Movie Night (Sweet Charity) - Mon 5 March - Bring A Friend

Important! This month's movie night has been postponed until further notice due to the sudden unavailability of the venue. My apologies.
- Callista

For our March Movie Night, we will be watching Sweet Charity. Directed by Bob Fosse. Starring Shirley MacLaine and Chita Rivera

BRING A FRIEND!

Do let us know if you're coming. Email us at selangor.phil+socials@gmail.com.

WHEN:
Monday, March 5, 2007, 8.00pm

WHERE:
Hall of the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) Complex at Jalan Tebing, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur

PARKING:
There are limited parking in the complex but ample parking just outside the complex. There's never been a problem with parking in that area.

ABOUT THE FILM (taken from wikipedia.org):
Sweet Charity, based on Federico Fellini's screenplay for Nights of Cabiria, is a musical directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and book by Neil Simon.

The original Broadway production opened on January 29, 1966 at the Palace Theatre, and ran for 608 performances. It starred Gwen Verdon, John McMartin, Helen Gallagher, Thelma Oliver, James Luisi, Arnold Soboloff, and Sharon Ritchie. The production was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, winning only one, for Fosse's choreography.

The 1969 film version, Sweet Charity, also directed and choreographed by Fosse, starred Shirley MacLaine and McMartin, recreating his original Broadway role. The movie also included Chita Rivera, Paula Kelly, Stubby Kaye, Barbara Bouchet, Ricardo Montalban, Sammy Davis, Jr., Barbara Bouchet, Suzanne Charney, Alan Hewitt, Dante DiPaolo, Bud Vest, Ben Vereen, Lee Roy Reams, and Al Lanti. The movie was notable for costumes by Edith Head and of course its dance sequences (notably The Rich Man's Frug).

The show was revived on Broadway in 1986 (starring Debbie Allen as Charity) and won four Tony Awards for Best Revival, Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Michael Rupert), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Bebe Neuwirth), and Best Costume Design (Patricia Zipprodt).

A second revival, starring television and film star Christina Applegate, opened on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on May 4, 2005, after a troubled three-city preview tour. Applegate broke her foot in Chicago, the second stop on the tour, and was replaced by her standby, Charlotte d'Amboise. Then, after the final leg of the tour in Boston, the producers announced the production would not be continuing to the Great White Way, citing lack of interest. However, two days later, the Broadway engagement was re-born after Applegate convinced the producers to continue. A week into previews, Applegate rejoined the cast, which also included Denis O'Hare and Ernie Sabella. The show was nominated for many Tony awards including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical for Applegate. (Reportedly, pop icon Britney Spears was asked to replace Applegate when her contract expired, but declined the offer.) The show ended its Broadway run on December 31, 2005, after playing 279 performances.

A national tour of the recent Broadway revival began in September 2006 starring Molly Ringwald as Charity Hope Valentine.

2007 Annual Loh Sang Dinner

As we all know, the Loh Sang dinners have become an annual tradition. Members of the Selangor Philharmonic Society get together, wield their chopsticks with (not-grim-at-all) intent, and proceed to fluff up the Yee Sang for luck.

This year, the Loh Sang party was held at the Maju Palace, with the usual suspects in attendance. Chairman Alain (sounds a bit commie, wot?) spent a large part of the evening entertaining the members with somewhat x-rated jokes. The pre-dinner peanuts, the fish, the veg and even the desserts were not spared...

One of our more enduring (and endearing) members, Pan Swee Chin, got up from her table to dash over to ours, where she proceeded to regale the room with her experience at the recent Il Divo concert. With much miming, high-pitched enthusiasm and energetic re-enactment of her actions, she proceeded to put forth a performance well worth the price of dinner.

I'll have to say this for the Phil... we are never boring :)

Sometime between courses, Ivy and her sister got up to line-dance, and the ever-faithful karaoke machine was cranked up. Beautiful songs were sung, along with bawdy ones. Swee Chin and Callie entertained us with an impromptu salsa...the wine flowed freely, courtesy of Brian and Edna, and the mood was definitely boisterous and festive.

Pictures were taken, but this writer can't attach them to this post at this time because her computer's bluetooth is out of commission. Any other attendees want to submit pictures of that night, please feel free :)

The party, I was told, ended around half past eleven. As with all things Phil-related, it ended with a big musical bang. Right now, we're looking forward to the next DVD night, and I'll let Wen Li inform us when that will be, and what's on the viewing menu.

