Magical Musicals - Behind the Scenes

Just got back from the 'Behind the Scenes' not too long ago and I'm really impressed with what they have done this time! Plenty of improvements as compared to the last production (Peter Pan the Musical).

'Artistes only'

We were given the opportunity to visit backstage and their air-conditioned studio! Hahaha. Watched the rehearsal and it was AWESOME! Girls, grab your cameras, there's a number where the boys dance topless! lol. Hahaha. I'm not sure whether they're really going to be topless on that day itself :)

We only saw the first half of the show and I'm wanting more! The show is about 6 actors who want to make it big in New York~

Chris Colby, in green (Director) introducing the cast us.
(R-L) LJ Neilson, Natalie, international dancers + the choreographer, David Kort (tallest guy with blonde hair)

(L-R) Amanda Salmon, dancer, Gareth Heesom, Neil Couperthwaite, and Stevie Tate Bauer

Another picture of the some of the main cast with Stephen Weller (he's the guy in blue behind
Chris)

They opened with a number from Queen, 'Don't Stop Me Now'. Not very familiar with the song but the performance was very energetic! Then they sang 'Baltimore', 'Welcome to the 60s', and 'You Can't Stop the Beat' from Hairspray. It was so nice! I love it so very much~ Hairspray is one of my favourite musicals. They also sang 'America' from West Side Story.

Hairspray medley :)
Amanda starts off with 'Baltimore', followed by Stevie singing 'Welcome to the 60s', and ending with everyone singing 'You Can't Stop the Beat'!
the ending was missing because my memory card ran out of space :(

Next up was GREASE SONGS!! I ♥ Grease :) I think it's one of the first musicals I watched. They sang 'You're the one that I want' and 'Grease Lightning'. I remember we performed to 'Grease Lightning' for the Pyramid Ice Skating's production 'Festival of Jesters'. Fun times~ Kinda makes me miss performing.

They sang 'Holding Out For a Hero' from Footloose~ This is where the guys appeared topless. lol. A lot of lifts and spins in this number. The ceiling at the rehearsal studio was pretty low but they did it nonetheless. Well, they HAVE to sing FOOTLOOSE, of course right? I loved this song too~

Energetic performance of 'Footloose'

After that, they sang 'Wicked', 'Defying Gravity', Shakalaka Baby', and 'Jaiho'. The girls came out with those belly dancing belts. A little Bollywood touch to the production~ This was the last song they performed for the first half.

My take on this is, it's AWESOME! I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of musicals and this really is a MUST SEE! Lots of props and pyrotechnical effetcs (lol, yes, you probably already know that I'm a sucker for pyro effects >.<). Not only that, according to Chris, the director, this production will also throw in a fire eaters and Bhangra drummers. They'll also use a flame machine for 'Holding out for a Hero' and they'll have some wire stunts for 'Defying Gravity'. How cool is that? For the finale, they'll have a pyrotechnic waterfall.

The wonderful and elaborate stage

After wathcing their performance and the tour of the stage, we whisked back downstairs for a little chitchat session with the cast.

Chitchat with the girls and Chris (L-R: Stevie, Amanda, LJ, and Natalie)
They're really a friendly bunch

Stevie and Amanda showing us some of their favourite costumes

LJ showing a lovely glittery piece

Natalie donned a elaborate hairpiece/hat which will be worn during the finale

They were so happy to show us this Sungai Wang 'couture' piece

We got to visit Amanda & Stevie's dressing room! Amanda even showed us a pic of ther fiance who will be coming down to watch the show!

The girls' costumes are so glamorous and bling bling!

Why would you want to watch this production when there are other musicals out there?
Well, this wonderful production will consist of 35 songs all performed by casts from UK. The casts have experience performing at West End shows. One of them was the lead actress of Mamma Mia! The cast may be from UK but the stage was all built here in Malaysia by Malaysians. LJ who was played 'Wendy' from Peter Pan the Musical is also in this musical. Plus plus, fans of Glee and Rihanna raise your hands up! They'll perform songs from Glee and also Umbrella~ They will actually be using umbrellas with lights!

Here are more pictures of the cast in no particular order :)

LJ Neilson who will be playing Amber

Amanda lifted up by the dancers during 'Hero'

Stephen and Stevie singing a song about their love

Neil as Ryan

LJ and Gareth during 'Shakalaka'

I'll be attending the Grand Premier on June 10th thanks to AMBP and Sunway! Ticketing and showtime details can be found at this website. Bloggers and non-bloggers can win tickets to watch the show. Just mosey on over to this site.

BIG HUGE THANKS to Tracie and Nicholas from AMBP for choosing us lucky bloggers~ HUGE thanks to Kah Peng for showing us around.

Cast & Crew of Magical Muscial Some familiar faces from Peter Pan the Musical (incld LJ Neilson who played 'Wendy')

HUGE THANKS to the cast and crew of Magical Musicals for letting us have a peek :) They were so nice to us~ Had a blast~

Managed to snap a pic with Natalie and Neil before we left


Pic with the cast and bloggers! (credits:Sunway Lagoon FB page)