Sunday, January 9, 2011
Matinee Show – 02.00 p.m.
Last day
Casts:
Muslimah ............... Eka Deli
Ikal ......................... Ivant Septiawarman
Lintang .................. Patton Otlivio L.
Mahar .................... Teuku Rizki
Sahara .................... Louise Ayu Cecilia
Kucai ...................... Alvaro Maldini
Borek ..................... Denu S.W. Prasetyo
Syahdan ................. Willy Jackson
Trapani .................. Diaz Favian C.W.
Akiong .................... Steven Jansen B.S.
Harun ..................... David Samuel P.
Pak Harfan ............ Iyoq Kusdini
Pak Bakri ............... Haikal
Ikal Dewasa ........... Tanta Ginting
Soundtracks:
1. Nasib Tak Akan Berubah (Lea Simanjuntak & Ensemble Theater Company Musikal Laskar Pelangi)
2. Anak Pelangi (Ensemble Anak Anak Laskar Pelangi)
3. Jari-jari Cantik (Christoffer Nelwan)
4. Sekolah Miring (Gabriel B. Harviano, Lea Simanjuntak, Iyoq Kusdini)
5. Sahabat ALam (Eka Deli & Anak Anak Laskar Pelangi)
6. Mahar & Alam (Teuku Rizki & Anak Anak Laskar Pelangi)
7. Blues Nasib Tak Akan Berubah (Ensemble Theater Company Musikal Laskar Pelangi)
8. Hilangnya Harapan (Dira Sugandi)
9. Menanti Ayah, Menanti Lintang (Hilmi Faturrahman & Ivant Septiawarman)
10. Salam Perpisahan (Hilmi Faturrahman)
11. Nasib Telah Berubah (Ensemble Theater Company Musikal Laskar Pelangi)
.. and now six months later .. I'm not gonna post something that people have already raved about Musikal Laskar Pelangi. I'd just like to write some pieces of it:
Do come on time, if you can't come early. The show will be ridiculously crowded. That means, you have to spare extra time to get into Taman Ismail Marzuki, searching for empty parking spaces and rush to Teater Jakarta. Me, I ran .. with Mathieu tagging closely by my side (poor little feet) .. we literally sprinted our way to the theater.
Beware of any show-starting announcement. Once the door is closed, people will have to wait until stage break to get inside. Believe me when I say, you do not want to miss any seconds of the show. Let alone missing one whole act just because you can't manage to sneak in through closing doors.
Do not forget to ask for the program books. It's free, by the way. It's very informative and is not overload by sponsors or advertisements. If you're a first-timer and blind audience, you'll be surprised to find out the who and what's behind the show.
Once you're inside the theater, please respect other audiences. It's a very closed spaces between seats, so lower your voice down if you feel the need to speak to your companions .. and do not act as if your seat is on fire, you'll be blocking others' view toward the stage. Clap, smile, laugh, cry, gasp in awe .. no crime in doing that, but do that while you sit back and sit still.
Be amazed. You don't have to be an expert of musicals to see that this is one hell of a very well-executed show. From the stage/art setting, costume, make-up, music, choreography, acting .. everything is live, superb, smooth and impeccable. Brilliant.
You just gotta love those kids in their innocence and modesty. They were dirty, raw, yet so adorable like no cares in the world. My personal favorite were Teuku Rizki's Mahar and Alvaro Maldini's Kucai. Their style were almost unbearably cute. And of course, Lintang. I guess I was lucky it was Patton Otlivio, the runner-up of Idola Cilik 2. I like his husky singing voice.
The songs are catchy. Especially the opening song "Nasib Tak Kan Berubah", I had to endure Mathieu repeating that hoy-hoy-hoy-hoy-hoy-hoy-hoy for quite some times. As much as I love Christoffer Nelwan's "Jari-Jari Cantik", I wasn't disappointed when I heard Ivant singing it on stage. The song had spoken for itself, no matter who's singing. I also love Rizki's "Mahar dan Alam". One of the outstanding points of the show, and of the musical soundtracks.