*edit: I have managed to make a liar of myself. Thanks to Flickr, I have managed to upload the pictures of the dinner. Whee!! :D

Fried Fish...Fantastic!! ;)


Alain offers me head....Fish. Head.


Swee Chin describes her quest for a complete set of Il Divo autographs...
Callista looks on in amusement.


The karaoke machine is fired up...


Callie and Swee Chin salsa to the song from the karaoke machine...
Alain's amused. What can I say? It was an amusing night :)

This is Zal, signing off :)

DVD Nite (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) - Mon 5 Feb - Bring A Friend

For our February DVD Night, we will be watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

BRING A FRIEND!
Do bring some snacks for sharing, and bring a friend along to join in
the fun!

Do let us know if you're coming. Email us at selangor.phil+socials@gmail.com.

WHEN:
Monday, February 5, 2007, 8.00pm

WHERE:
Li Villas Condominium, Section 16, PJ - we've booked the TV room at
the condo's clubhouse.




SYNOPSIS (taken from imdb.com):
The movie starts out with Arthur, King of the Britons, looking for knights to sit with him at Camelot. He finds many knights including Sir Galahad the pure, Sir Lancelot the brave, the quiet Sir Bedevere, and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Lancelot. They do not travel on horses, but pretend they do and have their servants bang coconuts to make the sound of horse's hooves. Through satire of certain events in history (witch trials, the black plague) they find Camelot, but after literally a quick song and dance they decide that they do not want to go there. While walking away, God (who seems to be grumpy) come to them from a cloud and tells them to find the Holy Grail. They agree and begin their search. While they search for the Grail, scenes of the knight's tales appear and why they have the name they have. Throughout their search they meet interesting people and knights along the way. Most of the characters die; some through a killer rabbit (which they defeat with the holy hand grenade), others from not answering a question right from the bridge of Death, or die some other ridiculous way. In the end, King Arthur and Sir Bedevere are left and find the Castle Arrrghhh where the Holy Grail is. They are met by some French soldiers who taunted them earlier in the film, so they were not able to get into the castle.

The Phil's Annual Lou Sang Dinner 2007

It's that time of the year once again.
Time to raise our chopsticks high and make a lot of noise as we eat, talk and be merry! So come one and come all, bring yourself, bring your family, bring your friends, bring that stranger sitting right next to you and come join us in our makan fest.

Date: 2 February 2007
Time: 8pm - they chase us out?
Venue: Maju Palace at Maju Junction
Per head: RM50 (members), RM65 (non-members)

Please RSVP by 29/Jan 2007 (Monday)! If we have enough people, we can have one of the function rooms all to ourselves!

RSVP by calling Callista (012.259.5770) or emailing (callista+thephil [at] gmail.com).

Hope to see everyone there!

Happily Ever After (The Inaugural DVD Nite!)

Dusk fell on the fifteenth day of January, and the rain continued to drizzle amidst the rush-hour bustle of office-workers longing for a restful evening after yet another manic Monday. It took a short while to coax the TV room's air-conditioner from its slumber, but the evening was soon enlivened by giants and magic beans, charming princes and blonde maidens in towers. And, of course, cookies, Cheezels, chips, and orange juice!

See what you missed? ;-)

And during Intermission David enthusiastically showed us his autographed Sondheim programmes...

Needless to say, there was much food and merry-making...

About DVD Nites

- We plan to have them on the first Monday of each month (8.00pm). Check your email, and this blog!

- If you have a plasma TV, a home theatre system, cushy sofas and a well-stocked pantry, we would love to hear from you :)

- Bring all the cushions, bean bags and snacks you want!

- Bring a friend! DVD Nites are a great way to introduce your friends to The Phil.

- Remember, suggestions for shows are always welcome. We'll take movies, operas, musicals, ballets, your neighbour's cats' nightly quartet, anything! (Ok, maybe not the felines.)

About "Into the Woods"

What's it about?
From http://www.sondheim.com/shows/into_the_woods/:

"Into the Woods" blends various familiar fairy tales with an original story of a childless Baker and his Wife, who catalyze the action of the story by attempting to reverse a curse on their family in order to have a child.

