Gotta sing, gotta dance!
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The problem with Bangkok's record year for stage musicals is their populist simplicity
It would be a stretch – and utterly wishful thinking – to call Bangkok “the Broadway of the East”, but we’ll see more stage musicals this year than ever before. Not that everyone is thrilled.
We’ve already had suntaraporn’s jukebox musical “Neung Nai Duangchai” and currently onstage are Dreambox’s “Pritsana” and Scenario’s “Si Phaendin”, both adaptations of popular novels, the latter now claiming the record for the most performances, more than 100.
Still to come:
_ Saranyu Wongkrajang’s “Langka Dang”, adapted from Euthana Mukdasanit’s movie
_ The Nation Channel’s “Reya”, based on the hit TV soap “Dok Som Si Thong”, which Somtow Sucharitkul is staging with Araya “Chompoo” A Hargate in the title role
_ Index Creative Village’s “Mae Bia”, taken from the novel by the late Wanich Jarungidanan and a follow-up to last year’s “Rak Ther Samer”
_ Scenario will also stage a Thai version of “Miss Saigon”
_ And Chulalongkorn University will present “Siam Mission”, based on a meeting between King Chulalongkorn and his former English tutor Anna Leonowens. What sounds like “The King and I, Part 2” will have a mix of professionals and students in the cast.
So, Broadway of the East? Hardly. Apart from “Si Phaendin”, these shows will only have limited runs, due mainly to wallet-challenging ticket prices. Besides, even for the musicals that use English surtitles, few tourists or expatriates will be in the audience.
I asked a professional theatre critic and four of the six people who’ve been honoured with Silpathorn Awards in the performing arts what they think of this bumper crop of musicals.
“They’re music videos, live on stage, not musicals,” Pichet Klunchun declared. “Audiences go to listen to songs that are accompanied by visuals.
“They’re different from the musicals I see overseas. Most Thai musicals are adaptations of novels or collections of songs the audience already knows. No producer here would dare stage a completely original musical because Thais won’t pay to see something unfamiliar. They want to see something familiar so that it’s easier to empathise.”
Pichet points out that the casts usually have few trained professionals. “Many of the stars are just aspiring singers who’ve become famous through reality TV and SMS popularity votes. By performing in legit theatre, they considerably upgrade themselves.”
Anatta Theatre’s Pradit Prasartthong found a positive side. “These musicals provide more jobs for singers and musicians. And the audience goes for the songs and the entertainment, not the story, just like at concerts.
“At the same time, the shows walk a fine line between entertainment and art and occasionally spoon-feed the audience with simplicity. It’s capitalism in full bloom – face value, image creation, complete marketing packages.
“The trend will last a few years longer,” Pradit reckons, “but if there are more mediocre or bad shows, it will be suicide for them.”
Crescent Moon Theatre’s Sineenadh Keitprapai considers the musicals the “right answer” for a culture steeped in commercialism and sanook – light, fun entertainment. The brisk pace is appealing, she said, aided by the quick set changes that modern technology enables.
Nikorn Saetang of 8X8 Theatre points out how the field has broadened beyond Dreambox and Scenario. “Thanks to their popularity, the market is wider open and the competition tougher, not only commercially but also artistically.”
Nuttaputch Wongreanthong of the International Association of Theatre Critics, who covers the stage for A Day magazine, doesn’t think Thais are particularly keen on musicals. It’s just “a fad that has turned into a trend”, he said.
“One of my friends went recently, not because he’s a theatregoer but because he needed something to do with his girlfriend on the weekend. Of course it’s good that people are being exposed to more performing arts, but the question is how many of them return to the theatre and how many are interested in watching other kinds of theatre.”
Pichet bemoans the effect that the big-budget, hyper-publicised musicals with casts studded with TV stars has on the small-scale theatre going on almost every weekend around the city.
“Audiences for these two kinds of theatre are already clearly divided. The people who go to the musicals probably wonder what the hell artists like me are doing, and whether we can do theatre that’s as simple as musicals. They can’t see how different types of theatre function differently in the development of art as well as society.”
For Nuttaputch, the downside of Bangkok reaching musical critical mass is just that “the more musicals, the more people have to pay, so they have to become more choosy”.
To the point, Sineenadh warned, that many patrons have decided a show has to be filled with “TV stars in a large playhouse with grand sets, elaborate costumes and spectacular lighting. They think the musical is the only form of theatre.
“Some of my acting students believe stage acting means exaggerated emotions and gestures. Given the abundance of that stuff in the musicals, it’s difficult to convince them there are other styles of acting!”
Pradit hopes people will weary of too many “elaborate yet easy shows and yearn for sheer essence in theatre”. In the meantime, though, aspiring talents “might want to earn more money from working in these musicals rather than working harder for less pay in small-scale productions”.
Nikorn is happy there are more theatre producers today, but laments the mass media’s limited interest in small theatre, “despite the fact that it’s been around for decades”.
“The newspapers’ and TV news shows’ so-called Arts, Culture and Entertainment sections are filled with showbiz gossip,” he said.
“That means the journalists aren’t fulfilling their duty of making the public aware of the sheer variety of cultural activities going on. They’re more interested in grand-scale musicals because they want to interview the big stars. And, of course, some of the musicals are produced by media moguls anyway.”
Here we go
_ “Pritsana: The Musical” is at the M Theatre on New petchaburi Road until tonight. Tickets at www.BananaBooking.com.
_ “Si Phaendin: The Musical” is at the Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre in the Esplanade Ratchadaphisek, with English subtitles, until tonight. Book your seats at www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.
_ “Siam Mission” comes to the Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts in August.
_ “Reya” is scheduled for September at the Aksra Theatre.
