Y&W bags Best Ensemble!

Young & W!LD won!! We're officially the Best Ensemble at the ST Life Theatre Awards! *ecstatic capering*

(Photo credit: Ric Low)

When it was announced, we made such a ruckus that we (retrospectively) weren't even sure if anyone else was cheering for us. For a second, I started clapping dutifully for a second or two, before it sank in and I leapt up - there's delayed reaction for you.

Surprisingly, the write-up of the Awards was in the main section of ST today, page 3 no less. We were mentioned in The New Paper coverage...in the fluffiest way possible in a very fluffy write-up - the article was focussed mainly on what people were wearing that night. The reporter was asking us the standard stuff like how we felt about winning, yadda yadda yadda, to which El quipped candidly (paraphrased), "We weren't even thinking about winning. We were thinking about what we were going to wear!" When I saw the reporter chuckle and write it down quickly, I knew that was going to be quoted for sure. And of course, the second half of it was the only quote to make it into the article, combined with someone else's, "...and what we were going to eat!"

Young and bimbotic.

Speaking of which...it was Jon (Lum)'s idea that we wear name tags with the names of different Shanghainese foods translated into English. He was Small Dragon Buns, someone else was Bruce Lee Bag (xiao long bao...yes, I know, sigh), while I was Twin Dumplings. Not that anyone really noticed.

May post more pics when they come out; my own camera is spoilt so have to wait for others'. A few have been posted by Candice on Facebook, though her album is mostly a parade of our garb (the theme this year being Shanghai Shenanigans).

And people, STOP being so surprised that we won. We worked our butts off for Mad Forest, and the piece Jon (Lim) chose was well-suited to show us off very nicely. After 2 years together intensively (and lots to blackmail each other with), a recognition of our ensemble energy is well-deserved, yes?

Judy and Leslie, we wish-oh-wish you'd been there too! It's just not complete without you.

Firsts, lasts, have you evers

First...

Thought when waking up today: "WHEN are they finishing that renovation upstairs?"

Thing you ate today: Rice with vege, fish, minced pork, otak and grapes

Thing you did today: Wrote an article for work

Car accident you were involved in: My dad rear-ended another car, but only lightly

Guy/girl you had a crush on: Jonathan, the most amazing pianist I've ever seen

CD you bought: I think it was the soundtrack of The Little Mermaid

Pet you had: A cantankerous Dachshund called Kiki

Dream profession as a kid: Writer (which IS my profession now)

Best friend: Grace

Award you received: First prize for Creative Writing in VJC

Sport you played: Swimming


Last...

Person you talked to: Either Dominic or Alex, whoever's goodbye I replied to last

Person you hugged: Shouchen (during rehearsal)

Person you said I love you to: Sean, my nephew

Thing you ate: Soursop

Thing you drank: Iced teh-O limau

Thing you said: "Bye!"

Thing you did: Read Elaine's blog, where I found this survey

Time you lied: Yesterday

Time you cried: Sometime last month

Time you showered: Last night

Time you got sick: January this year

Time you broke a bone: My own? Never

Time you got drunk: Nearly 8 years ago

Song you sang: "The Waltz" by Silje Nergaard

Song you listened to: "The Waltz" by Silje Nergaard

Thing you typed: This. Duh


Have you ever...

Seen a shooting star: (You mean meteors.) Of course. They happen all the time

Met anyone famous (if so, who): Yes, but why bother naming half the people in my industry?

Prank called someone: Yes, but I was 9 and my sister made me do it

Cried for attention: Yes, when I was a baby

Had alcohol poisoning: No

Wrecked a car: No

Threw a fit in public: No

Wanted to kill someone: No

Been in the newspaper: Yes - 2 weeks ago with Y&W!

Cried over nothing: Yes

Had a crush on a teacher: Sort of

Wished death on someone: Yes

Been called a tease: Yes, in an extremely positive manner

Like more than one person at once: Yes, but never in the same way

Imitated someone: Yes. I do Krusty the Clown very well

Wrote a song for somebody: Yes - once when I was 16 and another when I was 24

Been to a concert: Yes - the last was Harry Connick Jr!!

Snuck out of your house: Yes

Cut class: Yes

Been scared so much you pissed your pants: No

Loved someone so much it hurt: Of course

Faked being dead: No

Failed a class: Yes

Spoken fluently in another language: Yes - Indonesian, when I was a kid, but that's gone now

Gotten lost at the mall: Yes

Kissed someone of the same sex: Yes. It's even caught on video...sigh

Gotten a detention: Does standing outside the classroom as punishment count?

