Beauty World (musical)
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''Beauty World'' is a
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
an
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
written by
Michael Chiang Michael Chiang (born 27 October 1955 in Muar, Malaysia) is a prolific playwright and screenwriter in Singapore. He is known as "Singapore's most famous and successful playwright". From 1990 to 2009, Chiang was the editorial director of Mediacorp ...
and composed by
Dick Lee Richard Lee Peng Boon (born 24 August 1956) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director. Early life Lee was born to a Peranakan father, Lee Kip Lee, (who wrote for ''The Straits Times'') and his wife , Elizabeth Tan. He was th ...
in 1988. Drawing on the tradition of 1950s black-and-white Cantonese movies, it tells the story of a young
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
n girl who comes from
Batu Pahat The Batu Pahat District is a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. It lies southeast of Muar, southwest of Kluang, northwest of Pontian, south of Segamat and Tangkak District. The capital of the district is Bandar Penggaram. Geography ...
to 1960s
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
in search of her father and winds up in the eponymous sleazy night club. Written in
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
with some
Singlish Singlish (a portmanteau of ''Singapore'' and ''English'') is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore. Singlish arose out of a situation of prolonged language contact between speakers of many different languages in Singapore, incl ...
elements and Singaporean slang, it is one of the best known musicals of Singapore. With '' Makan Place'', which was also written in 1988, it is one of the first two Singaporean musicals. The cast of the first production included
Jacintha Abisheganaden Jacintha Abisheganaden (born 3 October 1957), known professionally as Jacintha, is a Singaporean singer, actress, and theater practitioner who studied at the National University of Singapore and received a degree in arts, majoring in English li ...
,
Margaret Chan Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, (born 21 August 1947) is a Chinese-Canadian physician, who served as the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) delegating the People's Republic of China from 2006–2017. Chan previously served ...
,
Ivan Heng use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...
,
Tan Kheng Hua Tan Kheng Hua (; born 17 January 1963) is a Singaporean actress. She is best known for her supporting role in the 2018 film ''Crazy Rich Asians'' and for the martial arts television series ''Kung Fu'' in 2021. Career Tan acquired an interest ...
, and Claire Wong. ''Beauty World'' toured 4 cities in Japan and a run in Singapore in 1992. In 1998, ''Beauty World'' was remade for Television for the President's Star Charity Show, and starred
Sharon Au Sharon Au (; born 13 August 1975) is a Singaporean former actress and host. Having joined the TCS during the mid-1990s, she won many awards as an artiste with MediaCorp before taking a sabbatical to pursue university education in 2005 on a sch ...
as Lulu, and
Evelyn Tan Evelyn Tan () is a Singaporean actress and former singer. She was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1997 to 2005. Career Tan joined Star Search Singapore in 1997 after university and was offered a contract by Television Corporation ...
as Ivy. The remake brought much acclaim and sealed its mass popularity with Singaporeans. An amateur production took place on April 15, 2006 at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. Dubbed Return to Beauty World it was directed by Andy Tan a fourth year economics major in the college. The
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
Malaysian Singaporean Society put up a student production of Beauty World at The Albany in Deptford South-East London on 2 and 3 March 2009. It was produced by Debra Lam and directed by Kang Yanyi. In 2008,
W!LD RICE W!LD RICE, founded in 2000 by Ivan Heng, is a professional theatre company in Singapore. In 2019, the company established a permanent performance venue at Funan Mall. History The first show by W!LD RICE was held at Jubilee Hall in Raffles Hotel ...
, celebrates the 20th anniversary of the musical and staged the musical for the forth time at the
Esplanade Theatre An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
. The musical starred
Irene Ang Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
,
Neo Swee Lin Neo Swee Lin (; ) is a Singaporean actress who has appeared in several Asian films and theatres, notably in TV films and drama since the 1990s. Early life Born in Singapore, Neo Swee Lin has a law degree from National University of Singapore an ...
,
Elena Wang Elena may refer to: People * Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician * Francine Elena (born 1986), British poet Geography * Elena (town), a town in Velik ...
and also featured
Daren Tan Daren Tan Xuan Yu (born 22 February 1983) is a Singaporean singer. He was the winner of Project Superstar Season 2. He has been listed among CLEO magazine's 50 Most Eligible Bachelors. He changed his Chinese name to Chén Xuān Yù in 2014, and ...
, Project Superstar II winner. In 2014, a student production of Beauty World was put up by
National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...
(NUS) College of Alice and Peter Tan (CAPT) on 8 February, which opened to a 900-strong audience at the
University Culture Centre A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
at NUS and was attended by its scriptwriter and playwright, Chiang. The musical was produced by Ong Wee Yong and Sherilyn Tan, directed by Heidi Chan and took its musical direction from Elaine Hoong. In 2015, the musical was staged for the seventh time at the Victoria Theatre, with composer Lee as the director instead. The production was set to be in a darker mood and starred
Jeanette Aw Jeanette Aw Ee-Ping (born 28 June 1979), better known by her stage name Ou Xuan (), is a Singaporean actress, filmmaker, businesswoman and writer. Aw was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006, after which she achieved wider ...
,
Cheryl Tan Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from ...
and
Janice Koh Janice Koh (born December 10, 1973) is a Singaporean actress and a former Nominated Member of Parliament in Singapore. Education Koh had her secondary school education at Singapore Chinese Girls' School. She later graduated from the Theatre S ...
.


References

1988 musicals Singaporean musicals {{musical-theat-stub