This hagiographic biography of the first prime minister of Singapore is entertaining and well-performed. It also paints a panoramic history of Singapore from the 1940s until its independence in 1965. The sets are good, the use of back projections of historical photographs is effective, and the orchestration excellent.

 

However, as a musical, I left the Marina Bay Sands theatre with a sense of disappointment. This is not to say that it was bad. Indeed, there’s a lot to like about this musical.

 

The acting and singing are superb. Adrian Pang is a believable young LKY. He captures the tenderness of his love for his wife, his quick-thinking to escape from the Japanese, his charisma as leader of his political party to fight the British and later the communists. Sharon Au is the only female in the entire cast, but she pulls off her role as the wife of LKY, able to stand up to him as his equal. She is the weakest performer in this musical, but I did not mind it too much. Benjamin Chow is a talented actor-singer and there is a faint resemblance to the real Lim Chin Siong who he portrays. But his British accent mars him of believability as this left-wing extremist who is accused of having a secret agenda to take over political control of Singapore. Radhi Khalid acts the role of poker-playing Tunku Abdul Rahman, whose initial opposition to Singapore’s desire to merge with Malaya to form Malaysia makes him another antagonist. But having met and spoken to the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, I think that Radhi’s portrayal is really too off the mark. The rest of the supporting cast are good.

 

The lyrics are generally well-written. But overall, the songs are unmemorable. Dick Lee has written far better material in the past. The opening song of the second act is incongruous to the rest of the musical.

 

The three-tier sets are well-designed and used effectively. The direction and the technical aspects of the production are excellent.

 

The problem with the musical is that it tries to cover too much in the time allocated. It spans the period from Lee Kuan Yew’s schooldays when he came second in the final exams to Kwa Geok Choo, his future wife, to the separation of Singapore from Malaysia. I felt that Lee Kuan Yew is portrayed too superficially. There is little depiction of any inner struggles, and the love story between LKY and Geok Choo is painted too perfunctorily. The villain, Lim Chin Siong, is inadequately characterized, because we do not know what really drives him: is it ideology or ambition or both?

 

It is possible to write a historical musical where the ending is known beforehand, and yet maintain a degree of suspense throughout the musical. Sadly this is lacking in LKY the musical. Lee’s triumphs are rendered too predictable and the musical lacked emotional depth.

 

As a musical hoping to succeed in the West End or Broadway for an international audience, I doubt that, in its current form, it can realize this ambition.

 

But as a musical directed for a Singapore audience, it succeeds.

 

Congratulations!

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Kenneth Lyen

8 Aug 2015