By Jumana.

Yay, a new post, from Jumana, this time. Enjoy, folks. Hope to get a new one soon (and I’ll probably say this every time).

A few weeks after creating this blog, Caleb asked me when my post was going to appear, and I promised him I’d churn one out ASAP. So, anyway, keeping to the promise and adding on to the fact that I have practically nothing to do, I sit at my chair on a rainy afternoon typing this out for you guys.

Well, first of all, the way I got into the musical was totally dramatic (which I decided not to bore you guys and type it here) and it only showed me that I was meant to join the musical cast.

I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed at first when we were all appointed roles for Scene 1 and I didn’t get any speaking (let alone singing) lines. From then on, I was totally unwilling to put in my 100% ‘cause all I had to do was bring in the cloth and place it on the table later. You guys must be wondering how, in the end, I had one line for that scene – “Sah Ee told me she only wants our money”. It was actually another girl’s line. However, she actually left musical after the first or second rehearsal and I was just stepping in for her for the first few times. In the end, it stayed as my line. Leaving that, as we moved on to other scenes, I was hoping to get a major role for myself but, anyways, these feelings came and went and soon I realised it isn’t about what role I get, its about how much I, being the part of the cast, am able to contribute, to bring out the best (and how much fun we can have while we’re at it).

Then came the last week, which is probably the most memorable journey, out of the whole 3 months. Probably ‘cause
1) We could all feel the pressure and acted accordingly.
2) By then it all dawned to us that soon it’ll all be over.
3) On the last day, Saturday, we had out last, perfect show.
4) I’m sure there are more reasons, but let’s go on.

By Tuesday of that last week, I was wondering to myself how it would be like when its all over. Surely we won’t get to gather like this together ‘cause there are bound to be people who won’t be able to make it for gatherings or whatsoever. So, I was telling some of the girls how I felt and they all told me not to worry. Oh well, soon it was Saturday itself, I remember how I teared minutes before the show. I asked myself why, why in the world was I crying then and I did not have a definite answer to that.

Well, I think I wrote more than enough about what I went through and I am sure I left out many things, which you all can look up at my blog:

www.jumana-.blogspot.com

in the archives’ August section if you guys are willing to do so.

I just wish to say that the Musical made me realise many things which I am very grateful of and I certainly wish to work again with every single one of you and perhaps have yet another memorable experience, but then again not too many cause I believe too much of something spoils the moment. Well, the upcoming event is the Musical Chalet, you guys enjoy yourself as much as possible and make the best out of that 2 days, 1 night! I probably won’t be able to make it but do keep me updated and take loads and loads of pictures! And remember this;

Moments are like treasures safe kept my memories that are forever!

I love you guys, and I mean it!

Peace out,
Jumana!

Spencer!

Our second post, by our very much loved Spencer. Enjoy. (Where are the posts from the girls?)

It’s been a long time since somebody wrote on this blog, so, yeah, to keep this blog alive, I have to personally write something. Haha, so must read arh!

I remember the time I got my role for the musical, because I forgot to go for the musical. I guess I did not get a big role or a major one. For all my life, I have always been a cast member I guess, but never been a member of the crew before, thus I was happy but yet disappointed cause the role I got was far from what I expected. Call me an ambitious person, but I wanted a main role. I guess I didn’t get it…

So yeah, I went for drama musical training sessions, with of course my spastic friend whom I tricked to come, Feng Yuan. In drama, the guys had to wait for such a long time just to come and perform for, like, only 5 minutes, so we ended spending much time simply slacking outside. This really lowered our morale. However, I was thankful for this time, as we manage to, like, somehow get to know the choir guys better and mingle around with them.

I remember mingling with all the other new girls from choir, maybe its because I’m too friendly, I soon got to know them all and we were like always quarreling with each other. Haha. (Perhaps I’m too nice.) There was this person whom I will never forget in my whole life.

Thus, rehearsals after rehearsals, we just sat there doing nothing. Luckily, we had FY with us. He made a lot of jokes and songs, like the one about in the land of RA, n Aaron, Aaron. Haha. Maybe some of the guys here can relate to those happy times. I really miss those times back then, terribly much. I made some very good friends like FY, Amy, Russell (gay), Jumana, Jacqueline, Wendy, Samantha, Joshua, CELESTE, Jarrell, Alison and Belda. If I miss out your names, pardon me ‘cause I can’t remember all in a minute but yeah. All of them were, and still are, great friends to me.

I remember on the eve of the musical, on Saturday evening, everyone was so nervous and anxious despite it being our third performance. Many people cried a lot backstage, and there I was, just standing around, of course feeling pretty sad too. Having to leave “HER” and all the other good buddies was such a difficult thing to do, so we decided to make the last night the most memorable one. I remember going out there and doing my best, and so did all the other actors and crew. I remember suddenly, Mrs. Lim told us to go into the crowd and showed us a short video about all that we went through. It was really very touching seeing how much we grew over the past few strenuous months of hard work, sweat and even tears.

I guess when I was down in the aisle, all my worries just like flew away, I was very happy to see the video but at the same time sad that we as a group will never come back and perform this very musical again, never play backstage, never joke and laugh. We will never be a group again, and that really made me very sad.

Thus, I would like to end here. But remember, guys (and gals), we have to continue walking forward. We can only hold those joyous memories that we have in our minds and hearts. These will live on, forever and ever.

Spencer.

Inaugural Post by Feng Yuan.

