Where the action is

Shows offering tourists a gander at Thai culture have long been popular - think "Phuket FantaSea", the Siam Niramit theme park and "Muay Thai Live - The Legend Lives" in Bangkok. Best known of them all are the Tiffany's and Alcazar transgender cabarets in Pattaya. Keeping the attractions fresh and interesting year after year is no easy task and a great deal of time, effort and money goes into making sure that the tourists don't go home disappointed.

 

So how does a new player wanting to make a splash in Pattaya break into the market?

 

By looking for something new and cool - and which warrants a ticket price of Bt2,000 for an 80-minute show. "Kaan - A Spectacular Cinematic Live Experience", which is scheduled to open at the brand new D'Luck Cinematic Theatre in the seaside resort next December, aims to answer all those criteria with a combination of computer graphics imagery, animation and impressively tall animatronic puppets. 

 

The creator of the show is Panjaluck Pasuk, a company formed by a crowd-sourced funding campaign in October 2014. To date, the fund-raising campaign has brought in Bt500 million from local investors and top executives along with a number of specialists in the entertainment industry.

 

Panjaluck Pasuk's chairman Siriwat Vongjarukorn, says his company MFEC, has partnered with entertainment company Scenario, Baan Rig, which handles safety rigging for stunts and special effects in films, Xtreme Plus, a provider of interactive-multimedia and projection-mapping, and creative house Sanookdee Thaweesuk, which is the business unit of the former GTH film studio. Run by filmmakers Yongyooth Thongkongtoon and Paween Purijitpanya, Sanookdee Thaweesuk's past projects have included the "Spooktacular Halloween" events in Sentosa Island, Singapore.

 

For their Pattaya show, Yongyooth and Paween have put together a story that's told through the eyes of Kaan, a boy who inherits a book from his grandfather and is plunged into different mythical worlds. As he struggles to find his way home, he experiences adventures from such well-known Thai stories as the Ramayana, "Phra Aphai Manee," "Krai Thong" and "Sang Thong".

 

The adventures unfold on a high-tech stage measuring 1,000 square metres and boasting a screen larger than three IMAX theatre screens.

 

Yongyooth, who is a partner in Panjaluck, is artistic director and producer while Paween sits in the director's chair.

 

Yoongyooth has spent a lot of time over the last two years travelling overseas, watching shows and visiting theatres to get some idea of what's going down in the entertainment world.

 

"For us, it was the first phase of the project because even though we all agreed to create the show, we are all new to this field. We come from different backgrounds - filmmaking and business. So we figured the best thing was to watch shows together and make sure that we were all on the same page," says Yongyooth, adding that the preliminary investment for the first stage was Bt50 million.

 

"That went up to Bt300 million and I think we have spent Bt500 million so far."

 

The development, he says, is much more influenced by film than theatre, especially in the way technology is blended into the spectacle. The technical aspects of the production will be supervised by Takonkiet Viravan's Scenario, and the score is being written by film-score composer Chatchai Pongprapapan.

 

"Thai literature is full of fantasy and monsters like the West's 'Lord of the Rings', but we've chosen to make it more fun to watch by turning the stories into one boy's adventure" says Paween.

 

Thai audiences, says Yongyooth, need a story to tie them into a show rather than just enjoying the fantastic acrobatics of troupes like Cirque du Soleil.

 

Ancient fantasy and characters, such as Thotsakan from the Ramayana or the Chalawan crocodile king in "Krai Thong" will be transformed into a modern spectacular show through animatronic characters - Thotsakan will be portrayed through a gigantic eight-metre-tall animatronic puppet.

 

Equally as dramatic will be the story of Mekhala, the Goddess of Lightning, and Ramasoon, the God of Thunder. In one scene, Ramasoon is chasing Mekhala while they are flying in the sky and as she tries to escape, she uses a flash from a crystal ball to blind Ramasoon as he throws his axe. That flash will be spectacularly produced through the use of Tesla coil lighting. The axe misses its mark and rattles harmlessly across the heavens as Mekhala makes her escape.

 

Right now the team is busy searching for performers with acrobatics skills.

 

"All performances need acrobatic skills," Paween says, "Up to now, we have only managed to find 60 per cent of our cast from six auditions.

 

"We're lucky to have the world champions of the 'B-Boy' contests as well as aerial performers," Paween adds.

 

Auditions are continuing. All performers will be asked to sign two- or three-year contracts and will be trained, put on salary and have living quarters provided near the theatre. 

 

They will also be recruiting a complete team of understudies to ensure coverage in case of illness or injuries.

 

Rehearsals have already started and in May will move to the newly completed theatre in Nong Prue in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district. 

 

The 10-rai site will be surrounded by a commercial area and feature a 1,400-seat theatre called the D’Luck Cinematic.

 

Current plans call for two shows daily except Monday. Ticket prices have been provisionally set at Bt2,000, Bt2,500 and Bt3,000.

 

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