Beauty World (musical)

Beauty World is a Singaporean musical written by Michael Chiang and composed by Dick Lee.[1] Drawing on the tradition of 1950s black-and-white Cantonese movies, it tells the story of a young Malaysian girl who comes from Batu Pahat to 1960s Singapore in search of her father and winds up in the eponymous sleazy night club.[1][2] It premiered at the 1988 Singapore Arts Festival.[2]

Beauty World
MusicDick Lee
LyricsMichael Chiang
BookMichael Chiang
Productions1992 Japanese tour

Written in English with some Singlish elements and Singaporean slang, it is one of the best known musicals of Singapore. With Makan Place, which was also written in 1988, it is one of the first two Singaporean musicals.

Plot

Ivy Chan travels from Malaysia to Singapore in hopes of finding her father. Her only clue is a jade pendant inscribed with the words "Beauty World".[2] Once in Singapore, Ivy meets her penpal friend, Rosemary Joseph.[3] Beauty World turns out to be a cabaret, commanded by head girl LuLu.[2] Ivy goes undercover at Beauty World, where she grows closer to the cabaret members, especially the club's bouncer, Ah Hock.[3] This complicates things when Ivy's boyfriend, Frankie, comes to Singapore to bring her home.[3]

Productions

The original 1988 production began rehearsals in January of that year.[2] It was directed by Kengsen Ong and choreographed by Najip Ali.[1] On opening night, technical issues halted the show for about half an hour. Actresses Claire Wong and Jacintha Abisheganaden adlibbed a conversation for about five minutes, hoping to fill the silence.[4] Although critical response to the show was negative, it was very popular with audiences.[5]

Beauty World toured four cities in Japan (Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka) and had a run in Singapore in 1992.[2][4] In 1998, Beauty World was remade for television for the President's Star Charity Show, and starred Sharon Au as Lulu, and Evelyn Tan as Ivy.[2][6] The musical was staged again at the Victoria Theater in April of that same year.[1]

An amateur production took place on 15 April 2006 at the University of Chicago. Dubbed Return to Beauty World it was directed by Andy Tan a fourth year economics major in the college.

The King's College London Malaysian Singaporean Society put up a student production of Beauty World at The Albany in Deptford South-East London on 2 and 3 March 2009. It was produced by Debra Lam and directed by Kang Yanyi.

In 2008, W!LD RICE, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the musical by staging the musical for the forth time at the Esplanade Theatre. The musical starred Irene Ang, Neo Swee Lin, Elena Wang and also featured Daren Tan, Project Superstar II winner.[6] The production also added six new songs, written by Dick Lee.[7]

In 2014, a student production of Beauty World was put up by National University of Singapore (NUS) College of Alice and Peter Tan (CAPT) on 8 February,[8] which opened to a 900-strong audience at the University Culture Centre at NUS and was attended by its scriptwriter and playwright, Chiang. The musical was produced by Ong Wee Yong and Sherilyn Tan, directed by Heidi Chan and took its musical direction from Elaine Hoong.

In 2015, the musical was staged for the seventh time at the Victoria Theatre, with composer Lee as the director instead.[9] The production was set to be in a darker mood and starred Jeanette Aw, Cheryl Tan and Janice Koh.[10][11]

Musical numbers

Act l
  • "Beauty World Cha-Cha-Cha" (Chorus)
  • "Nothing Gets in My Way" (Lulu)
  • "Single in Singapore" (Rosemary)
  • "There'll Be a New You" (Lily, Rosie, and Daisy)
  • "Another World" (Ah Hock)
  • "I Didn't Care" (Ivy Chan)
  • "Truth Will Conquer All" (Chorus)

Act ll
  • "Welcome to Beauty World" (Madame, Lulu, Wan Choo, and Chorus)
  • "It Wasn't Meant For Me" (Rosemary and Ah Hock)
  • "No Class" (Lulu and Rosemary)
  • "Not A Hero" (Frankie and Chorus)
  • "Beauty World Reprise" (Company)[12]

Cast
Cast 1988[12] 1992

Japan Tour[13]

 1998 TV[14] 1998

Victoria Theater[12]

 2008

WILD RICE[6]

 2015

Victoria Theater[4]

Lulu Christina Ong Tan Kheng Hua Sharon Au Jeanette Aw
Ivy Chan Claire Wong Cindy Sim Evelyn Tan Emma Yong[7] Elena Wang Cheryl Tan
Ah Hock Lim Kay Siu Gerald Chew Darren Lim Darren Tan Timothy Wan
Rosemary Joseph Jacintha Abisheganaden Rosita Ng Jacintha Abisheganaden Frances Lee
Frankie Wong Ivan Heng Alec Tok Hossan Leong Joshua Lim
Madame Margaret Chan Nora Samosir Koh Chieng Mun Nora Samosir Neo Swee Lin Janice Koh
Wan Choo Lok Meng Chue Jayln Han Jack Neo Neo Swee Lin Irene Ang Eleanor Tan
Sergeant Muthu Alex Abisheganaden K. Rajagopal Gurmit Singh Ali Anwar
Rosie Janet Ng Vernetta Lopez Janet Ng Cynthia MacQuarrie
Daisy Tan Kheng Hua Noorlinah Mohamed Cassandra See Susan Tay Ethel Yap
Lily Deborah Png Irin Gan Dianne Swee Tay Kewel
Towkay Tan Tann Yean Lee Weng Kee Huang Wen Yong Ken Tay Edward Choy
Towkay Neo Tony Yeow Tann Yean Liu Qian Lee Wong Yik Looi Gordon Choy
Boss Quek John Chan Lim Yu-beng James Lye Lim Kay Tong Edric Hsu

References
  1. "Musical Beauty World Returns to Singapore, Apr. 16". Playbill. 16 April 1998. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  2. Migration (28 October 2014). "Classic Singapore plays: Why Beauty World is a landmark musical". The Straits Times. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  3. Lee, Sheena (16 November 2015). "Beauty World returns darker and grittier". Youthopia. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  4. "Beauty World | MICHAEL CHIANG PLAYTHINGS LTD". Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  5. "Beauty World Opens in Singapore, Runs Thru Apr. 26". Playbill. 17 April 1998. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  6. "Beauty World lures audiences with old world charm". Archived from the original on 5 February 2008.
  7. Tan, Corrie (31 October 2014). "Beauty World's Ivy Chans through the years | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  8. "CAPT's first musical production, Beauty World".
  9. "Beauty World revival gets darker". The Straits Times. 2 September 2015.
  10. "Beauty World's One Mistake Was Letting Jeanette Aw Sing". sg.news.yahoo.com.
  11. "Theatre review: Beauty World". TODAYonline.
  12. "Beauty World Program 1998" (PDF). Dropbox. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  13. "1992 Beauty World Program" (PDF). Dropbox. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  14. "1998 Beauty World TV Production Program" (PDF). Dropbox. Retrieved 24 January 2023.


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