Shrek the Musical – Our Favourite Parts!

Posted in Event Listings, Media Invite, Plays/ Theatre, Uncategorized by jahbella

Jah and I recently went on a mother-son date to catch Shrek the Musical at the Marina Bay Sands.It was the first time that we/ Jah was catching a full-on musical (2 hours and 25 mins long!) together and at a time slot that would take him way past his bedtime of 9pm. But oh we had so much fun! At the risk of revealing too much about the show, I will attempt to share our 5 favourite things about our time at Shrek the Musical (not in order of preference).

Please excuse our grainy selfie 🙂

The orchestra…

We were seated in the second row of the theatre and I couldn’t resist pointing out to Jah that there was an orchestra ‘beneath the stage’. He took a peek into the ‘big hole’ in front of the stage and was excited to find that there were many ‘uncles’ playing different instruments. I think that is when it hit him that every note and tune played during the musical, was played by a live orchestra…nice..:)

2. We love love love the Donkey

If we had to choose our favourite character, it would be the Donkey. Ironically the donkey was one of my least favourite characters in the movie..but his antics, humour and voice really brought the show to a whole different level…we were really tickled by his banter with Shrek!

3. The Gingerbread Man…the real one…

What real one you say? The actual gingerbread cookie which they were selling at the concession stand. Jah had 1 before the show started and another 2 at the interval…yes thats how much he liked it so I say kudos for having theme related snacks which apparently tasted yummy and was priced really reasonably. Big win for Jah and Mummy!.

4. The Villian…

Jah had asked me before the show if Lord Farquaad was played by a ‘toy’. He remembered watching the commercial for the musical and said that it was impossible for Lord Farquaad to be an adult person because he was really small….he went to the musical wanting to ‘solve this mystery’

He finally understood how the effect was achieved after watching the show and was very impressed by it. Even I was impressed by it and all I can say is that it certainly took alot talent and dedication to do it!

5. Effects and Music

Lastly we were super impressed by the effects – the combination of traditional props and technology. The music was also really catchy! Jah was more than happy to groove to the finale song that he didn’t ask to leave even after the curtains came down. (He is usually quite the impatient to leave once he senses that a show has ended).

So yes I have to declare our first proper musical a success! And Jah is already setting his next milestone challenge…a musical 3 hours long..:p

So if you have not bought your tickets yet..there is still time…

When: 8 Jun 2016 till 19 Jun 2016

Show Times:

Tuesday – Friday 7:30pm
Saturday: 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Sunday: 1:00pm and 6:00pm

Where: Mastercard Theatres at Marina Bay Sands

Price: From $65

How to Book:

1) www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing or www.sistic.com.sg

2) Phone – +65 6688 8826

3) In Person – Marina Bay Sands Box Offices (Museum, Theatres, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1 Lobby

Grab your tickets before the show ends its run!

JahBella’s Mummy

Disclosure: We received complimentary tickets to attend Shrek the Musical presented by BASE Entertainment Asia for a media review. No monetary compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

11Feb2016

Disney On Ice 2016 presents Magical Ice Festival [Media Invite]

Posted in Media Invite, Plays/ Theatre, Uncategorized, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

So after a CNY long weekend and all the massive feasting, it’s about time that we round up our festive mood and get back to the grind right? Wrong!

In fact if you ask me or JahBella, its time for us to look forward to the next holiday…the March School Holidays! 🙂 And there is no better reason to look forward to the March School Holidays then the fact that Disney on Ice will be back in Singapore!!!!

We brought Jah to Disney on Ice two years back and he was completely enthralled by the smooth skating, larger than life Disney characters. This year is going to be that much more exciting since both kiddos will be able to catch the Magical Ice Festival together and finally meet some of their favourite characters.

In fact Bella is totally thrilled that she will finally be able to meet Elsa and Anna from Disney’s Frozen! (I really should have recorded her screaming “my favourite”!!!! when I told her about meeting them :p).

And in case you are wondering how interesting can ice-skating princesses be, for the boys. Well Jah is really looking forward to seeing the “Beast” from Beauty and the Beast in action and some “crabby” and “floundering” moves from Sebastian and Flounder from The Little Mermaid.

Come on! Its Disney after all which means there is something for everyone! Trust me…even for the adults 😉

With an extraordinary line-up of hit songs, memorable scenes and never-before-seen characters to look forward to, here are 10 magical moments behind Disney On Ice to get you all geared up for the show.

