Always In Wonderland by PAN Productions

I never really liked musicals. It reminds me of some Chicago overly ostentatious performance with singings that are thrown forcefully every once in a while.

I remember some of my younger days watching "The Sound of Music". That wasn't so bad. But every other musical crap that came out after that was awful. Imitations don't usually succeed well. I've always known that. Especially when my efforts to imitate my friends' homework don't turn out that well.


Then Grease came out. With John Travolta leading the pack alongside Olivia Newton John, we had another hell bending fun raising film. The next musical I watched was Hairspray. I tell you that lot was a mix. I liked it, my friend hated it. I guess musicals are not for everyone.

Then it wasn't until the hugely successful Glee that people started thinking, "hey, maybe singing in a sitcom cum series isn't that bad...". I thought Glee's concept was refreshing. There were too much of NCIS, CSI thingamajig on TV these days.

When Chelsia Ng told me she will be in a play, I never thought "not in a million years" that it was a musical. I know she can sing. She belted out well in Realiti and her OST for Ghost with Douglas Lim titled "Masih Jua" was sincerely good.

Then a couple of days before the play. I just had to get tics for "MTV World Stage". Of all the damn dates, it had to coincide with the tics for Always In Wonderland. Alas, with a heavy heart, I declined the tics from Nasz and sobbed for Katy Perry, WonderGirls and Tokio Hotel. I guess that's a few international names who won't be getting some lovin' from my camera lense. LOL.

Now that I've been to Always in Wonderland watching the play directed by Nell Ng and played by a wonderful cast of acclaimed singers cum actresses cum dancers cum newcasters cum radio Djs like Chelsia Ng, Alexander A.J., Elvira Arul, Zalina Lee, Atilia H, Alizakri Z., Peter Ong, Rina Omar, Tria Aziz, Kenneth S. Menon, Sabrina Hassan, Harick Ng, Arephyzz O., Janet Lee, Ann Tan, Callista C., Darius Lim, Marcus Lim & Pui Yi Chan. I can say for sure, not a single ounce of regret is in my bone for skipping that tic to MTV World Stage Asia.


As most of you might know, I support a lot of Malaysian productions such as KAMI, Papadom till the likes of Sepet, Gubra and even Adnan Sempit. I don't support them because they need us. I support them because I believe in them. We as Malaysians are as good if not better than foreign productions. We do not lack talent, maybe trust and budget. We may not have the right contacts for a Hollywood budget production but what amazes me more is that with limited budget, we can still create magic. Just a different magic. And that is where Always In Wonderland shines. They found 'Berjaya'. They made 'Berjaya Group' a believer in local production. They made everything work.


And now I'm inspired for my own project. I don't know whether it'll be able to work out the way I envision it to be. Yet, I have to start somewhere.

p/s: visit my whole album for this musical here.
p/s/s: Get Atilia Haron's latest album Indah 'di pasaran sekarang'.
p/s/s/s: Thanks to Chelsia Ng for the wonderful invite. See you soon dear. RAWR! Stay OHSEM.