Marina Bay Sands Archives - Kids 'R' Simple

The Sound of Music Musical in Singapore

The Hills Are Alive, With The Sound of Music…. what a genius piece of work from Richard Rogers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein (lyrics) which captures the hearts of young and old for decades! In fact, all the songs are amazingly touching! Remember Do-Re-Me, Edelweiss, Sixteen Going On Seventeen, So Long- Farewell? Now, to introduce your kids to Musicals, perhaps SOUND OF MUSIC is a good first step because the songs are catchy, cheerful and the 7 children of the von Trapp family are so endearing!

The Hills Are Alive, With The Sound of Music…. what a genius piece of work from Richard Rogers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein (lyrics) which captures the hearts of young and old for decades! In fact, all the songs are amazingly touching! Remember Do-Re-Mi, Edelweiss, Sixteen Going On Seventeen, So Long- Farewell? Now, to introduce your kids to Musicals, perhaps THE SOUND OF MUSIC is a good first step because the songs are catchy, cheerful and the 7 children of the von Trapp family are so endearing!

We watched the movie some months ago and I must say it helps a lot with the understanding of the musical for the kids. The movie is a much longer version (about 3 hours) compared to the musical which played for 2.5 hours including intermission. Rest assured the kids will not get restless because every scene holds onto the attention of the audience as they anticipate the next familiar song to sing along.

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?

If you do not already know the story of the von Trapp family and Maria, the main character, as the governess, I shall briefly introduce here (extraction from wiki and official press release):

The story is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, a true story with altered details for the musical and movie. Maria takes a job as governess to a large family while she decides whether to become a nun. She falls in love with the 7 children, and eventually their widowed father, Captain von Trapp. He is ordered to accept a commission in the German navy, but he opposes the Nazis. He and Maria decide on a plan to flee Austria with the children as tensions rise before the outbreak of World War II.

With its unforgettable score, THE SOUND OF MUSIC touches the hearts of all ages and contains some of the most memorable songs ever performed on the musical theatre stage including My Favourite Things, Do-Re- Mi, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, Edelweiss, The Lonely Goatherd, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, and of course the glorious title song The Sound of Music.

The original 1959 Broadway production of THE SOUND OF MUSIC won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and was

Rogers and Hammerstein’s biggest success. The 1965 movie starring Julie Andrews as Maria won five Oscars, including Best Picture, and remains one of the most popular movies of all time.

SINGAPORE YOUNG ACTORS AND ACTRESSES

It is interesting to know that 6 out of 7 von Trapp children are young actors and actresses from Singapore, with 3 children to alternate each character. These 18 children come from all corners of Singapore and will perform in rotation throughout the season as the small and cute Gretl, the brothers Friedrich and Kurt, as well as their sisters Marta, Brigitta, and Louisa.

We enjoyed the beautiful stage props which my kids were in awe at the automatic appearance of the tables and chairs which stopped in precise locations. The voices of Maria, the nuns, the children, Captain von Trapp are powerful and an enjoyment to close your eyes for a moment to let the notes sink into your eardrums. While I was watching, I love to pay attention to the standing positions of the actors and actresses. I pointed out to the older kids on the details of the stage performance, including the synchronised steps, looks, speeches with precised timing. It is often with such attention to details that make a performance beautiful and flowing.

We totally love the musical and encourage to let your kids watch the movie before heading to the musical. It is a good start for appreciation of the performing arts for the whole family with such a timeless classic musical.

Sound of Music is currently showing at Mastercards Theatres at Marina Bay Sands till 3 December 2017. It will be a good holiday family activity to look forward to.

More information as follows:

When: 7 November to 3 December

Performance Times: Tues – Fri 730pm; Sat 2pm & 730pm; Sun 1pm & 6pm

Ticket Price: From $65 (Excludes the booking fee of SGD$4 per ticket)

Bookings:

INTERNET: www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing or www.sistic.com.sg

PHONE: +65 6688 8826

IN PERSON AT:

Marina Bay Sands Box Offices (Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1

Lobby).

For more information please log onto – www.MarinaBaySands.com

Disclaimer: We were invited to the musical for the purpose of this review. Thank you Base Entertainment Asia and Sliding Doors Entertainment for the kind invitation. It was certainly 2 thumbs-up for this wonderful musical. I am sure the story will leave a good lasting impression on the kids 🙂

Jubilee celebration – Art Science Museum

As Singapore celebrates her 50th birthday which we called our Jubilee Celebration, we had a rare long weekend of 4 days “staycation” in Singapore! Apart from Chinese New Year which we once in some years may have a 4 days straight holidays where we spend visiting relatives and friends, this is perhaps almost once in 50 years where we had 4 days straight holidays to enjoy Singapore like tourists in our home country. Best part is many attractions are free or at heavily discounted rates. So, like typical Singaporeans, we thronged to free attractions together with fellow citizens to celebrate as one Singapore! Happy Birthday Singapore!

We did not really flock to each and every free attraction. In fact, we only wanted to go to the Art Science Museum or Gardens by the Bay flower domes. Perhaps Singaporeans had been well-trained to queue some months back to pay respects to Mr Lee Kuan Yew during the lying in state period, we batted no eyelids upon queuing for several hours up to 10 hours for free cable car rides! On our way to the Art Science Museum, I did do a quick check on facebook status on the queue time at the museum and saw 4-5 hours wait! I was so determined to bring the kids to see “The Deep” where the exhibition is on the ocean life deep down to the ocean bed, I was undeterred about the long waiting time.

