Beauty World musical returns for a darker run in November
Starring local comediennes Jeanette Aw and Janice Koh, and directed by Dick Lee, Beauty World is set for a grander revival.
Singapore is no longer a dearth for artistic events where this year alone has seen a whole contingent of film festivals, play productions and musicals lining up for a run. Well, with the streak not ending any time soon, now we have the iconic Beauty World musical’s 5th run to look forward to come November.
The musical, which was penned by Michael Chiang with lyrics by Dick Lee, was first shown at the Singapore Arts Festival in 1988 before moving on to a successful Japan Tour in 1992 and there was also a record-breaking production shown live on TV in 1998. With than much triumph, it was only right to see a revival in our jubilee year.
Set in mid 60s Singapore, the story follows a young girl from Malaysia entering a seedy cabaret while on a journey to find her long lost father. Jeanette Aw will also be returning to the stage as the main antagonist, Lulu, the revengeful cabaret queen. While the cabaret’s glamour and flamboyance is a given, what would instead be different is the “darker” turn to the world of cabaret – mostly hidden from the outside world.
Also starring Janice Koh, Timothy Wan, Frances Lee and Joshua Lim, it’s safe to say that this staging would be slightly different from before. This time it would portray a far more authentic 60s look and sway away from the the usual Broadway-style productions put forth. Nonetheless, viewers can definitely expect humour to be part of it, largely thanks to comediennes Jeanette Aw and Janice Koh of course.
So if you’d like to end the year in an artistic way, may we suggest grabbing tickets to Beauty World and you’ll see just how cabarets go deeper than the pomp and pageantry often displayed.
Beauty World will be showing at the Victoria Theatre from 13 November to 12 December and tickets are available at Sistic.
Tarandip Kaur
