak gig or whatever lawak show they have on astro, so believe it or not, i’ve NEVER seen these guys in action, so i really didn’t know what to expect.

when they came up, i thought shuib was really funny, and even has a nice voice singing anuar zain’s song (i hope i got the name right, the one married to that singer right?) but his partner was using insult joke all the time. asyik nak mengutuk shuib je. itu je ke material dia? i think a little insult is funny, but A LOT was beginning to sound degrading. kesian si shuib. not so funny after that.

 

# 5 : yasmin hani was the MC – sweet!

and then little miss yasmin hani went up to MC the event. she was a darling. so sweet and beautiful and funny too. she lightened up the mood even as the crowd began to get restless waiting for dear anuar zain to appear.

 

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# 6 : food was delicious, but could be better! and bigger portion!

to be honest, food was ok. delicious but aku memang tak tahan dish yang pinggan besa tapi makanannye setoet je. haha. i’m really not into ultra-fine cuisine where the plate is so big with the teeny tiny food sitting in the middle with a swoosh of this cream and a pinch of that powder and few dots of this sauce – voila! how can enjoy food like that!

(mr. khairul once brought me on one of our anniversaries to the posh frangipani, and that was the first time i ate food like that – big plate, micro-mini food. na-ah. big portion for me. always big portion!)

 

nways the appetizer was already there on our table when i arrived. people are still arriving, saying hi and sitting down, making themselves comfortable. anuar zain is nowhere to be seen so all we could do was enjoy this first meal. it is ‘house-smoked trio-peppered lamb loin served with semi-dried tomato and asian greens drizzled with calamata olive and lemon thyme vinaigrette’. try saying that in one breath huh?

i love lamb, and this one LOOKED uncooked, but it was really tasty. i savoured each bite, chewing slowly like a cow chewing grass – because i know how little the portion is! kesian kan, lagipun kalau makanan ni dah habis, anuar zain tak keluar-keluar lagi nanti takde ape nak buat kan, termenung-termenung je. haha.

 

the next meal was ‘lavender honey glazed chicken roulade served on herbs potato puree with charred seasonal vegetables – roasted garlic olive sauce.’ it’s boneless chicken, tasting really good. better than i expected. this meal was quite filling, but i think they’re being so kedekut on the veggies. hello, we pay so much, you know! baby carrot pun nak kena potong dua ke?

 

for dessert it’s ‘white chocolate mango tiramisu accompanied with wildberry compote’. what the heck is a ‘compote’? nways, i don’t like tiramisu (don’t like anything remotely related to coffee) but i HAD to finish this. it was too cute! with AZ choc on top! again, i was eating it one bite at a time – pausing so very often so that i still have some cake left while i enjoy anuar zain singing!

 

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handsomenya!

 

# 7 : ANUAR ZAIN was sick and had a sore throat that day. nevertheless, he performed effortlessly!

i can’t even begin to describe his performance. fantastic. and to think that anuar zain was sick that day. you can see him pinching his throat at one point or another. kesiannya! he also kept drinking from a bottled water at the side of the stage.

however, he performed like a true entertainer. with that mesmerizing soaring voice, that undeniable charm he wooed the crowd like he always does. going to his show again after all these years (masa zaman uni, aku selalu jgk pegi gig anuar zain hihi) reminds me that i’m still very much in love! (mr. k no worries, you’re still numero uno, honey!)

 

 

my table was quite a distance from the stage, but it was so worth it. seeing him LIVE was a real treat. besides, anuar zain always find time to walk down the stage and walk to the back row and meet his fans. he was such a sweetheart. he mingled with everyone with the same charm.

and of course, sometimes maz and i would creep up to the front to take a closer shot at anuar zain. enjoy my youtube clip of anuar zain singing ‘cinta harus memiliki’!

and he. is. so. CUTE!!! i LOVE that suit too! can you believe that he’s already 40?

 

lovely adibah noor & darling anuar zain. (taken from blog azzamoro. thanks!)

 

# 8 : BONUS! adibah noor was one of anuar zain’s back-up singers!

it was a wonderful surprise. i would pay to watch adibah noor sing, and now i got it at anuar zain’s show. she was just unbelievably good. i love her voice. it came out so effortlessly and still able to sound so incredible. they both did a duet on whitney houston’s ‘saving all my love’ which is my fav whitney houston’s song!

adibah noor was also the sweetest and didn’t mind the fans who wanted to take pictures with her. one cool chick! watch the youtube clip to enjoy the wonderful performance of two master vocals! LOVE IT!

 

 

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# 9 : doorgifts – chocolates in anuar zain box and an awesome picture book of anuar zain

i did expect more from the doorgift goodie bag – a cd at least, or a t-shirt. or even a tumbler or a notepad (secretaries week show kan, kasi la something yang bole guna kat office!)

but the hard-cover picture book is still a wonderful gift – a compilation of anuar zain’s pictures – from his early days of ‘anuar dan elina’ to the present. some of the pictures are rare shots of anuar zain as a teen, and it was such an enjoyable time flipping through the pages!

