LION KING SG TURNS 100 !

On Saturday night, June 4th, we gave our 100th performance. We have also now broken an unofficial record in terms of Singapore entertainment because no show has ever played here for longer than 3 months.
June 4th also meant that I have been in Singapore for 6 months already. Hard to believe ! Time flies when you're trapped in lion-shaped leather chaps.

Perhaps in celebration of our impending 100th, or perhaps because she was so jealous of Claudia's ipad, Rowena had to get herself ipad 2.

Though I haven't had the chance to have a "sit out" (where my cover goes on and I watch the show) I did watch the full-tech run-thru for the 2nd covers the other day. I was forced to sit in the very back row of the balcony because Lyall is my 2nd cover and he told me that he didn't want me to be there because it would make him too nervous to know that I was watching.

Tim accompanied me to the run-thru and, in order to not be seen by anyone, I bribed the security guards to let us in through the loading dock and take us directly to the balcony level in the elevator. Once there, we had to lie on the floor until the show started because the house lights were on. We also had to hide behind the seats for the opening number of Act II because there are cast members singing from all over the theatre. We spent a lot of time giggling at our espionage tactics.

Because I know which of Scar's scenes allow me to clearly see the balcony, I spent those scenes lying on the floor watching between the seat backs so that Lyall wouldn't catch a glimpse of me.
We nearly blew our cover after the run-thru because they didn't do a curtain call ! The house lights came up and the cast was still on stage so we dove for cover, listened to our resident director say a few words to the cast, and then made a dash for the fire escape once the cast dispersed to the dressing rooms. The added thrill of discovery made the whole thing pretty entertaining and even though it wasn't a "real" show, it was fantastic for me to be able to see it. All the covers did an admirable job. You could say we're "well covered".


Can I just say that I'm sick of rice. If I never see another plate of steamed, white rice again...
Order Chinese food, get rice, order Thai food, get rice, order Indian food, get rice, order Malay food, get rice. I can hear many of you saying, right now, "Oh, I quite like rice". Well, I used to as well. There was a time when I cooked rice fairly often at home but I think I'm over that particular phase.

We've had lots of covers going on in the show lately. People out sick, or away. Some nights, the half-hour call and nightly cast change announcement is 5 minutes long because of all the replacements caused by the domino effect. Here's a picture of Gwen (who covers Banzai) with his nasty-hyena cohorts.

Gwenael, Lavina & Michael
(Banzai, Shenzi & Ed)

To add to the nightly list of replacements, we have a cast member who will be out of the show for at least several weeks because she was in a car accident. When the polite, but firm, automated voice in the taxi says, "Please fasten your seat belt", DO IT. Our sister-lion wasn't wearing hers and now has a fractured clavicle.

I decided that it was time for a little R 'n' R and returned to the Indonesian island of Bintan for a one night stay. It's so cheap and a mere 50 minute ferry ride away, it seems stupid not to take advantage. Tim, my Kiwi friend accompanied me, as did a half dozen other Lion Kingers who, apparently, also decided it was time to get away.

At the ferry terminal, we ran into Charlie (stage management) who was taking her mother, visiting from France, on a short getaway.
Unfortunately, we happened to be travelling during Singapore school break and there was a large, noisy group of children waiting to board the ferry as well....at 8:30 in the morning !!!
Fortunately, I had booked our ferry tickets for Empress Class and the adorable little kiddies were below, in steerage with the rest of lesser mortals.

A quick stop in the snack shop on arrival in Indonesia revealed this bit of appetizing marketing...Do you think thats 'on purpose', or is it more bad translation?

And, it's important to remember that things might not always work in the way that you're used to...


The great thing about having Monday's off is that the 'normals' all check out of the resort by noon and the place is virtually deserted.

Relaxing can be exhausting...

There is a popular seafood restaurant at the resort that sits out over the water on stilts. Though the food was good, it was a bit too big, crowded and noisy for me, especially when one is only spending one night and looking for tranquility. I did enjoy the chili crab though...
I ran into Charlie as I was reluctantly dragging myself out of the ocean on Tuesday morning, and she said to me, "You know, I don't know why I don't take this trip for myself once every month." I laughed out loud because, not 10 minutes earlier, I thought exactly the same thing as I was bobbing in the crystal-clear water emitting near X-rated sighs of relaxation.