Perkier Than You: Musicals

Dec 18, 2008

Movie Buff

Scribbled by Perky | Chucked away in Me Me Me, Movies, Musicals

I love watching movies. I think a good chunk of my money is used to buy dvds every week. Most movies I tend to watch them only once, but the really good ones, like the really, really good ones, those I can watch over and over and over again.

Here's my list of the 8 most memorable movies (in random order):

Braveheart

I love epic movies and this is, to me, the best epic movie ever made. There's just so many moments where I felt like fighting along the Scots because I wanted to follow wherever William Wallace went.

This movie has everything, from drama to romance, awesome battles scenes (I'm so glad that they don't depend much CGI coz without it, the scenes just looks extra real), and great orchestra works. And the scene where he gets tortured before being executed, that was the most heartbreaking and yet most heroic scene ever captured on screen (I cry like a baby when Mel screams "Freedom!!!").

The Last of the Mohicans

"The photography belongs in a museum, the music is a symphonic magnet, the acting and sparsely spoken words fit like little pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to create an immaculately magnificent picture." - Mark Worrell (nuntukamen@hotmail.com)

This movie is second only to Braveheart simply because I'm a Mel Gibson fan. I absolutely love Daniel Day-Lewis in this movie. Seeing him run with his long rifle in one hand and a gunstock club in the other, now that's a man right there.

Twilight

This is the only romance movie I truly enjoy. I've watched this 7 times in the cinemas and I can't wait for the DVD to be released. It's got some cheesy lines and corny scenes, but what makes it bearable is the chemistry between Edward (played by my beloved Rob Pattinson) and Bella (played by the talented Kristen Stewart).

I love all the cast/characters in the movie and the books. Yes, I've read the books (except for book 3 because it's SOLD OUT everywhere in KL!). And I can't wait for the sequel to come out.

Transformers

There are so many things that could go wrong whenever you take such iconic characters and put them on the silver screen. But in the hands of the great Michael Bay, those iconic characters come to life. My favorite Autobot is definitely Bumblebee.

There's nothing that I didn't like in this movie. The casts were awesome, I love how the robots transformed, the scene where the Autobots were at Sam Witwicky's home was my favorite, there was plenty of humor from Shia, and the action scenes were effing awesome! I just love this movie.

Dark Knight

One name: Heath Ledger. Even if he hadn't died, this movie would still have the same effect on me. Heath as the Joker, now that's a performance.

Iron Man

I've watched Iron Man so many times on DVD, and that's hugely because of Robert Downey Jr. I absolutely love his narcissistic wit and charm. And the red that they used on the Iron Man suit, that's hot.

Hairspray

John Travolta singing and dancing, even as a woman, is worth watching. Michelle Pfeiffer as the over ambitious b*tch is fun to watch. The movie has a great ensemble (the cast sings and dances with such flair and passion its infectious), and in my mind probably one of the best studio musicals to come out in years.

Queen's We Will Rock You Musical

Okay, this isn't a movie, but seriously, they should make it into a movie and cast MiG Ayesa as the lead. I've watched the musical twice (you can read about my experience watching the musical and meeting the cast AND MiG here, here and here), and I just thought to myself, "They need to put this onto the silver screen!"

So there you have it, my 8 most memorable movies ever. I think I did miss one or 2 movies out, but at the time I wrote this I just can't remember what they were. So what's your most memorable movie?

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Jul 26, 2008

When the Stars Align (Part 3 of 3)

Scribbled by Perky | Chucked away in Best Damn Thing, Musicals, My Orgasmic Pleasure

You know, when I wrote Parts 1 and 2 of When the Stars Align, never in my wildest imagination that it would attract the kind of attention that it did. I didn’t even know they had alerts for this sort of thing. It was really touching for me to find out that strangers have actually placed links of my blog in a forum and asking others to check my blog out. Thank you guys! :)

I must say, expectation is riding high on this finale post on my WWRY experience. Wow, for the first time I’m actually feeling the pressure to write on my own blog. Afterall, I don’t want to get attacked by other MiG/WWRY fans out there for what may be deemed as a so-so ending.