Missed the bus: Yes

Fallen down the stairs: Yes

Been in a sped class: No

Had a bad hangover: Yes

Gotten grounded: No

Lied about your age: Yes. Actually, it was my mum when she ordered alcohol for me when I was 14

Got hit by a car: No

Not done your H.W. then copied it off someone right before class: Yes

Shopped online: Yes

Given money to a homeless person: Yes

Been on a sports team: Yes, briefly in uni

Been so bored you did a survey like this one: Stupid question

Afterglow cut short

OK, I know I've just had a great holiday, albeit a very short one, and I should be thankful for that. But what the hell, I'd like the afterglow of my vacation to last longer than 1 hour, thank you very much.

Instead of, the moment I step in the house, getting hounded and baited by Her Majesty and getting abruptly brushed off by one of my closest friends.

The second Her Majesty sees me after having lovingly stayed up (and left a note on my desk stating her game plan for me to get my friggin confession done this week, after having bugged me about it ALL of last week), she starts telling me how fat I look in my dress (which all 4 of my holiday kaki said I looked good in), and how much smaller my eyes look because I'm more tanned... and then starts pinching the parts she says are fats sticking out of my dress.

And then she gets on my case about the damned penitential service/confession. [For non-Catholics, the church recommends that we say our confession during the period before Good Friday, and the penitential service is sort of a mass confession thingy.]

All the time, she's baiting me as she so often does, to get a fucking reaction out of me. I recognise this quickly, so I shut down and keep quiet. She recognises this quickly too, so she fishes out some fresh bait. Which I'm in no mood for, so she sulks away.

Fresh from that annoyance, I decide to ask in on my close friend - her MSN nick worried me a little that she wasn't feeling too good so I ask her about it. She gave me a one-line reply, and then says a very abrupt goodbye. Couldn't help but feel brushed off, cos this is not how very close friends talk to each other. After 18 years of friendship and after being as good a friend as I could be all this time, a friendly word or two would be nice.

WTF.

Sigh. I guess the holiday is officially over.

young & W!LD gets nominated!

Young & W!LD made the front page of The Straits Times Life! on Thursday 6 March!

[Click on the images for larger views (and to be able to read the article).]
We've made local theatre history - we're the first youth-based company to get a nomination for the ST Life! Theatre Awards (Best Ensemble, for Mad Forest).

It's all very exciting, and a wonderful pay-off for all the intense hard work we put into our shows, especially the mad, mad Mad Forest. We're up against pretty stiff competition from some great ensembles, and I'd be surprised if we actually won, but it's an honour just being nominated. Hopefully this will show the industry that there's hope for new talent in this generation.

Some of the cast seemed surprised that we got nominated, but I don't see why. Even during our run, there were a few casual whisperings of the possibility. And think about it - even those in the audience who were almost catatonic from sitting through the loooooooong and intense play were impressed by the strong ensemble energy.

I'm pretty sure that Act 2 sealed it for us - even the snorers and @#$%^& handphone-talkers in the audience were moved in that act (well, except for my mum, who didn't seem to understand any of it). More than one friend who watched commented that the climax of that act (which culminated in the singing of "Wake Up, Romanian") gave them tears and a shiver.

Working and being together so closely has really made us an Ensemble like no other I've known. Anyone looking in on us can see that immediately, and as much has been reflected to us by outsiders. We're (almost) all close friends and secrets are pretty much impossible.

Y&W - you're among my most cherished friends. I love you and am proud to be with you.

Night, rain and other quiet rustlings

On a whim, I decided to walk home after drinks at Balcony at 2am this morning. It was a cool night, I was wearing comfy flats and I simply felt like it, in spite of feeling ridiculously uncomfortable in the corset I'd been wearing all evening. (If you have to know, I was feeling bloated and wanted to look good in the photoshoot. Hence, beauty before comfort.)

I've always loved taking long-ish walks in the wee hours when it's completely quiet and miss doing that from my hostel days.

My companions of the night were the comforting night air, music and amber glow of the suburban nocturnal world. My sister called and we talked briefly, and on that lonely pavement, it felt like ours were the only voices in the world, even if we were doing naught but our usual B&M. The rest of the way home, I felt like singing, but decided I didn't want to freak out all the condo security guards I was probably going to pass by. I let the music transform my world and drifted through a once-familiar street, feeling as if my feet barely touched the pavement.

I woke up to rain today. Just the sound of it is intoxicating and nostalgic, and carries with it countless memories and promises. It was tempting to fling open the windows to smell and kiss the rain, the wayward lover that it is. But I settled for snuggling with pillows in bed, safe under my covers.

And then my day began.