Disney On Ice was founded in 1981 and has since travelled to over 75 countries and 6 continents
The average size of the ice skating surface is 140ft [42m] x 70ft [21m]
There are approximately 180 costumes presented at one Disney On Ice show
And more than 100 people work on these costumes
It takes 18 trucks to transport all production equipment for set-up
And it takes between 12-15 hours to set up one Disney On Ice show
But just about 4 hours to tear down the entire production
Over 80 different colours of paint are used on the 183 props for this production
The youngest performer on this year’s show is 19-years-old and the oldest is 44-years-old
Each performer may change up to 8 costumes in one show

Oh and while we are at it..here are some Disney trivia to test your Disney knowledge 🙂 How did you fare?

1 . Who helped Young Anna recover from being hit by Elsa’s powers?

Answer: Grand Pabbie.

2. What phrase does Elsa repeat when trying to control her powers?

Answer: “Conceal it…don’t feel it…don’t let it show.”

3. How many sisters does Ariel have?

Answer: Six , Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista, Andrina

4. What is the object that Ariel’s friend Scuttle calls a dinglehopper?

Answer: A fork

5. What is Flynn Rider’s real name?

Answer: Eugene Fitzherbert

6. What weapon does Rapunzel use against Flynn when he climbs into the tower

Answer: A frying pan

7. Name at least three of the enchanted characters that live in the Beast’s castle.

Answer: The Beast, Mrs. Potts, Chip, The Featherduster, Cogsworth, Lumiere, The Wardrobe, Stove (Chef Bouche)

8. What does the Beast give Belle to always remember him by?

Answer: A magic mirror

Disney on Ice presents Magical Ice Festival will be taking from 11 March 2016 to 20 March 2016 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Tickets can be purchased online via www.sportshubtix.sg.

To learn more about Disney on Ice presents Magical Ice Festival, please visit http://www.disneyonice-asia.com/magical-ice-festival/

JahBella’s Mummy

27May2015

Bella’s First Time at the Theatres – The Gingerbread Man by iTheatre

Posted in Plays/ Theatre, Weekend activities with kids by jahbella

Bella attended her first play (The Gingerbread Man by iTheatre) over the weekend with her big brother Jah and us in tow. :p Well it was technically her second exposure to the world of theatre (her first was with her school last month). But we all know how differently kids behave in school and with their parents.

I was extremely apprehensive about taking her with us, given that she is often little Miss Ants-in-her-pants. However I have to say I was alittle surprised at her level of understanding and enthusiasm.

As usual we arrived about 45 minutes ahead of time which gave both Jah and Bella time to settle down and Bella was more than happy to follow her brother around for the ‘mandatory’ photo-taking. Jah was also extremely happy to have his little sister around to ‘show off to’.

Before even purchasing the tickets, Joel and I had agreed that we would divide and conquer. We decided that Joel would take Bella outside when she starts to misbehave/ cry. Note I said when and not if because we didn’t expect her to last the entire show at all!

Yes this is how we divide and conquer

But not only did she last through the entire show, she also looked like she enjoyed herself quite abit. The catchy tunes from the show definitely helped! While she was definitely still Miss Ants-in-her-pants, moving from Joel’s lap to her chair more than 10 times in that 50 mins, she was also quite transfixed by what was happening on-stage and was bobbing along to the music at various points of the show. 🙂

The serious theatre goers

The jolly theatre goers

I probably had the better end of the deal because I was in charge of Mr I’m a Big Boy and I can use my indoor voice (Jah) but I was very glad that he was not thrown off by his sister’s constant fidgeting.

Nah..we are happy theatre goers

I love the fact that the show had so much audience interaction that it was perfectly acceptable and fun to watch Jah and Bella shout out responses to the cast. The audience was a boisterous bunch and the storyline made it fun for them.

The show is targeted at children 3 years and up but given that Bella is just shy of 2 years old and we made it through ‘unscathed’, I’ll say it would work perfectly fine for a 2 year old as well. That being said, while it was all fun to hear kids shouting out responses and the cast being ever so game to entertain and interact, I fully appreciate and thank the ushers for stepping forward to request that crying babies be soothed at the back or outside the theatre.

