A Lost/Found experience in Johor Baru

Fans of live musical theatre in Johor Baru experienced a much-awaited treat when Lost/Found, an English theatre production that features four short musicals about four lost people seeking to be found, was staged here on the first weekend of December.

 Lost/Found, an English musical theatre production
was staged in Johor Baru recently

It was also a timely year-end treat as performances kicked off on Friday, Dec 6, with nightly shows at 8pm and an extra 3pm matinee on Sunday Dec 8, in a total of four shows at the Sunway Iskandar Events Gallery in Iskandar Puteri, located next to Sunway Citrine Hub.

StageCraft Theatre Productions, the theatre arm of StageCraft, the largest Drama & Speaking Skills training center in Southern Peninsular Malaysia, presented Lost/Found, a work by acclaimed Malaysian composer, Nick Choo, in collaboration with Christopher Ling, the award-winning Founder-Director of theatrethreesixty, a Kuala Lumpur-based theatre company.

Poster for Lost/Found which ended its
run in JB on Dec 8 

“Today we have a decent crowd,” said Director of StageCraft, Elizabeth Louis, in reply to my question about the audience at the show’s opening night.

In the days preceding the first show, Elizabeth and her team in Stagecraft had their fingers (toes and eyes!) crossed, in hopeful anticipation of rapid ticket sales but as things usually go for theatre shows, the take-up trickled in slower than expected.

Earlier that week when Christopher Ling arrived in JB, I had the privilege to meet the affable artistic director with Elizabeth and her sister, Anne, and to share with him a further insight into Johor by taking him on a heritage walk through our city’s old streets. [Look out for this in a separate story!]

His next few days here were focused on setting up the stage and looking into all the important details that go into preparing for a live performance of a musical theatre show.

And then it was opening night.

The talented cast of Tria Aziz, Alia Kearny, Gabriel Tham and Natalie Makulin, delighted the audience with divine vocals, sung to live music played by the composer Nick, on the keyboards accompanied by violin virtuoso, Andrea Sim.

Natalie Makulin [Left] and Gabriel Tham [Right]
soaking in the applause at the end of the performance

The show was presented in an intimate setting where the audience were seated facing each other in parallel rows, separated by the “stage” in between, for a close encounter with the actors.

[This arrangement provided an added view where members of the audience could also see the expressions and/or reactions of the audience seated opposite!]

[As no photography was allowed during the show, I managed to capture candid shots, moments after the show was over. You will see (from the photos!) that the audience expressions speak for themselves…]

Using minimum props, the actors mimed, acted and sang their hearts out, to stretch the audience’s imagination as everyone was gradually drawn into the stories portrayed in the musical drama.

Live music was provided by Nick Choo on the keyboards
and Andrea Sim, who played the violin

The smooth synchronicity between the actors and music, excellent solos and group harmonies, and the thought-provoking themes in the hour-long show just moved along in a lively momentum to enthrall the audience with a nonstop, wave after wave of emotions.

I must commend the actors for a good performance that was thoroughly engaging, natural and of course, entertaining.

I was particularly impressed by how Tria emoted her role in the duet with Gabriel, while they were perched on high stools, facing away from each other.

Through their musical repartee, I felt the pain and poignancy as these two characters expressed sorrow and resignation because they were edged out of their worth – having been replaced by machines.

Tria Aziz [Left] and Gabriel Tham, performing
a duet in an emotional scene

Her experience in the musical theatre scene set Tria Aziz head and shoulders above the others vocally as she pulled the audience into the stories with her exquisite vocals.

After winning ntv7’s Audition reality show, she went on to win Best Female Actor in the ShortSweet Musical Festival 2013 and Best Actor in 2017.

Tria performed mostly in English musicals with some of her most memorable performances in shows like DanSing Thru Broadway, Kurang Manis (Instant Café Theatre), Adam the Musical, Shout The Mod Musical, 1Sex 1Money 1Scandal (ICT), The Edge and Aladdin A Musical Comedy.

After she won the Boh Cameronian’s Best Musical Performer in 2014, Tria went on to win Best Musical Performer in a Supporting Role and Best Vocal in Music in 2018.