Luckily for us, we queued for only 1 hour and finally saw the entrance.

Continue reading “Jubilee celebration – Art Science Museum”

Celebrating Singapore National Day on Baby Day Out

Singapore is celebrating her 48th birthday on 9 August come Friday. It’s the first time baby YT is celebrating National Day. When I came to know NTUC U Family is organizing a Baby Day Out @ The Lawn to celebrate the nation’s birthday, I signed up for it without hesitation.

On 3 August, we planned the day to be a national education for our little ones. We started with going on the Singapore River Taxi Cruise which is in fact a boat ride, to bring us on the Singapore River tour around the must-see landmarks in Singapore. XX exclaimed it’s the first time she’s on a boat. I smiled and reminded her first boat ride was in Sydney when she was barely 3. Hmm… Maybe it’s not such a good idea to bring kids overseas when they’re too young. They cannot remember much except for the memories on an album.

The boat ride started at Clarke Quay “jetty”. Clarke Quay is a beautiful and happening day and night entertainment hotspot with many restaurants and pubs lining along the Singapore River. In the early days where the Singapore River was the centre of trade, it was a place where the commercial took place at the Boat Quay and goods transferred upstream to Clarke Quay. Thanks to the Singapore government revamp of Clarke Quay from 1977 to 1987, you can now get a beautiful river view with Singapore’s night lights in the background as you wine and dine with your friends and family along the river bank.

The cruise ride went on to Boat Quay which is right at the heart of our CBD (Central Business District). Boat Quay was a place of early Chinese settlement designated by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1822. It then flourished into an important trading area on the north bank where the Europeans had their offices, houses and government buildings. I love the sky scrapers that spruced up along the side of the river bank, the old parliament house and the historical suspension bridge, the Cavenagh Bridge. Over here, restaurants and pubs line the river bank too.

Next, we cruised on to the Marina Bay area. There, you can have a magnificent view of Marina Bay Sands, Singapore’s famous iconic hotel and casino. As that day was the final full-dress rehearsal of the National Day parade, we had an eye feast of the air show of helicopters and fighter planes as they zoomed past us overhead as our boat passed by the parade area. We could see a sea of red and white donning spectators (the Singapore flag is in red and white) as they cheered on the parade, waving the little national flags excitedly.

The taxi ride would have continued on to the Merlion Park, but we alighted at Fullerton as we were going to our Baby Day Out event. For more information on the Singapore River Taxi Cruise, visit here.

When we arrived at The Lawn, many people were already relaxing on the orange picnic mats sponsored by NTUC U Family. There were many games booths for the little ones as well as stage activities. I contemplated enrolling a baby race for Baby YT, but decided against it as kel reminded me that while YT can perform a perfect commando crawl on the stomach, it’s no speed compared to the real baby crawl on all fours with bottoms up. Alright, we’ll not subject him to stress competition. Instead, kel and I splitted to join the snake queues for the kids’ games.

Here's the keychains with the Singapore flag! — Here’s the keychains with the Singapore flag!

We were just in time when the emcee on stage asked everyone to rise up for the National Anthem “Majulah Singapura”. Everyone stood up and we all sang the National Anthem loudly. YH could not sing very well as he is still in pre-school which does not require them to sing daily. XX, however, sings the National Anthem everyday in her Primary School. Of course, kel and I were proud to sing the National Anthem too. After that, we recited the Singapore Pledge. I do not think any true born and bred Singaporeans will ever forget The Pledge. We are so familiar with The Pledge, I think we can recite it in our sleep.

We are proud to be Singaporeans! Here we are, reciting The Pledge!

Throughout the event, we could hear the actual preview of the National Day Parade opposite us on the Floating Platform. We sang along to the national day favourite songs, “Stand up for Singapore“, “Count on me Singapore“, “We are Singapore“, and “One People, One Nation, One Singapore“. I told XX that the first time these songs were sung, I was about her age, 8 years old. Till now, Kel and I could sing these songs without missing a beat. Those were the days where the composers wrote spectacular national day songs that lasted for generations.

YH with his toothless grin holding the Singapore flag. This photo is taken with my antique flashless Galaxy S1, hence it’s a bit dark.

At exactly 815pm, we were treated with a spectacular fireworks show right in front of our eyes as we relaxed on our picnic mats. Baby YT was woken up by the loud fireworks and despite my hand over his chest, whispering to pre-warn him, he still cried. Well, it’s expected and worth remembrance for his first fireworks show. Everything is always a first for Baby YT. Meanwhile, XX and YH were ecstatic and jumped up and down and clapped happily when they could make out the crescent, the stars, the heart-shapes, even mushrooms in the fireworks display. The fireworks lasted about 10+ minutes with a medley of national day songs including Stephanie Sun’s “We will get there” and then the finale came with a non-stop burst of fireworks lasting almost a minute to the song of favourite Kit Chan’s “Home“.

XX and YH enjoying their picnic while waiting for the fireworks.

We enjoyed ourselves very much at the Baby Day Out, in particular, the fireworks. As we walked to the train station, we sang along to the song of “Count on me Singapore” once more, together with all the spectators leaving the event. It always touches me to hear Singaporeans sing the national day songs in unison. Next year, I promised XX and YH that we shall try our luck to get the National Day Parade tickets. Watching live parade is unforgettable. It’s bound to set off the patriotic spirit in all of us and reach a high on our love for Singapore!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Majestic – Boat Quay by Manita Goh (500px.com)

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