 

 

# 10 : the last time i met ANUAR ZAIN was more than 10 years ago!

i remember he was singing with camelia, somewhere in bukit bintang. he was charming then, and still charming now. he really knows how to treat a fan – no matter where he is, no matter how crazy a fan gets!

and he’s not just all looks and gaya. he’s an incredible singer who is second to none. a class of his own. to me, one of the best male voices around!

 

a young me, and a young anuar zain! hihi

Mahu Jumpa Lelaki Ini

 

 

ditujukan kepada mr. khairul. *wink wink*

Dubai Street Festival 2012 @ Dubai Marina Mall

today is the LAST day of dubai marina street festival, after 10 days of excitement! this awesome event ran from 22nd march to the 31st, held at dubai marina mall. it features LIVE street performances from international acts of UK, US, australia, spain and many more – some juggle, some play weird musical instruments, some do dangerously daring acrobatics, some sing, and most are really funny – but all mesmerized the crowds with their talents.

 

 

we live pretty close by so we went so often to catch ALL the performers – which differs each day. there are probably 6-8 acts per day starting from 4 to 10, and we just watch anything we can.

these are street performances so, naturally, all shows are done outdoors in this fine weather that dubai is having (though changing from cool winter to warm summer). they’re all FREE for all so the crowd gathers around the foyer that looks out to the marina at the dubai marina mall to catch the shows.

 

the kids sits on the floor to enjoy the show!

 

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…and these are some of the many acts that we managed to go see :

 

this is sam wills from new zealand. he did some juggling and lots of silly tricks. his show is never boring because he's funny and always try to get the *passive* dubai crowd to cheer louder! seriously you can see his effort to get the crowd to participate, with his jokes and wide grin. kasi support lah sikit weh!

 

this is dennis dove from new york. he plays drums using pails, pots and pans and he's REALLY good. but so kesian his show is always the last one of the night, on a week day, so he plays to a small crowd since most have gone back. however, he was still so very enthusiastic, and a positive entertainer. i guess being a STREET performer, he should get use to being rejected on the streets, and having passive crowds. so he knows how to get the crowd going, even a small one.

really, he plays one mean drum. pails and all!

 

this dude calls his act 'hang in balance' - he plays the 'new' musical instrument called the 'hang' shaped like a UFO, with nothing but air inside the instrument. "only 100 of these are made.. bla bla" making it sound like it’s so special, but the sound is exactly like our traditional malay musical instrument 'gamelan' - and they call this NEW. sheesh.

 

however, dude did sound good. but i’m just saying that this instrument HAD been around for very long now…haha. well, my boys (in matching blues) had fun – just kicked back and relax enjoying the street show with one blonde chick and a cute brunette haha.

 

this is 'reuben dot dot' from melbourne - half chinese, half polish. he's fun to watch! heart-stopping acrobatics on a pole! and he’s funny too – spewing clever one-liners to ease the tension, especially when some kids go running around while he’s about to do a dangerous stunt.

he straight away said, “i’m really going to kill you kids, if you let them run around like that” – meaning, they might really be killed should his stunt go wrong while they’re let loose. so be safe, and keep your kids safe while enjoying the show!

 

'reuben dot dot' from melbourne - half chinese, half polish. comel!

 

this is my favorite act, the one that i’ve been wanting to see ever since i saw the list and description of each performer – lili la scala from UK! she sings vintage songs with funny lyrics. her voice is incredible, reaching new heights! love her, especially her gorgeous retro style too! i mean, look at her cute dress!

 

the beautiful lili la scala with my awe-struck son hihi. love her outfit! and she’s so comel!

 

this is mr. khairul's favorite! haha. nigel blackstorm from the states. magic + heavy metal = HEAVY MAGIC! silly, funny, n mental! he tries to be all ganas and heavy-metal-y but he sounds so funny! "ladies, control yourselves!" he picks random strangers from the audience n claims you to be his long-lost band-members! his magic tricks are not THAT impressive, but his quirky personality made him very fun to watch.

 

these life-size 'soft people' knitted puppets are all over dubai marina mall! it was so funny when khaleef had fun spotting them as we were walking around the mall! they are also part of the ‘street performers’!

 

where are they from?

 

the ‘soft people’ puppets from UK are these soft sculptures from the highly acclaimed exhibition ’off the hook’ by rita mcgurn. whether in the glasgow subway, the paris metro, or an open air market, the work begins with people who catch the artist’s attention and are then transposed in colour and texture to ‘soft people’. wow.

creepy, actually! life-sized dolls that look eeriely weird – no thanks of having that in my living room!

 

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we’ve had so much fun these past week watching the street performances at dubai marina mall.

one thing we noticed is that eventhough there are many expats in dubai, which means the crowd is INTERNATIONAL, watching INTERNATIONAL acts – the crowd is not SO lively, unless they’re encouraged by the performer – “clap louder!” or “you guys better cheer when i do this!” or “you can do better than that!”

because we’re in the middle east? but i thought dubai is more liberal…seriously, most of the time, it’s mr. khairul who kept cheering and shouting and clapping loudly in support of the performers!

oh well, we’re hoping to catch more shows next year when they come back for another run. till then!