In the first act, the characters set out to achieve their goal of living "Happily Ever After" through familiar routes - Cinderella goes to the Ball and captures the heart of Prince Charming, Jack climbs the Beanstalk and finds a land of Giants and Gold, Little Red Riding Hood survives her clash with the wolf at Grandma's house, and Rapunzel manages to escape her tower with the aid of a handsome prince who climbs her long hair. The Baker and his Wife move through their stories while pursuing their own goal - the witch who keeps Rapunzel (revealed to be the Baker's sister) has put the curse on his house, and agrees to lift it if the Baker and his Wife can find the ingredients to help her reverse a spell which her mother has laid on her, keeping her old and ugly. Those ingredients are: A Slipper As Pure As Gold, which the Baker's wife gets from Cinderella, A Cow As White As Milk, which the Baker buys from Jack in exchange for the fateful magic beans, A Cape As Red As Blood, which the Baker gets from Little Red Riding Hood in exchange for freeing her and Granny from the Wolf, and Hair As Yellow As Corn, which they get from Rapunzel. The ingredients are gathered, and the spell works, stripping the Witch of her power, but restoring her beauty. At the end of Act I, all characters seem poised to live "Happily Ever After".

Act Two, however, deals with the consequences that traditional fairy tales conveniently ignore. What does one do with a dead Giant in the back yard? Does marrying a Prince really lead to a happy and fulfilling life? Is carving up the wolf the solution? Is the Giant always wrong? In Act Two, all the characters must deal with what happens AFTER "Happily Ever After". As they face a genuine threat to their community, they realize that all actions have consequences, and their lives are inescapably interdependent, but also that that interdependence is their greatest strength.

Other "Into the Woods" Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Woods

And who is Stephen Sondheim?
http://www.sondheim.com/features/sondheim101.html

2007 Beckons!

The 2006-07 Committee decided that meetings at someone's abode were oft too laden with temptations (Read: kitchen, fridge, food) and so decided to lock themselves up in The Ascott on the weekend of January 5th-6th with nothing but pens, paper, and, er, food.

The photo below is of us on the evening of Saturday Jan 5th, all tired out braving the Saturday KL traffic and hordes of parents and students attending the nearby education fair.

See what's in the middle of the table? :-D (By the way, those were great cookies, Pat; and Cris - awesome muffins!)

2007-08 will be bustling with activity! We'll be reviving the Theatre Education Programme, or 'TEP', an initiative to provide education in the performance arts in line with the Society's vision. The TEP was successfully run in 2005 with a Workshop for Choral Groups facilitated by British choral conductor Peter Broadbent, and in with drama workshops by Michael Xavier Voon and Colin Kirton in 2004.

Also, we'll be starting to organise monthly DVD Nites (tentatively set at the first Monday of every month) - these will be informal get-togethers where members will meet up over snacks and a DVD or two of musical productions.

And then, of course, there's this blog! :) Members of the Committee will regularly post updates on Society happenings, and Phil members (and, well, everyone else on cyberspace) are welcome to post their comments (just click on the "comments" link at the bottom of each blog post). The official website of The Phil will also be revamped for the upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations, with new features and interactivity added in. Comments from members are always welcome - you know where to find us:

* Post a comment on this blog!

* Email us! (selangor.phil@gmail.com)

* Post a message on the members' pssnews egroup!

* If you prefer to speak to someone in person, there's always our phone numbers/email addresses if you have them!

More on what's in store for 2007-08 will be posted soon... keep your browsers bookmarked on this blog.

The photo below is of us on the morning of Sunday Jan 6th, all refreshed and ready to take on more of Pat's home-made cookies, only to find that Nigel had polished off most of it over late-night TV shows while the rest of us were asleep. Ah well.

Congratulations to the winners of SongFest 2005!

Classical Category:
Winner & recipient of Puan Sri Elinah Ahmad Challenge Trophy:
Soh Bee Teng
First Runner-Up:
Long Chai Hunt

Contemporary Category:
Winner & recipient of Puan Sri Chelsia Cheng Challenge Trophy:
Cissy Ang
First Runner-Up:
Vincent Lee

Group Category:
Winner & recipient of Patron's Challenge Trophy:
VerSeS (Group Leader: Scott Woo)
First Runner-Up:
Little Noise Choir (Group Leader: Wong In Nuen)

SongFest 2005 - Let us have your feedback!

Hi all! Please feel free to post your views on SongFest 2005 - the good, the bad and the ugly, and how we could improve on the competition.

Should we convert it into a karaoke competition outright?
Should we maintain groups? (YES!!!)

etc. etc.

Let us know so we can improve!