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.

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