We are totally looking forward to bringing Bella with us on all future plays! (in fact we already have 3 of those lined up! 🙂 ) At the end of the day, there is no crying that can’t be soothed by quickly stepping out of the theatre (if and when it happens) and the ability to let both siblings spend a day out at the theaters together far outweighs everything else. 🙂

One of our next few adventures 🙂

My theatre boy and theatre girl

Theatre Boy and Theatre Girl’s Mummy

4May2015

A Night of Magic at Raffles – Joe Labero (Media Invite)

Posted in Media Invite, Plays/ Theatre by jahbella

I’m usually a cynic when it comes to magic or perhaps I have watched one too many episodes of shows that reveal the secrets of the trade. So when I was invited to catch Joe Labero’s a Night of Magic at Raffles, I figured well at the very least it would be a decent excuse for a date night (which Joel and I haven’t had in eons!)

On our way to our first date night in eons!

The Jubilee Hall at Raffles Hotel really lent some spookiness and old world to this magic show

The show was approximately one and a half hour long with no interval and the show went back and forth between ‘simple’ tricks to slightly more intriguing ones. Of course to be honest, the cynic in me was always looking out for the loopholes and trying to figure out how the trick was done. (Note here that I said trick and not magic). While I think I figured out the ‘loopholes’ of a couple of the tricks, there was of course also the question of how it was executed so cleanly and swiftly.

Then came the real deal which left the cynic in me dumbfounded and it was at times, literally jaw dropping. I honestly have no answers to how he managed to connect the wedding rings of random members of the audience or for that matter anything that involved audience participation and their own belongings. I understand that with the right props and the right amount of practice, most tricks can be perfected but the ones that involved the audience simply looked like magic! In fact just when you think it’s over and he wasn’t going to be able to pull out a bigger showstopper, he does!

This is truly a show that I’m glad I caught. In fact I expected Joel to be even more cynical than me but he was surprisingly very entertained and impressed. Trust me, he is not easy to impress! :p

For those who may be partial to magic shows like I was, you will at least be entertained and tickled by Joe Labero’s humour, sarcasm and wit. This guy would have had a good career in stand up comedy if he wasn’t an illusionist. 🙂

We even got one of his autographed ‘flying’ cards 🙂

So yes thumbs up for our first live magic show and I would definitely recommend watching it, if and when he returns to Singapore next.

JahBella’s Mummy

Disclosure: We were invited by Joe Labero and Krall Entertainment to the show for a media review. No monetary compensation was received; all opinions are my own.

1Mar2015

iTheatre’s Aesop’s Fables (Media Invite)

Posted in Media Invite, Plays/ Theatre, Reviews by jahbella

Theatre boy (Jah) and I were invited by iTheatre to their latest production Aesop’s Fables at the Raffles Hotel Jubilee Hall and we decided to bring Papa Joel along. Papa Joel usually hates it when I ask him to join me for a play or musical because he just doesn’t have the attention span for it :p But he was more than willing to come for this production because he wanted to witness Jah’s interest in theatre for himself.

This is our second time at an iTheatre production (the first was Hop and Honk) and I have to say that you realize how super passionate they are for theatre and super good at what they do when you see the effort that goes into their programme booklet, stage set and props.

Mandatory Poster pic

Checking out the programme and activities in the booklet 🙂

Thanks for the goodie bag iTheatre!

Programme Booklet

Awesome backdrop

The 50 minutes show (no intervals) revolved around a theatre troupe, the Crowfoot Troupe taking us through 8 fantastic fables. The show was filled with catchy tunes, intelligent humor and great acting! Jah had declared a few times to me that he was scared of some of the characters even though he understood that it was all pretend, just like in his speech and drama classes. He even said “the uncles and aunties act so well!” :p

Wefie!

The show is suitable for theatre goers ages 3 years and up. Although they do say till 13, I’ll have to say “up” because adults like Papa Joel and I enjoyed ourselves immensely too! Papa Joel actually thanked me for bringing him along for the show!

Not only did I enjoy the production elements of the show, I also truly enjoyed the storyline. It was nice to be reminded of the moral of the story behind each Aesop’s Fable. Yes the ones we had learnt as children but somehow had forgotten that they apply to us even in today’s world. It also has given me a lot of ‘material’ to work with for the next couple of months when it comes to introducing Aesop’s Fables to Jah and telling/ reminding him of the moral of each story.

So if you are looking for some good fun for the family and something educational for the little ones then check out iTheatre’s Aesop’s Fables! We can’t wait to catch Gingerbread Man by iTheatre when it premieres in May! 🙂