*Note: Please bear in mind that we were not able to take any pictures inside the theatre hall. Therefore, pics in this finale post will be quite limited.

Best Seats & Surprise!

We arrived pretty early at the theatre lounge… We were already so high from meeting MiG Ayesa (saw him walking around with a hot blondie whom we’re guessing was his missus) and the WWRY band. Every time we saw Caucasians walking around with heavy makeup, we were like,”I bet they’re one of the cast members!”

Originally, only myself, Big Fat Witch and Far East was seated on the 5th row. Due to strict budget, Cikgu Garang Cat opted to get the cheaper 2,000 baht tickets (where the view isn’t as great as the ones you get from our 5th row ;) ).

Big Fat Witch knew how much she loved the show (and MiG Ayesa) that it just wouldn’t feel right to leave her out. So Big Fat Witch forked up some moolah so that Cikgu Garang Cat could sit together with us.

And we kept that a secret from her up to the moment we were about to enter the theatre.

When we finally gave her her ticket, she was more than happy and we were more than happy that she was happy. So all that happy happy happy added to our excitement :)

With our 5th row, right in the centre, tickets :)

I gotta tell you guys this, 5th row smacked in the centre was and is THE BEST SEATS in house. You don’t wanna sit too in front as that’ll restrict your view (and probably give you neck cramps). But you don’t wanna sit too far behind either as you won’t be able to see the tiny details that make this show so awesome.

Before the show - The Mercury Phoenix Trust emblem, which was designed and drawn by Freddie, was based on the Star Signs of the members of QUEEN (yes, this is how it looks like from where we were seated ;) )

Icing on This Already Very Sweet Cake

I don’t wanna go into too much detail about the show itself as I want you all to watch it with your own eyes & listen with your own ears!

But let me tell you this, MiG sang pitch perfect. Even Sivan Raphaely (who played Scaramouche) did very well for herself (her performance in Singapore was a little bit shaky). We thought that the Killer Queen understudy in Singapore was effing great, but Annie Crummer’s performance… left me speechless. Her vocals are *mmmmuuaah* and I so dig her diva attitude!

We were so into the show – we lipsynced along, clapped along, reacted to the jokes (we went “oooh” when Scaramouche mentioned how INXS didn’t even want Galileo in their band – surprisingly no one “got it”). We were really into the show!

There were moments in the show that I swear to you, MiG was looking at us from the stage.

We were smiling throughout the show. Although Carly Graeme (who played Oz) didn’t perform as great as Kerry Ellis, I did shed a few tears when she sang “No One But You (Only the Good Die Young)” as I had my thoughts on Freddie. Yeah, I know, Brian and Roger originally wrote that song as a tribute to Princess Di but I thought it was great that they included this song for him in the musical. You can’t possibly have a QUEEN musical without paying tributes to the QUEEN ;)

At the end the cast and the band took their bows. Both Big Fat Witch and I stood up and gave the cast a standing ovation, while screaming,”You guys rock!”, “Good job!”, “Rock On!” “WoOOOOooOOOhhhhh!”

And the icing on the cake?
MiG Ayesa pointed to us, smiled and bowed to us. MiG, the man himself, acknowledged us in the crowd!

Even the four guys we met earlier pointed at us, smiled and waved. We just became hysterical (I think everyone else in the crowd thinks we’re weirdos or something).

Those acknowledgements from them meant the whole world to us. They said that they were going to make it extra special for us, and those acknowledgements was a personal touch on their end. They kept their word! We felt like we were the luckiest fans in the crowd! :D

We bumped into Ryno after the show at the cafe downstairs. We congratulated him & the cast for a job well done as well as thanked him for this wonderful experience. He asked which show was better - we told him this one was 100 times better! :)

To sum up QUEEN’s We Will Rock You musical, let me tell you this, to fully enjoy it the audience needs to move, get involved and accept the invitation to join in extended by the casts. You can’t just sit there, staying cocooned in the comfort of habit… otherwise you just won’t “get it”.

There were 2 guys seated in front of us but they hardly showed any emotion or movement throughout the show. The typical theatre goers I presume. They just sat there (blocking my view sometimes). God knows what’s wrong with them ;)

I am forever grateful to the musical creators of WWRY and everyone involved in it as they did one helluva job in keeping the flame of Freddie Mercury alive and ensuring that his and QUEEN’s musical legacy survives through this digital age. And I’m pretty sure that along the way, QUEEN’s music will reach new generations.

