The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

(Credits from Pangdemonium.com)

A jazz band playing the hits of yester-years at Boo-gis Wonderland.

Sufficiently indulgent to bring the audience back to the 1970s where the show is set in a local adaptation of the original play written by Jim Cartright.

  

Rishi Budhrani sets the comedy in motion when he steps onto the stage even with the most mundane of housekeeping matters.

He lightens up the atmosphere and naturally elicits laughter from the audience before the rest of the cast take over.

In the days where transistor radios were used and the telephone was a luxury not many could afford- this is Singapore, still yet new with its independence.

Very local in flavour.

The script has been rewritten by Tracie Pang to appeal to the local audience and she's hit the spot on all counts without losing the personalities of the original characters and essence of the original musical.

Little Voice or LV played by Mina Kaye is a shy, reclusive young girl who holds her late father in loving memory. He was the one who cultivated in her, a love for old records and singers from his time.

She spends all her time in her room listening to his old record collections and occasionally breaks out into perfect singing, impersonating the divas of then- Shirley Bassey, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Edif Piaf.

Of these she has perfected Judy Garland not just in song but also in her role as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and it was a great effort on her part to do Edif Piaf in French and Sakura Teng in Mandarin.

I'm impressed, by Mina Kaye. 

A true thespian in her ability to bring out a colourful character.

Unfortunately, her mother is a total opposite of her. An abusive alcoholic, Mari Hoff (Denise Tan) is in-your-face loud and larger than life. Disappointed by her first marriage, she lives in contempt of her daughter who she regarded as an enemy who had stolen all the attention off her after LV's birth with her late husband.

LV needs someone who loves her. And she finds love knocking at her door in the form of Billy (Shane Mardjuki)- a socially awkward telephone technician who shows love in the purest forms. 

One night, her singing catches the attention of Ray Say (Adrian Pang), a flamboyant and pretentious talent scout when he goes over to their place for a night's tumble with Mari. He recognizes talent when he hears one and sees Little Voice as his last ditch attempt to success.

Boo-gis Wonderland, the IT place where nobodies go, to become somebodies was booked for LV's moment of fame. She runs away in fear on her first attempt.

With Ray's persuasion, she tries it one more time.

And that night was so magical, it changed lives.

This poignant and funny love story put me in stitches and made the tears flow when it came to a close.

This Asian Premiere of Little Voice by Pangdemonium is a must watch!

Catch them before it ends on May 18th at the Drama Centre Theatre- National Library Singapore.

Thanks to GV Movie Club and Mr Popcorn for the tickets.