Riceball

Our first Young n W!ld showing! Sort of, anyway, since only half of us got to do it. Seven of us got to perform a Sondheim medley at Riceball, W!ld Rice's annual benefit gala at Shangri-la. Only three rehearsals to learn the songs (which had tricky melodies) and blocking, plus two short finale pieces ("There's noooooooo business like shooooooow business..." *bopping side to side*). It was intense but fun, though I felt it was a pity that not all of us got to perform together for our first showing.

White, lacy, racy outfits for the girls, white suits and gold sparkly accessories for the dudes. We looked like a bridal show gone wrong. The danish and tart makeup completed the trying-to-be-fresh-and-innocent-but-failing-miserably look. I got to wear pants, which is fortunate, considering I had to be crawling on the ground at one point going "uh uh uh!" - colour TV not welcome on stage.

Audrey and Judy were shedding all the way. We could tell wherever they had been by the trail of feathery bits from their costumes.

I experienced the longest two seconds of my life when I forgot a line that I'd never forgotten before in rehearsals. Thank goodness that it's a song and it goes on, forgotten line be damned. Fortunately, there was a feedback whoop just before my blank line, so some of the audience may have been fooled into thinking it was a mic problem. *Phew*

A very strange moment occurred in the middle of performing our number. Throughout rehearsals, we knew that Jon would rip off his shirt during a line. We'd just never rehearsed it because the costumes weren't done yet. Then, when the time came during the actual performance, with a flourish and the sharp ripping sound of velcro, the shirt came off in two pieces (image on left: the back of the velcro-rigged shirt). Suddenly, the other six of us strangely froze as we found ourselves gaping at bare skin, completely stunned - five of us completely forgot our next line. Issy had to rescue the rest of us by belting out that line on her own before we remembered to continue.

Jon Lim became Mamasan Jon that evening, donning boobs that outsized those of the four of us girls put together. Too bad he was de-wigged by the time this picture was taken.

The audience response to our performance was rather lukewarm, but someone attributed it to the fact that the piece was not the most well-suited for the circumstance, especially given the thigh-slapping-big-guffaw act that went on just before ours. It was said that we got a big applause, though, so that is some comfort. The piece had a lot of subtle, tongue-in-cheek humour, so audience concentration was a must - hard to get when we're contending with the food on their tables and Hossan Leong in an Elvis outfit.

I got to shake hands with President Nathan...and found out only later who he was. Yes I've seen his photo in post offices, yes I've seen him on TV. But how was I to know how...well...what his stature is in person? It was a whirl of shaking hands with a variety of people anyway. I had some idea that they were VIPs, but had no idea who they actually were. Exchanged air kisses with a very warm Caucasian guest...but don't ask me who he was.

All in all, I think we did alright, in spite of a couple of technical glitches and one fubbed line. Gives me a good feeling as a sign to how performing with this group is going to be in the future. I can't wait for our next showing.

Several notable quotes overheard during tech run/performance day:

"I'm just so star-struck." --> A hungry and cranky Leslie while rehearsing the mass finale item, with enough sarcasm to slice through the Arctic ice sheet. Gotta love that guy.

"They're not very young!" --> Overheard from someone upstage right upon seeing Young n W!ld for the first time.

"...and we UH UH UH!" --> My favourite line from our Sondheim medley.

"Thank you for coming." --> A strange line, considering it was uttered to me by one of the invited guests when I shook his hand after the show. Shouldn't we have been saying it to him instead?