Brian May often performs with the London production on special occasions like anniversaries and Freddie’s birthday. So I hope that one day I’ll get the opportunity to watch that very special show.

But for now, I’ll just settle with the fact that this is the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my whole life.

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Jul 25, 2008

When the Stars Align (Part 2 of 3)

Scribbled by Perky | Chucked away in Best Damn Thing, Musicals, My Orgasmic Pleasure

Making the Right Call

So there we were at the lift area. We were on the 4th floor. We noticed that the lift kept going to the 6th floor first before coming down to our floor. Each time the lift opened, we could see some of the WWRY cast members in it.

What ARE the chances of meeting MiG Ayesa in the elevator?

Yes, that idea did pop into our heads. But each time the lift opened and there were no sign of MiG, we thought maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Then at one point, the lift door opened and it was empty. Cikgu Garang Cat wanted to enter, but I told her no.

I could see the frustration on Big Fat Witch and Cikgu Garang Cat. I could also sense their urgency of getting to the ground floor as quickly as possible. Who knows? Maybe MiG had somehow made his way there already.

So I told them, “Ok, whatever it is, we’ll just take the next lift, ok?”

So we waited for the next lift to come.

Ting.

The lift door opened.

And on the right side of the lift was a man leaning against the wall, clad in singlet and Bermuda shorts. The first thing I noticed was how muscular his arms were.

OMG! IT’S MiG AYESA!!!!

It took a while for the rest to notice it was HIM in the lift. And when they finally did, we started giggling like blushing teenagers.

I think MiG heard us giggle, so he greeted us in Thai (he probably thought we were Thai).

I was sooo happy that he greeted us, I started having verbal diarrhea.

“Hi MiG!! We caught the show in Singapore, and this will be our second time watching the show!”

MiG replied,”Oh really?”

And when he said that, he eyes just opened up and for the first time I could see what beautiful eyes he has. He’s so much better looking in person. The pictures really don’t do him justice at all.

We chatted a little bit in the elevator. And when the lift door opened, we were so dumbfounded by our good luck, we almost walked away without taking pictures with him. But luckily, Far East was there and he went up to MiG and asked if we could take pictures with him.

And so the camwhoring begins.

MiG with the Sylvester Sisters

MiG with the lucky ladies...

Group pic with MiG

Dang it! Faiz got a solo shot with MiG!

Got him to sign my program book too!

The best part was we got to personally give him our handmade gift!

And he loved it! In his own words, ”These are so awesome!”, "These photos are awesome!" and "Terima kasih".

One thing I learned from our meeting with MiG Ayesa was how down to earth he was. He didn't have a big entourage (like other big stars do), and that made him approachable and accessible to his fans. He's really a cool, super nice and warm guy.

Before we parted, we told him that we were seated 5th row from the stage. And then MiG said that he was going to make the show extra special for us. In my mind, I thought, yeah he probably says that to all his fans but was still glad that he said it anyway.

Grab Some Grub

It was time for us to look for dinner. Better not go to a rocking musical with hungry stomachs, regardless of how great the musical is. As we were walking around the Esplanade looking for a restaurant to dine in, we saw the WWRY band members: Llewellyn John (bass), Matthew Marinus (drums), Ryno Zeelie (guitar 2), Etienne Oosthuysen (percussion).

Actually, it was Big Fat Witch who spotted them first (it was Ryno’s hairdo that caught her eye). As they were still eating at that time, we decided not to trouble them.

Perhaps if we’re lucky, they’d still be there after we were done with dinner.

We must be very lucky people indeed as the band was still there. I was quite a nervous wreck because these guys are like music Gods. And again, I turned to Far East to do the “dirty work”. So he went up to them and I followed him from behind.

The guys are just so damn cool. They didn’t mind signing my program book, we took pictures together and even chatted for awhile.

The guys were more than delighted after finding out that this was the second time we were watching the show. Just like the first show, we had purposely flown to Bangkok to watch it again.

