Latest news with #MoonlitCity
Straits Times
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
New musical imagines Lee Kuan Yew and Kwa Geok Choo's romance through poetry, xinyao
Actor Timothy Wan, who plays Mr Lee Kuan Yew, and actress Sunny Yang, who plays Madam Kwa Geok Choo, from the cast of Moonlit City. SINGAPORE – Founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew famously called poetry 'a luxury we cannot afford' in public. But, every night of his wife Kwa Geok Choo's final two years, when she was sick and bedridden, he read her favourite poems to her. While shows like The LKY Musical (2015) have dramatised the late Mr Lee's public and political life , a new Mandarin musical peers behind the curtains to speculate on the private romance of Mr and Mrs Lee through a great deal of extrapolation and imagination. Toy Factory Productions' Moonlit City plays at Gateway Theatre from July 25 to Aug 3. It is directed by Goh Boon Teck, who felt there were more intimate and emotional stories of the couple to explore after he directed Toy Factory's play Kwa Geok Choo in 2022. Debut playwright Jedidiah Huang, 30, who is also a spoken word poet, says of his script: 'While no one can ever claim to know their true thoughts or actions behind closed doors, I tried my best to piece together their psyche based on a collection of different sources.' Thus, while the public might never know the poems shared between Mr Lee and Madam Kwa, Huang has opted for poems by the likes of metaphysical poet John Donne and the American poet Sara Teasdale. Since the couple got married secretly at William Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1947, the Bard, too, is a reasonable guess. Iconic songs by xinyao veteran Tan Kah Beng will also suffuse the love story with another layer of lyricism, with songs like Moonlight In The City, The Sun After The Rain and Midnight Arrival featuring in the musical. The cast of original Mandarin musical Moonlit City, by Toy Factory Productions, rehearsing at Drama Centre in National Library, on July 1, 2025. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM Actor Timothy Wan, 37, who plays Mr Lee in the musical, says of the song choices: 'It really pumps up the emotional and vulnerable moments – those songs tug at the heartstrings because sentimentality is characteristic of Mandarin pop.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Acute psychiatry services to be expanded across all healthcare clusters: MOH Singapore July BTO launch to have over 4,600 balance flats, 2 BTO projects with under than 3-year wait Singapore Baby died after mum took abortion pills and gave birth in toilet; coroner records an open verdict Life S'pore travel agency Beyond Expeditions criticised for planning, safety issues Business Tycoon Robert Kuok's daughter Kuok Hui Kwong appointed CEO of Shangri-La Asia Singapore Jail for drunk man who shoved stranger into Singapore River, causing him to drown Singapore 'Kpods broke our marriage, shattered our children': Woman on husband's vape addiction Singapore Asia-Pacific will need over 230k new pilots, 250k aircraft maintenance technicians by 2042: ICAO chief Wan, who had played Barisan Sosialis leader Fong Swee Suan in The LKY Musical, says this new Mandarin musical will focus more on the conversations between the couple. He adds: 'In some strange sense, I think the two of them are really a blueprint for maintaining a successful long-term relationship. There must have been so many disagreements – we'll never know – but there was so much compromise, giving in and supporting each other.' The play imagines a confrontation, for example, around Mr Lee's decision to drop women – including Madam Kwa – from the early People's Action Party meetings in their Oxley Road home. From 1970 to 1984, there were no women in Parliament. Wan, who has read Mr Lee's memoirs and watched Madam Kwa's speeches with his co-lead Sunny Yang in preparation for their roles, speculates: 'If he had not done that, Kwa Geok Choo might have become one of the big figures in Singapore politics.' Yang, 34, who plays Madam Kwa, is looking to emulate the good humour and maturity of the woman who advocated for women's rights and was an accomplished lawyer in her own right. Yang says: 'From the outside, people always assume they were a perfect couple helping and supporting each other. But, for me, being able to see the scars of their marriage and imperfections can be very touching too.' The young actors shrug when asked if previous portrayals of the couple by bigwig actors like Adrian Pang, Sharon Au and Kit Chan stress them out. Wan says: 'The role itself is a big responsibility – it's not so much that it has to be like somebody else's portrayal. You want to feel that you're doing justice to their story.' The story, which spans their days as students in Raffles College up to their deaths, will also explore the change in their relationship over the years. Of that, Wan says: 'By the end, I think we see that there are a lot of things he feels like he could not have done without her.' Book It/Moonlit City
CNA
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - How will a new security watch group safeguard Singapore's restaurant industry?
CNA938 Rewind - 'Moonlit City - a Musical Tribute to Lee Kuan Yew & Kwa Geok Choo In 'Culture Club', Melanie Oliveiro speaks with the playwright and music director involved in Toy Factory Productions' Mandarin musical, 'Moonlit City'. The production explores the love story of Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew and his wife, Kwa Geok Choo. Playwright Jedidiah Huang and music director Benny Wong will talk about the musical's narrative arc, the lead performers involved in the production and the unique challenges putting 'Moonlit City' together. Goh will also talk about the musical's eight songs by renowned Singaporean composer Tan Kah Beng and how he breathed new life into the pieces.
CNA
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - Is it a win for Singapore to repurpose golf courses into residential spaces?
CNA938 Rewind - 'Moonlit City - a Musical Tribute to Lee Kuan Yew & Kwa Geok Choo In 'Culture Club', Melanie Oliveiro speaks with the playwright and music director involved in Toy Factory Productions' Mandarin musical, 'Moonlit City'. The production explores the love story of Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew and his wife, Kwa Geok Choo. Playwright Jedidiah Huang and music director Benny Wong will talk about the musical's narrative arc, the lead performers involved in the production and the unique challenges putting 'Moonlit City' together. Goh will also talk about the musical's eight songs by renowned Singaporean composer Tan Kah Beng and how he breathed new life into the pieces.
CNA
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - ‘Moonlit City - a Musical Tribute to Lee Kuan Yew & Kwa Geok Choo
In 'Culture Club', Melanie Oliveiro speaks with the playwright and music director involved in Toy Factory Productions' Mandarin musical, 'Moonlit City'. The production explores the love story of Singapore's first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew and his wife, Kwa Geok Choo. Playwright Jedidiah Huang and music director Benny Wong will talk about the musical's narrative arc, the lead performers involved in the production and the unique challenges putting 'Moonlit City' together. Goh will also talk about the musical's eight songs by renowned Singaporean composer Tan Kah Beng and how he breathed new life into the pieces.
