Jazz meets its match in Chinese getai in Diva to the Death.
Jazz meets its match in Chinese getai in Diva to the Death. Produced by Jonathan Lim – the brains behind parody sketch show Chestnuts – and theatre company Bite Me Productions, the 105-minute interactive supper experience at Italian restaurant Monti centres on a catfight between two singers to reign as queen of the jazz lounge. The usurper to the throne, a getai songstress, also happens to be the girlfriend of Monti’s new owner, goes the script. Her weapon? Massive flirting with the audience to win supporters. Says Lim: “The aesthetics, themes and energy of getai are a hilarious antithesis to jazz, allowing for a real clash of the titans to break out around the audience.” Guests are encouraged to dress up in Roaring Twenties costumes. 82 Collyer Quay. Diva to the Death runs on select dates from Feb 2 to March 2. Tickets at http://www.bitemeproductions.co.
“The people involved in projects are important. If they are scared and fear to fail, they will just look at profitability and lose on creativity. Even if the project is exciting and has potential, ideas will just be filed behind a desk and there’s no way to discover something that doesn’t exist yet.”
JEAN-MARIE MASSAUD, MULTI-DISCIPLINARY DESIGNER
01 PRIMAL STATE
Faces on the aluminium sculptures from Paolo Grassino’s Zero Series are replaced with branches, symbolising merging of human and nature.
02 MIND AND BODY
A photograph documenting Marina Abramovic’s performance piece Pieta, an allusion to Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of the same name.
TOUR DE MORTALITY
The Parkview Museum offers a peek into the late founder and Hong Kong billionaire George Wong’s private art collection with The Artist’s Voice. The exhibition, put together by renowned curator Lorand Hegyi, explores the human condition of mortality, emotion and conflict through various mediums of visual art. From Wong’s collection are 13 pieces such as Refugee I, painted by Chinese realist painter Liu Xiaodong, and Zero Series, an aluminium sculpture series of three by Italian artist Paolo Grassino. Also featured are works sourced from international galleries, ranging from renowned artists such as Marina Abramovic to duo Gilbert & George. Level 3, Parkview Square. The Artist’s Voice runs till March 18.
ACTIVE LISTENING
For those sceptical of public support for the art scene here, good news from the music sector. A recent national music consumption survey commissioned by the National Arts Council has found that two out of three Singaporeans are proud of home-grown music and musicians, with 71 per cent indicating that they listen to Singaporean music. To further showcase local talent, the council, together with music media company Bandwagon, will launch an online platform Hear65 dedicated to home-grown music and artists. We at The Peak are all ears.
On the right: other findings of the survey.
01 MUSIC EVENTS THAT SINGAPOREANS ATTENDED
47%: Top 40s/Pop
20%: R&B and Soul
19%: Western classical music and opera
02 THE K-WAVE IS STRONG IN SINGAPORE
15% of Singaporeans listen to Korean music, compared to:
77%: English-language music
61%: Chinese
12%: Malay
9%: Japanese
8%: Tamil
03 DISCOVERY OF NEW MUSIC
Still done through traditional channel – 65%: radio
43%: television/ movies/musicals (especially for those aged 25 and above)
Through Internet – 66%: online videos (among those aged between 15 and 24)