“You guys were so good that I thought the cast was singing on minus-1”

I even let it slip that we were seated 5th row from the stage. Before we parted ways, the band told us that they were going to make it extra special for us.

L-R: Llewellyn John (bass), Matthew Marinus (drums), Perky, Ryno Zeelie (guitar 2), Cikgu Garang Cat, Big Fat Witch, and Etienne Oosthuysen (percussion)

And again, I was doubtful that they meant it but was glad that they said it anyways.

Even after all this, the best part has yet to come.

(to be continued….)

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Jul 23, 2008

When the Stars Align (Part 1 of 3)

Scribbled by Perky | Chucked away in Best Damn Thing, Musicals, My Orgasmic Pleasure

Dreams do come true. I didn’t think mine would because it seemed a bit far fetched even for someone like me. I contemplated a few days about writing this post because to do this post justice, I had to forsake something very important to me as a blogger – my anonymity.

When I started this blog, I had assumed a nickname (and even an alter ego) to protect my identity. None of my post would contain my pictures and most of the time, even those mentioned in my stories would be given nicknames. There were times I had to delete some of the comments because my friends had mentioned my real name. Such was the length I went in order stay anonymous.

But the wonderful experience I had while I was in Bangkok was too good, too great to be kept to myself. So I'll be including pictures of my trip here… ~~don’t want you guys calling me a liar lah pulak kan?~~ ;) And finally you all will have a face to go with the alias fabulously known as Perky.

To those who’ve been reading my blog, you guys know that I was in Bangkok last weekend together with Big Fat Witch, McChef, Far East and Cikgu Garang Cat to watch QUEEN’s We Will Rock You musical. For us girls, it was the second time watching the show. As for Far East, well, he saw how enthusiastic and excited we were from the Singapore show that he just had to see it for his own eyes.

Well you all know what a huge fan I am of QUEEN, so huge that I know the story behind their songs, their videos, their biography, the instrumentation for most of their songs, Brian May's solo parts and rifts, the way Freddie works around the notes so he can hit the higher notes later part in the song... If there was a class on QUEEN, I can bet you my scrawny arms I'll ace it. I'm that HUGE of a fan.

The Journey to the Dream Begins Here

The Sunday before we left for Bangkok, I was having lunch with my sis, Big Fat Witch. I had briefly mention to her that perhaps we should make a gift for MiG Ayesa, to show him how much we love his performance (and how obsessed Big Fat Witch is with him).

I didn’t want to just buy a gift. That’s just not personal at all. I wanted a gift that was different, something that MiG can remember us by. So I told BFW,”Hey, let’s do scenes from the musical. You as Galileo (MiG’s part) and I be Scaramouche (his love interest).”

So the idea of the gift evolved from there. We decided to do a parody of the scenes instead. We wanted to make it funny. We enlisted the help of famed photographer Bibik Nyonya and creative director, Mama Diva. We got into costume and snap snap snap, our pictures were taken. Taking pictures is not my forte (something Bibik and Mama can testify to) and it takes one very good photographer to make me look nearly as good.

The gift we made – a parody of scenes from the musical with BFW as Galileo and me as Scaramouche. Sorry, can't publish its contents as that is for MiG's beautiful eyes only...

As I had to go back to Kuching on Thursday (one day before flying to Bangkok), I never even thought of how we were going to pass the gift to MiG, let alone if we'll ever get the chance to pass it to him personally.

Venturing into the Land of a Thousand Smiles

(the promo outside of Esplanade, the venue for WWRY musical)

This trip was joined by Far East, Kitty Cat and McChef (although McChef didn’t join us for the show). Being the ~~lazy~~ spontaneous person that I am, I never even bothered with booking us a hotel room. Just thought we’d do it backpackers style, you know.

The girls goofing around outside the hotel. (L: Big Fat Witch, R: Cikgu Garang Cat)

But Far East is just one of those guys who MUST have a proper hotel room. Yeah, he's such a girl ;) So he booked us two rooms at this hotel called Chaophya Park Hotel. It was only when we got to Bangkok that we found out that that’s THE hotel where the casts of WWRY was staying at.

