A marvellous production! The Hunchback of Notre Dame was, indeed, a hit! Not that the story-line was good (most of us already knew the story-line before watching the drama), but it was the actors themselves and the musicians (not forgetting the AVA Crew, the Stage Crew, Make-Up Artists, Costume Designers, Artists, etc.) who made the drama successful.
The star of the drama was, no doubt, Quasimodo (played by Clarence Choong), but Frollo (Jon Silendra), Esmeralda (Daphne Choo; she really looked like a Gypsy in her costume), Victor (a gargoyle played by Gooi Harvey), Hugo (gargoyle played by Aren Tang), Laverne (gargoyle played by Suksimaran Kaur) and Clopin (played by Lee Xian Chang; his puppet played by Tiw Tee Siang) managed to bring out the liveliness of the whole play. Note: Clopin is pronounced as “Klo – pan” (“pan” as in “PUNgent”), not “Klo – pin”. The same applies for the composer Chopin; it’s pronounced as “Sho – pan” and not “Chop – pin”.
The drama has brought back many memories and reunion. I managed to meet up with a long-lost friend, who is none other than Mah Jun-Xiang. Well, the first thing he wanted to compare was his height and mine (the battle of the heights never stopped, right?). Well, he certainly had gained some height, but at most, we’re equally tall (which I think, not; from what I see, I’m still a LITTLE taller than he. Please, no bragging intended here). Then, we had a short chat before chatting with other faraway friends: Kok Chen, Wai Onn, Seng Hoe, Jason Lee Chor Kwan, Kee Loon, Sen Loong, Kei Fai and the list goes on. It’s been a memorable moment for me.
Coming for the school drama doesn’t just mean watching it. It is rather meaningless just to watch the drama and leave. The whole event becomes meaningful when you also get to meet your friends again whom you’ve not been able to keep in touch all the time. The whole event becomes meaningful when you feel belonged. The whole event becomes meaningful when you are able to enjoy every single moment you spent in it.
The play was a hilarious one, full of comedy mainly portrayed by the Gargoyles and Clopin. I took plenty of pictures with Ng Jia Min’s digital camera (send me the pictures, yeah? Thanks!) and I took some with my friends. Currently I’m still trying to find out how I can finish of the remaining films in my camera.
The casts were in their most elaborate costumes that I couldn’t resist the temptation to have a few snaps of my conventional camera with them. I managed to have a snap with Daphne, Clarence, Chee Lupp plus a few of my friends on stage. Then, I started looking for the Gargoyles and Clopin, only to find that they have left the stage too early into the art-room. Naturally, I went into the art-room, only to find that most of them had taken off their costumes (as anticipated). Nevertheless, I took a picture with the Gargoyles (only Harvey and Suksimaran were in their costumes, still) and then I was about to have a snap with Xian Chang (Clopin), when a loud and rather harsh voice stopped me, “Why are you here?” It said.
I turned around, and found that it was the Director of the school drama (the name will not be specified here; neither will the gender be revealed). Calmly, and strictly unaware that no outsiders were supposedly prohibited to be in the art-room, I answered, “I would like to take a few pictures with the cast” just as loudly (this scenario was reminiscent of one incident that happened between both of us during one of my school years).
“Who gave you the permission to come in?” the Director asked, sounding rather pompous (to me) and rather in a humiliating tone.
“The Music Director gave me the green light,” was my answer, truthfully; unable to resist the temptation to sound pompous as well. [note: I would apologise for my misdemeanour, if you think that I wasn't behaving well, but the situation wasn't as simple as you'd think, which accounts for my "misbehaviour".]
One of the casts, believing that there was absolutely nothing wrong for an ex-Michaelian, like me who is especially closely affiliated to the drama team (back in 2002 and 2004), to take pictures in the art-room (she felt that they were partly at fault because they left the stage too early despite the fact that there were many people who’d like to take a picture with them) stood up for me. I’m just thankful that her rash action did not get her into a row.
Honestly, in 2003 and 2004, the then Director of the school plays never disallowed me or anyone from going into the art-room and have pictures with the casts. In 2005, after watching the drama Mulan, I also went into the art-room to have pictures. The Director of Mulan (who is also the Director of this year’s play) didn’t disallow or reprimand me for taking pictures inside the art-room with the casts. So, why the difference now? I simply just couldn’t reason it out myself, nor did I bother to ask for any explanation.
Not wanting the whole scenario to turn any worse, the Director told me, “OK, you can have your final picture. After this, please leave.”
Therefore, I took my last picture with Clopin and left after bidding everyone else goodbye. [For a moment, I couldn't believe that I almost had someone ruining my night.]
I bumped into the Music Director and related the scenario. She was quite surprised but I assured the Music Director that the incident was settled.
After the drama (and all the picture-taking, sequentially), I made my way outside and continued to hang around with long-lost friends, getting their phone numbers and asking them to continue keeping in touch. It’s quite unbelievable now that so many of my close friends are now separated (I said this many times before, right?). But it takes some time for you to realise that more than two-thirds of your ex-schoolmates are no longer studying in Ipoh.
To conclude this all, have I enjoyed my night? Undoubtedly, yes! Would I be looking forward to such an event with all of my friends reunited with me? Definitely!
P/S: I shall post the pictures of the drama and those taken during the Rotaract Installation Night once I get them developed.
Henry Yew
