The 15JohorAF draws to a close

At the start of the 15^th Johor Arts Festival on September 1, it looked like weeks of shows and activities were all lined up ahead – and I made it to most of them – but all too soon, it closed with the grand finale of Perspective: The Runway, a fashion event.

Vision String Quartet performing their own composition,
Samba, by strumming their stringed instruments!

Looking back to Day One of the 15JohorAF – but even on a Saturday evening – I thought the audience could have been much larger.

“JB arts enthusiasts, where are you?” this refrain echoed in my mind.

I’ve had a long day and rushed over, hoping that I would not be late (I dislike missing a moment of any live show!) and was deeply saddened to see that the folks in Johor Baru did not make an attempt to turn up for this show.

As I watched, seated in pitch darkness, I just wished fans of contemporary theatre had availed themselves the opportunity to watch this talented writer and performer.

Erwin Shah Ismail in a scene from
his monologue, Kulit On The Go

As the show unfolded, I forgot all else but the mesmerizing monologue in, Kulit On The Go, that featured an impressive performance by Erwin Shah Ismail, a one-man act who performed in English, Malay, Mandarin and Hokkien, and he even sang while strumming the ukulele.

I felt that I was part of history-in-the-making because Kulit On The Go had the potential to develop into something huge – just like how Emily On Emerald Hill did – and I was blessed with the privilege to watch the 200th performance by Pearly Chua last year.

On Sept 3, I reached the Persada Johor International Convention Centre for an evening of classical music with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and joined fans of classical music to park at the adjacent multi-level carpark.

To skip the queue for paying the parking ticket after the show, I remembered to use my trusted Touch ‘n Go cash card because this carpark has such a convenient facility!

It was good to have a printed programme for the evening’s performance entitled, From Mozart to Totoro, which gave me a guide to how the orchestra started with Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro and ended with Music from My Neighbour Totoro by Hisaishi.

Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra conductor, Naohisa
Furusawa, dressed as the title character, Totoro, to
conduct the final piece in their performance here.

Conductor, Naohisa Furusawa, showed his playful side when he donned a costume that resembled the title character, Totoro from the 1988 acclaimed animated tale, when he conducted the final piece in the evening’s performance.

While the hall seated the audience quite comfortably, it was still not an ideal setting for an orchestral performance.

I must admit that I only listened to the music because I could hardly see beyond the first few rows of the orchestra as the brass and percussion sections were hidden from view.

From my seat, I could just peek in between the pianist and violinists to see a bit of the harpist and xylophonist in action.

It was some time since I last enjoyed a show performed by Ajith Baskaran Dass, Bharata Natyam dancer and choreographer extraordinaire and his Suvarna dancers as their shows were mostly staged abroad or in other cities.

And when I discovered that he was presenting Much Ado About Dance or M.A.A.D. on Sept 7, I made sure that I was there.

A scene from the 'couple dance' in
Much Ado About Dance

In typical Ajith style (who wanted his audience to be better informed about the performance), the event opened with a pre-show interview-chat where he shared some insights into his role in Suvarna productions and the art of Bharata Natyam.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dance programme which showcased various genres of the classical Indian dance performed by some of Suvarna’s talented dancers as groups, a couple and in solo.

Having been to many of Suvarna’s annual shows, I’m familiar with the dancers and observed how they have matured and continue to excel in their story-telling through portrayal of characters, facial expressions, movement and mime.

I particularly liked the ‘couple dance’ and watched with bated breath, deeply entranced by their performance – until the gentleman next to me – elbowed me to get my attention and told me that the couple were in fact, husband and wife.

I nodded because I already know. They are Vijay Chandran and his wife, Suzatha Suppiah. No thanks to him, my pleasure in watching this performance was rudely interrupted!

My brother and his wife, who were visiting from Kuala Lumpur, joined me on Sept 9 for Tarakucha!

Sean Ghazi with Ida Mariana with the
big band in their Tarakucha! show.

They fondly remember Sean Ghazi's performance in the staging of the West End theatre show, Miss Saigon, and were thrilled that their visit to JB coincided with 15JohorAF and his show here!

All of us enjoyed the show because the ‘big band’ did a good job to complement the flawless vocals of Sean Ghazi and Ida Mariana.

My brother and I, however, agreed that the duet performances could have been more engaging if the artistes connected better with each other while performing.

From the collection of photos I have, I only managed to find one shot – only one – where Sean and Ida actually looked at each other while singing a duet.

If I needed to capture some photos to post with my stories, I will use my camera to discreetly snap with no-flash or if necessary, raise my arms and drop them quickly.

While almost everyone is armed with a sophisticated mobile device that can capture vivid shots and exciting videos, there is a common courtesy about using your devices during live performances.

In spite of the constant reminders from the organisers that NO Videography is allowed, there are recalcitrant people who still insist on filming videos with their mobile-phones.

