Friday September 11, 2009
Big Talents On One Stage
Punitha Yogaratnam
On stage beginning 23 October for 18 performances will be a collection of the country's most talented local celebrities in a production called, Cuci The Musical.
Created by actor/director/producer Hans Isaac, directed by Dato Zahim Albakri and Harith Iskander, with lyrics by Pacai (Dr Syed Ahmad Faizal Al-Attas) and Douglas Lim (who is also the scriptwriter), Cuci The Musical tells the story of brothers Fairil (Afdlin Shauki), Khai (Isaac), Jojo (Awie) and C'Tan (AC Mizal) who operate a small window-washing company, Cuci-Cuci Services.
Their dream is to one day be given the contract to service the exterior of the Kuala Lumpur Petronas Twin Towers. That opportunity comes with the Window Washing Olympics a competition run by Citi Jasmin (Vanida Imran) that awards the winner with the cleaning contract.
Small-town boys with big dreams. Cuci-Cuci Services decide to take on the defending champ, Wira Maju, a company owned by Citi Jasmin's boyfriend, Wira (Harith Iskander). Romance soon blossoms between Citi Jasmin and Khai much to Wira's dismay.
Made first into a movie, released in January 2007, Isaac in a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, said he had every intention to initially make Cuci into a musical, but at the time he didn't have the finances. Liking the budget for this musical to that of Puteri Gunung Ledang, Isaac said I've had to put all I've had for the past 15 years into this production.
But he is quick to point out that the production is worth the money and effort because he has an ensemble of some of the most talented performers in Malaysia. I look for good people to work with, he says looking at the cast proudly. This is a good team.
Cuci was originally meant to be a musical and if Isaac had the finances at the time, it would have been. Asked if Cuci The Musical will vary from the movie, Isaac says the main structure of the script will remain, but of course we had to change a few things to suit a musical. We had to adopt a bigger performance because this is going to be a live stage production.
Actors too had to be replaced. For instance Vanida Imran replaces the movie's actress, Erra Fazira, while Adibah Noor replaces Umie Aida in the role of Farah, Citi Jasmin's personal assistant who falls for Jojo.
You would think that with such a group of established actors and singers, egos would get in the way of work. That's not the case as Afdlin Shauki points out. In fact, he says it was at times challenging to be serious during rehearsals. Even during the press conference, held at the Istana Budaya with the musical's patron, Puan Sri Noorainee Abd Rahman, the deputy Prime Minister's wife in attendance, Harith Iskander was a barrel of laughs joking with with fellow performers Afdlin, Awie and Adibah Noor much to the amusement of reporters and guests. It's been like this at rehearsals, Adibah Noor says adding that only director Dato Zahim Albakri could keep them in check.
It's just a group of friends doing what they love the best, performing. Jokes aside, Afdlin Shauki summed it up saying, We love what we're doing. This is a bunch of passionate actors who love being on stage.
Cuci The Musical, choreographed by Stephen Rahman-Hughes, is scheduled to play at Istana Budaya from 23 October to 8 November. Ticket prices range from RM43 to RM253. For ticketing information visit www.axcess.com.my. Senior citizen and student discounts are applicable for certain shows.
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