Review: 三只山羊

Posted by May February 29, 2016

Review: 三只山羊

Media Invite

We've became ardent fans of Singapore Repertory Theatre's children's production since 2014. Our first experience was Junior Claus, which blown us away with their dedication in bringing quality stage productions to the local audience. From then on, we couldn't bring ourselves to miss any The Little Company [TLC] performances. Ewan is still singing to the songs from 金发姑娘和三只熊 which was a Chinese production we caught last February! That is one year ago!

<<金发姑娘和三只熊>>

再加一点麦片

la la la la la la

千万不要撒在身上

因为烫烫烫

让我们一起搅拌

搅拌 搅拌～

la la la la la la

I only wished there were CDs for every show because the children always requests for me to sing the songs after every musical. I am not kidding you when I say they request for the songs every single night at bedtime. I can only reproduce them by memory and replacing those forgotten lyrics with la la la.

TLC has two English CDs under its belt right now [Volume 1 and 2] but they are a mixture of songs from different productions. I sincerely hope they will look into cutting mandarin albums for the amazing shows they've put up since 2013, with their first Chinese musical 三只小猪. The biggest pro to this would be the ability extend the interest of mandarin to our children beyond stage. The possibility of bringing a part of the show back home and playing make-believe with our children is one I find very important. Cultivating a language requires repetition and continuity as well.

We've been to every one of them but only from 2014 when Ewan turned two - 夜鹰 [2014], 金发姑娘和三只熊 [2015], 丑小鸭 [2015] and 三只山羊 [2016]. The songs left such deep impressions that I just had to find out more about creative team behind these musicals. These are English productions that had been adapted into mandarin to expose our children to a bilingual stage scene. Imagine how tiresome and innovatory must the Chinese adaptors be to give the score a new set of life but now in another language! Not to mention, to keep the young learners in mind while conjuring up new puns and rhymes. I had to find our more about Danny Yeo and Zhang Lesheng, the men behind these humorous and educated lyrics.

Danny Yeo is a household name. 杨君伟, heard of him? He is a television host, writer, author, art gallery director, theatre practitioner and if you've watched Crescendo [起飞] last year, he was acting the role of Carina's father. I recognise him not purely by his looks but his unique mandarin articulation - crisp, precise and crystal clear. Follow him on IG @dannyyeo_yangjunwei.

Quoted by Danny,

"Language is no barrier to enjoyment"

Watch and Read his interview with the newspaper about how he dived into being part of TLC's mandarin productions:

There were a couple of very witty lyrics during the show which got the adults breaking out in laughter. The three billy goats were named: 老大, 小二和咩咩. This is the conversation on stage between the three:

小二：为什么我叫羊小二不是叫羊老二呢？
老大：我就需要东西的时候，总是叫你什么呀？小二小二！
咩咩：那我不是小三！

哈哈哈！

Many apologies to my non-chinese friends as this is a mandarin joke.

I especially appreciated that because we were watching the show over Chinese New Year, the closing conversation was written to encourage Little Bo-Frilly and the Three Billy Goats Gruff to go home for Reunion Dinner [团圆饭] instead of just A Dinner.

I was looking forward to catching 三只山羊 with Ewan because we had a great time last April at the original English version, The Three Billy Goat's Gruff. Although these musicals are targetted to impress the fives to twelves, Ewan could still remember snippets of it at age three. When I casually mentioned to him that we will be watching 三只山羊 soon, his first reaction was, "Oh no! I don't want to meet the troll!"

I assured him that the troll isn't that frightening and he is not going to come off stage. Would he still like to watch 三只山羊 with mommy? He repeated, "The troll is not scary? He is not going to come off the stage? Okay! I want to watch it." In fact, the Chinese troll in this show is a lot friendlier and less scary in my opinion! Just look at that cheeky face!

We enjoyed the audience participation session with the casts who got the children up and clapping to the beats. This six-cast production is small yet it exudes so much energy to the floor. I like it that the songs and staging were given as much attention to the acting. What's a good act without being able to transport their audiences into a fantasy world of talented singing goats with an impressive set and costumes? I've been to many children's productions, some internationally acclaimed, but none impresses me as much as TLC's. Really. Have you seen me writing a review for any other production firms? Uh-uh *shakes head* I say they deserve a good review not only for the acting but also for all the trouble put into making a Singapore production that will do us Singaporeans proud. Besides, they are reasonably priced!

DID YOU KNOW?
If you bought the Cat 1 tickets of 三只山羊 for any weekend shows, you are entitled to a photo session with the casts at the end of the musical? How cool! Do not forget to stay until the end of the show to meet them.

Also, if you don't know where to lunch before/after the show? Present your ticket stubs at Bella Pasta to enjoy a Theatre Day Kids' Meal for S$10!

You children will enjoy a choice of:
Chicken Milanese & Broccoli or Penne Pomodoro Pasta
and
A soft drink or a scoop of gelato

Bella Pasta is located next door to SRT and is open from 11.30am – 11.30pm. This offer for children below 10 years and for weekends only.

三只山羊 musical runs from 18 February to 25 March 2016 and tickets can be purchased at Sistic.

While Ewan's reading up on the current show's synopsis, Faye's getting herself ready for Hanuman! There will be 40 shows come April, bringing children into a world of multi-sensory theatre experience as this super-hero monkey fights monsters and defeats evil kinds. This epic tale is adapted from the Ramayana and featuring music by Soumik Datta, one of the biggest new music talent in UK. Tickets are already on sale at Sistic and if you've got your ticket stubs, you are entitled to 15% off your Cat 1 tickets!