The very act of videoing a live show is already against the house rules but the duration in which their device is being held up – sometimes blatantly high – that it blocked the view of the audience behind, is just plain rude.

Breaking the house rules is one matter but blocking the audience behind you, is disrupting their pleasure of watching a live performance for which they paid tickets to enjoy.  

Taking away their right to the pleasure of watching a live show is downright wrong and for such careless and inconsiderate behavior, I believe the organisers have the right to simply remove these culprits from the hall!

For some shows, there are also Copyright laws to abide by and it’s just wrong to try to video or film when you were clearly told not to. So if you are guilty of such inconsiderate behavior, please STOP IT.

Now back to my experiences at the 15JohorAF…

The creators of Fusion Wayang Kulit, Tintoy Chuo and
Pak Daim, the Tok Dalang or master puppeteer at 15JohorAF

In 2015, at the 12^th Johor Arts Fest, I had the privilege to meet with the creators of Fusion Wayang Kulit and watched their performance of Peperangan Bintang Wayang, their wayang kulit or shadow play rendition of scenes from the epic, Star Wars.

So on Friday afternoon Sept 14, I found my way to the Workshop-Exhibition-Performance event to meet with the creators of Fusion Wayang Kulit, Tintoy Chuo and Pak Daim, the Tok Dalang or master puppeteer.

A series of loud knocks, “Tok Tok Tok” greeted me and then I discovered that it was the sound of hammering during the design and construction of shadow play puppets.

Tintoy Chuo holding up a shadow puppet - Recognise him?

Admiring the display of shadow play puppets set up with labels, I smiled as I recognised familiar Star Wars characters that were given Malaysian identities with names like Perantau Langit (Luke Skywalker) and Sangkala Vedeh (Darth Vader)!

The creativity of Tintoy and his team seemed to know no bounds because they have proudly created an additional character who was quite easily identified, not just from his outfit and spectacles, but also from his pair of low-budget footwear!

. . .

For reasons beyond my control, I had to miss some of the shows but I made sure that my trusted sources would share with me, a brief summary of what happened at the shows.

One of the shows I had to miss was Malaysia’s Queen of Comedy, Joanne Kam Poh Poh. She was described as bold and outrageous and her event poster for Joanne Kam: La La Lian nationwide tour had three more adjectives to describe her show: Fierce, Funny, Fabulous.

Malaysia's Queen of Comedy, Joanne Kam Poh Poh, in action

So prior to the show, I gave two friends (who were going to her show!) the challenge to tell me about the show later, by using only adjectives.

The very next morning, I received one feedback with four words that read: Brilliant. Witty. Raw. Honest.

Then I received the other friend’s comments which gave me a clearer picture of what went down in Joanne’s show.

When I read the words: Entertaining, inspiring but sad, I thought that Joanne was very brave to share the story of her life’s journey through her show.

Her painful experiences are nothing to laugh about but she was clever and courageous to turn these around to her advantage and come out on top!

On Sept 21, my friends and I were all set to be enthralled by the Vision String Quartet who were here to entertain us, all the way from Berlin.

Among us, the two who are formally trained in music admitted that they are great fans – and one of them even broke down and confessed that she had been ‘stalking’ them on You-Tube recently – and could hardly wait for the show!

The Vision String Quartet in JB, all the way from Berlin

For this show – Listen Differently – there was no programme sheet but during the introduction, we heard the announcement that the performance by this ensemble of two violins, a viola and a cello, should open with, Barber Adagio for Strings, Opus 11…

The very mention of Barber sent our two friends into rhapsodies of pure joy…

In the second half of the show, the audience was treated to the music of Mendelssohn.

From where I was seated, I could see their facial expressions and observed how passionate these musicians were performing.  

Very often, the strings on their bows would snap from the sheer energy they were exuding and they discreetly plucked away the stray strands (of horse hair) as they went on playing – standing up and without any music notes – as they played music from their hearts.

Thanks, JSPA for bringing us the 15JohorAF!

The young musicians clearly connected with the audience when they performed their own composition, Samba, but for this, they strummed their stringed instruments instead of using the bows!

It was my privilege to enjoy such an inspiring performance from the young musicians but I just wished that more local music schools – teachers and students – watched this show and seized the opportunity to be inspired by these music virtuosos.

Once again, this question came to mind, “JB arts enthusiasts, where are you?”

Shows and events have been brought almost to your doorstep BUT where are you?

So another Johor Arts Fest is over.

Meanwhile I’m anticipating the next event in the Johor Society of the Performing Arts (JSPA) Calendar of Festivals for Jazz, Film, Indigenous, Classical Music, Piano, Writers & Readers, and other exciting stand-alone events.

For more info, visit Facebook: www.facebook.com/johorperformingarts.