Far East with Big Fat Witch posing outside the hotel

Yes, we're very fascinated with this signboard ;)

That’s the second sign of the many wonderful things to come.

The Good Samaritan

Since we were staying at the same hotel as the cast members, it did get to our heads that maybe we’ll get lucky and meet them there. So on Saturday morning, we had our “stalker” mode on and hoped and prayed that we’ll get to see the cast members.

It was pretty obvious that we were waiting for them (Big Fat Witch was like a beacon with that WWRY bag of hers). So this Thai guy, who was wearing a WRRY crew tag (probably one of the local crews), approached us,”Hey are you guys waiting for MiG? He already left. You just missed him about half an hour ago. If you’d like you can go to Esplanade at 5pm after the matinee show. The cast usually hangs around there before the next show”.

We were very fortunate to have known that piece of information, otherwise we would’ve waited and waited and wasted more time waiting and hoping to see the cast members.

That guy was our sign no. 3.

Okay, Position Yourselves Guys!

Around 5pm we were at the lounge area near the theatre, waiting to catch a glimpse of the cast members (and if we’re super lucky we get to see the main cast). So while waiting, we did a little bit of camwhoring to kill the time.

Annie Crummer as the Killer Queen. She was sooOOOOoooo GOOD!! Her vocal range is amazing, the facial expression priceless!

And then we saw that people were slowly coming down from the escalator and exiting the theatre. Oh boy oh boy oh boy, we were so damn excited!

Again we waited and waited. There was no sign of any of the cast members. Then Far East saw this lady who was wearing a WWRY jacket and looked like she was very important to the show.

So he approached her (coz we ladies didn’t have the balls to ask. Yeah, literally) and asked if the cast was coming down. She replied,”There will be no meet-and-greet the fans today”.

Oh bummer. It felt like someone took all our happiness away with a snap of the fingers.

But then she said,”But you can take that lift over there and go to the Ground Floor. Perhaps you’ll see the cast members there”.

This lady was our last sign. Some say God was pointing us to the right direction, but I’d like to think that Freddie Mercury had a little something to do with setting this whole thing up. Perhaps it was Freddie’s way of showing me how happy he was to have a fan like me, someone who has been pining her whole life to meet The Flamboyant One in person.

L-R: Big Fat Witch, Cikgu Garang Cat and Perky (Far East dubs us as dolls)

And off to the lift area we go...

(To be continued…)

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Jul 17, 2008

Jetsetter

Scribbled by Perky | Chucked away in Me Me Me, Musicals

I just got off the flight from Kuching. Went back to Kuching last night as I had some business to attend to this morning. And now I'm back in the big city. *sigh* Travelling can be so tiring, especially for someone who hates to fly.

I've got a somewhat juicy story to tell... about an Aussie guy who tried to pick me up while we were on the plane.

But now I'm just too tired. Plus I have a flight to Bangkok tomorrow. Unpacking, then repacking... man, that's really exhausting!

So, if I don't post anything new tonight, then you guys have a great weekend ahead. I'll be having tonnes of fun in Bangkok (between the shopping & getting wasted & watching Queen's We Will Rock You Musical). So see you guys on Tuesday!

Cheers,
Perky.

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Jul 12, 2008

Locating Those Rare Musical Gems

Scribbled by Perky | Chucked away in Musicals, Paid Blogging

If you’re the kind who’s always on the look out for rare and deleted records, cds and music memorabilia, then Rare Vinyl Records and Memorabilia is the place to go.

You all know how big a fan of QUEEN I am and will try my best to get my hands on whatever QUEEN items I can find. I managed to find Hot Space - Autographed & Framed Display Flat! - a very rare 1982 USA promotional 12” x 12” display of QUEEN Hot Space, FULLY AUTOGRAPHED in black felt pen by Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor & John Deacon across each of their faces. All four of them signed it!

It would give me the greatest joy if I could get my hands on this as I would finally have something that was touched by the late Freddie (I can’t possibly call myself his biggest fan if I don’t have something of his, right??). This item, that comes complete with certificate of authencity, costs a whopping MYR4101.95. Although I can’t afford to buy this right now, but hey, at least I know it’s out there.