Tria pulled the audience into her
story with her exquisite vocals

Among other achievements, this multi-award winner also sung a soundtrack for a local Malay movie, Waris Jari Hantu in 2007, and her versatile voice was used to dub various cartoons in Malay for Astro.

Then all four actors took to the stage; two as a couple while the other two, Alia and Tria (I figured!) were “machines” that humans often interacted with in our modern world.

I was rather tickled to repeatedly hear this annoying statement, “Recalculating!”

I could safely conclude that it was what a GPS would say while, “The ticket is required while exiting,” was obviously a reminder from a carpark ticket machine!

Meanwhile Natalie and Gabriel realistically portrayed the struggles faced by modern couples who longed for physical intimacy, but other distractions and priorities deterred them from making a firm commitment to each other.

[Note: This show is rated PG13 due to its mature content.]

Tria Aziz [Left] and Alia Kearny [Right] taking a bow
at the end of the performance

The skills and experience of the four talents brought life to this musical production which simply took the audience on a rollercoaster journey of emotions.

From the desperate search for a lost child to the euphoria of graduation day and the reality check about “what’s next?” Why did they go through uni? Was it for themselves or to fulfill their parents’ dreams? And what if one failed to graduate?  

Alia, who won Best Female Actor in Short+Sweet Musical Festival 2015, had a major role in Euphrasia the Musical that also went on tour. When not performing, she works as a theatre director and a vocal and acting coach.

Natalie, a speech and drama teacher, made her debut in musical theatre in 2010 when she performed in The Reluctant Saint The Musical that was staged in KL and in Singapore. In 2019, she made a comeback in Euphrasia the Musical.

With the cast of Lost/Found, Artistic Director, Christopher
Ling [4th from Left] Violinist Andrea Sim [3rd from Left]
and Composer, Nick Choo [5th from Right] 

Meanwhile, Gabriel started his journey in performing arts with the Cempaka Schools’ annual Box Office Productions.

He trained under Dama Asia and was involved in several Dama productions. His work included several original black-comedy shows like Angry Pyjamas, The Butler Did and My Zombie Ex.

Lost/Found premiered in Kuching before coming to JB and will open in KL in mid-December at Lot’ng located at 32-2, Jalan USJ 10/1E, 47620 Subang Jaya.

It was the first time such a stylish musical theatre production was staged in JB and I, along with a host of performing arts enthusiasts, are hoping for many more to come.

I was happy to see from posters displayed in the foyer that the shows, Coming Soon to JB include Sepet The Musical, an adaptation of the iconic Yasmin Ahmad film, and The Gruffalo’s Child.

After the actors made their final bow, they exited and quickly returned to the hall dressed down in casual street clothes, beyond recognition from their stage roles!

It took me a while… but I did not hesitate to commend the cast and crew for staging such a well-presented performance.

Christopher Ling, trying
to snap a we-fie with me!

As we chatted, I could see they were clearly tired but hyped up by the enthusiastic response from the audience.

In the course of our conversation, I shared with them that over the years, fans of the performing arts in JB had to brave traffic congestions to cross the causeway into Singapore to catch live theatre shows.

It was certainly a wonderful change when such a production was staged in JB because it was like bringing the show “right to our doorstep!”

This was a sentiment shared by my fellow live theatre enthusiasts who have long suffered horrendous traffic and paid high ticket prices (due to our unfavourable exchange rate!) all for the love of the performing arts.

As the first collaboration between Stagecraft Productions and Theatrethreesixty was reaping a positive and promising response from the JB audience, I’m so looking forward to seeing how they will work together again to stage more shows here.

When Lost/Found wrapped up in JB, the Stagecraft and Theatrethreesixty teams went on a recce trip to check out the possibilities at venues in and around JB that can host a range of live performances in various capacities.

For a start, I’m just hopeful that they have found some suitable spots!

Stay updated about the performing arts scene in Johor Baru through Facebook pages @Stagecraftmy and @theatrethreesixty.com

Photo credit for shots of the performance: Sidekick Projext.