Hello everyone. We finally have a first post! This one’s written by our very dear Feng Yuan (Kop =D). Enjoy!

Hello

First and foremost, in every case that I have wrote an essay, which I always find troublesome and yet wonderful at the same time, it has been a fictional story of my own, or an experience of my own. This is very different and a new kind of genre that I’m about to try out.

I do not have a very good memory, nor am I very smart, thus, I will only say what I can remember.

At first, when a kind teacher short-listed me to join this musical, I was absolutely livid. This was not my kind of circle. I don’t want to join it. And I’ve always believed this it was going to be boring and stupid.

I promised myself not to go to this “crap”. But dear Spencer Ng, a guy I have basically known all my life, told me if I didn’t go for this auditions I have to speak to the big gun herself, Ms Elaine Lim, our dear, yet somewhat scary principal. Why would I want to do that? I was pushed into a corner. I had no choice. I had to show up for this “thing”. I betted I was going to flunk big time.

And so, there I began, grimacing to myself, feeling extremely sorry and angry for myself. I went into the auditions, facing a sea of unfamiliar faces. The feeling was totally crap. I wanted to kill myself.

And I guess I did a great job of imitating my dad. I got chosen. Hooray? I don’t know what to say. This was not what I had planned.

Then, whenever I went to the rehearsals, no one, besides Spencer and Amy would even look at me. It was such a mystery and I felt unbelievably stupid at the same time. Why was I wasting my time here? Zzz

But as time went by, I realized it wasn’t about me. This was about the school. So I decided not to withdraw by myself to my own corner. I started smiling then and began talking to the guys first. I’ve made a fair amount of friends since then. No longer am I only looking for my old bunch of friends, my classmates or my football mates. I now have weirder friends.

So, after that I decided I’d make friends with the girls as well. And I had to choose Ms Hannah Lee as starters. The fierce looking girl who’s bigger than me and the only time I’ve seen her in school is when she goes in front of assembly to receive some sort of short putt prize or something. As she came out of her scene, I told her “good job, you’re the best actress around here, ha-ha” and she just gave me a blank smile. I guess I sounded a little sarcastic then. So I decided to try again. And it worked, very soon. I was talking to most girls.

But it wasn’t such a good choice. Those crazy girls would be disturbing me like mad but as much as I hated it, I was enjoying myself with those people.

And then off to Victoria theatre we go. It was a mad, crazy, spooky place where it felt creepy being alone, but I wasn’t. I was with my new friends. And soon, I was mixing with the crew as well.

1st day: the opening night. It was the all-important day where all the important people were be in the audience. The show was a success, until of course, the “boys will be boys” scene.

No music came out!!! It was mad. But the girls did a great cover up. I was pretending it was all part of the play while stealing glances at the sides silently screaming at the crew. In the end, no one seemed to notice.

2nd day: afternoon performance. Lots of people from other schools, and primary school kids were there, laughing at stuff that weren’t supposed to be jokes, and not laughing when it mattered. Some guys were jeering at some of the cast. I swear, if those guys had jeered at me I’d kill them with whatever I had on my hands.

The night performance was one to be reckoned with. It was the final night. The last ever show to be presented. It was as crazy as ever. We finally had a perfect run. For the last scene I kind of wore the wrong pants, that was 4 sizes bigger than my own. They kept sliding down, but then again, it wasn’t about me.

It ended. Grown kids cried backstage. I laughed at them. Then, as the boys assembled in our dressing room, we sang together in triumph. It was the best experience I’ve had for a long time. The bonding was crazy. I hated to think about staying at home missing those crazy guys.

You see, this was not about me. Nope. Not a chance that it was about me. This is about everyone else: the cast, the crew, the audiences, the teachers, and the school. Above all things, it is about the God that everyone believes in.

I saw the magic on the stage. Every time I walked on it, I felt that I was the most privileged man in the world. It was not a mere feeling. It was magic.

For those months we toiled. We lived for the stage. As eerie as Victoria Theatre was, it holds, very much, the memories that will forever be in my heart. Those moments are indeed, forever. It will never be forgotten.

Never is a long time, a very long time. But it isn’t. Not for us.

You’ll never walk alone, cast and crew of ABNW.

Signing off
Feng Yuan.

Networking, Linkage, whatever you call it.

Hello again, people.

As you can see, as of now, the site is rather barren. There is a lack of networking. It seems as though this blog (or weblog or whatever you call it) is suspended in a void of nothingness, isolated from the rest of the blogosphere. This is where you come in.

What I need you (yes, you) to do if you want your blog to be linked from here, is reply right below this post, with a comment giving us your blog URL, and real name.

That’s it. It’s that simple.

Believe, anything is possible.
Moderator,
ABNW WordPress Blog.

Welcome.

Welcome. 欢迎. Bienvenue. Willkommen. 환영.

Welcome to the new blog of the musical. As you can see, it is quite bare. Hence you may ask, why?

The question why is but the precursor to the question of what this place is. This place is a new blog, and hence it is rather bare. There, you have it. Your “why” question has, undeniably, been answered.

We do have intentions to bring over the old posts from the blogger premises. Meanwhile, if you do feel like you would like to sound out here, all you have to do is email your post, in .txt, .rtf, or .doc formats, to

a.bright.new.world@gmail.com

and you should see your post up within a few days (unless, of course, it has objectionable content, which is why this system of sending it to an email address for approval was even thought of in the first place. Bright, eh?

Hope to hear from all of you.
Moderator,
A Bright New World WordPress Blog

Believe. Anything is Possible.