Eka Deli was there as Ibu Muslimah, the teacher. It's been a while since I saw her singing on stage (read more in here and here). That afternoon, she was excellent. Her performance was gripping. Her vocal was matured and haunting. She carried Part 2 Act 4 "Muslimah - Hilangnya Harapan" alone, and she served it in total perfection. Not a single dry eyes in the house. Well, if there were any dry eyes, probably that person had gone numb in all senses. I didn't get a chance to see other Muslimahs, but boy, I was so glad she was Eka.
O yeah. As mentioned above, I'd like to suggest you bringing tissues. Cause basically, Part 2 of the show will drain you emotionally.
Use intermission time effectively. If you can control your bladder, don't head directly to restrooms. There will be a long queue, and you will end up wasting your time for nothing but a full bladder and a ruined mood. You can go to restrooms near the end of intermission time when the queue has loosen up. It's a gamble, I know. But it works better. Don't go straight to the packed merchandise store as well. Mark my word: the merchandise is standard (t-shirts, caps, key-chains, CDs, etc.). Perhaps the CD is the most worthy thing, but you can easily find it at Gramedia Group and CD outlets. You don't need to get it right there on the spot. I'm not saying that I forbid you from buying merchandise. I'm saying that the merchandise store is not going anywhere. You can get it before the show or after the show when time allows you. Impulsive shopping in a rush, competing with so many people, is rarely a good thing. You might picked wrong sizes, imperfect things. Use your time to relax, straighten up, clear your mind, looking around for some interesting things at the lobby. If you're hungry/thirsty, find something practical and fast to eat/drink while standing. Get it from the simplest food stall to avoid long ordering and paying process. I got a pack of two doughnuts, for Mat and I. And a bottle of water. That's it. We ate it fast while standing at the spot near theater door and restroom. Studying the situation around, alert on any show announcement .. and once we finished, we went to empty restroom conveniently and then went back inside the theater ahead from others. Piece of cake.
The most interesting part of the show, apart from the show itself, it's the curtain call. It's where you see all casts and crews without any pretention and just being their very own-self. They're very creative though. And when you're among the audience in standing ovation, you may feel you're in a one big happy family. No boundaries. Their joy is your joy. Their pride is your pride. Their tears are yours. Their success is what you will call a lasting memory, that you have ever got a chance to see a show like this in your life.
When the show's finally over, now it's your time to hunt. Get your camera ready. Casts and crews will be lingering around the lobby for a short period. Find those kids. You may see them posing in group for picture-taking. Or you might get an encore from them (and may you be convinced once again that their pipes are real and not a lip-sync). Crews maybe over-protective to the kids, but do not lose courage. Just go and ask them nicely. But be sure you're quick to snap on the shutter. I managed to stop Patton on his way to the changing room. He held Mat's shoulder and slightly bent his body to match the height .. and CLICK! CLICK! Eka Deli was also very open for pics. She was like a motherly-teacher when she held Mat closer and posed. We also got Iyoq Kusdini's Pak Harfan. Still in his artificial wrinkles and safari shirt. Went outside and caught Mira Lesmana. CLICK! CLICK! Mission's accomplished.
Happy? Satisfied? Very.
Now. People had been begging the producer to extend the show, because there were still many who failed in getting any tickets till the very last day. So when the crews appeared on the curtain call, bringing signs that stated they would be back in July 2011 .. even the casts looked so surprised and thrilled. You can imagine how the audience reacted on this. Teater Jakarta exploded. And it came from the people, who had JUST seen the show. Meaning, there'll be repeaters. Big time.
Musikal Laskar Pelangi is really coming back. A new door has opened. It's your chance. Grab it!
And good luck for the ticket-hunting ^_^.
Thanks to Maria Josephine & Ling Tan