So you see, Rare Vinyl Records and Memorabilia is a great source if you are a collector of those rare vinyls, rare CDs and memorabilia that you may have missed or may not be able to find elsewhere. You can rest assure that their items are genuine as they have a reputation for sourcing music related collectibles in excellent condition (or close to it) from around the globe.

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It Won't Be Long Before Soon

Scribbled by Perky | Chucked away in Musicals, My Orgasmic Pleasure

At this time, next week, I'll be trying my darnest best to get some sleep. But I doubt that I will get any as I'll be in Bangkok, gearing up to watch this the following night:

Yeah, that's right baby! I'll be watching Queen's We Will Rock You Musical for the second time!! Only this time I'll be seating 5 rows from the stage! Woohoo!! Can't wait can't wait!

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Apr 26, 2008

They Did Indeed Rock Me!

Scribbled by Perky | Chucked away in Musicals, My Orgasmic Pleasure

It was exactly a week ago that I finally made my childhood dream come true. Well okay, not all of the dream came true, but I was thisclose to living my dream.

Together with the sistahs and a boyfriend, we went to Singapore to watch this:

Yeap, it’s Queen’s We Will Rock You Musical. For those of you who do not know me, I’m a HUGE Queen fan. I grew up in a household where we listened religiously to the magical sounds of Queen, all thanks to dad.

(Some of the Queen dvds that I have. Yeah, I know, it's incomplete without the Live in Wembley concert)

My hero was and still is the great and flamboyant Farrokh Bulsara, or better known as Freddie Mercury. It has always been my childhood dream to meet Freddie one day, but sadly he passed away even before I was old enough to go to any rock concert.

(1946-1991)

I even ~~tak kemaluan berangan-angan~~ dreamt of sharing the stage with Queen as their second guitarist. Of course, I came down that cloud albeit rather slowly, seeing how I VERY much lack the guitar skills of Brian May. But, anyhoo, I could always play the tambourine ;)

Oh my God, of all the musicians I admire, Freddie to me is the icing of all icings on the cake. He could keep me glued to the tv screen by his stage presence (and let’s not forget, he’s got the balls to perform on stage in tights or in hotpants). He sings pitch perfect and his vocal range is like the length of my arms times 100. To me, he is a true musician – he sings, he plays instrument and writes songs that is still relevant in the age of ~~push buttons to make music~~ ~~computerized music~~ techno.

So, you see, this musical was the closest I could get to watching my all-time heroes perform. If I can’t watch a Queen concert back when Freddie was alive, I might as well soak in the music of Queen, even it was just only a musical.

The Musical was a celebration of Queen, and I was like a kid in a big ass candy store. And the best part of living this dream was the company I had in Singapore – my darling McChef, my just-as-big-a-fan sister Big Fat Witch, Bibik Nyonya the diva and Cikgu Kitty Cat.

I’m not gonna touch so much on the trip as you can read about the trip in Bibik’s blog.

The cast in the Singapore’s We Will Rock You musical featured the super hot Mig Ayesa (whom some of you may remember him as one of the finalist in Rockstar INXS).

I mean, this guy is hot. H-O-T HAWT!!

Even Big Fat Witch, who normally doesn’t drool over guys (not that I’m calling her a lesbo, lah) goes goo goo gaga over this man. Anyways, Mig plays the lead role in the musical as Gallileo. I love his interpretation of Gallileo and this man can really sing.

The accompanying music was so damn good that I actually thought the cast was singing on minus-1. The guy who played the lead guitar sounded just as good as Brian May’s playing (according to Big Fat Witch, he’s only 19 years old!! He’s too young to be that fucking talented it’s fucking outrageous!). Everyone on the musical was effing great.

This musical is so damn good. The best I’ve seen so far. Even Cikgu Kitty Cat says this was THE BEST SHOW EVER! And mind you, she’s watched The Phantom of the Opera okeh…

I urge all of you to watch this musical. Even if you’re not a Queen fan, you should watch it for the experience. Hey, Bibik who was clueless as to who Queen are, truly enjoyed himself (can you believe it, he actually thought that Somebody To Love was originally from the Happy Feet movie! I forgive you, Bibik.).

You will definitely have your world rocked.