Wild Rice’s production of Pinocchio is a wonderfully humorous and simultaneously touching musical. The book was written by Thomas Lim, the music composed by Julian Wong and the lyrics by Joel Tan and directed by Pam Oei. Based on the original story of a woodcutter Geppetto who creates the puppet Pinocchio, and a blue fairy who visits the workshop and gives Pinocchio the ability to walk and talk, but also gives him a nose that will elongate whenever he tells a lie. To achieve the goal of becoming a real flesh-and-blood boy, Pinocchio has to prove that he is brave, true and kind. Helped by a companion insect, a grasshopper named G-Hopper in Wild Rice’s version, and not Disney’s cricket, Pinocchio is given some money by Geppetto to buy books for school. But he is diverted by a couple of con men, a cat and a fox, who cheat him out of his money by persuading Pinocchio to watch a phony circus show. They further lead him to another villain, who transforms children into donkeys and enslaves them. Pinocchio and G-Hopper manage to escape from this rogue only to be swallowed up by a giant whale. Chance has it that they meet up with Geppetto who is also swallowed up by the same whale while searching for Pinocchio. To escape from the whale, they tickle its throat and when it sneezes, they are expelled. Geppetto suffers from near-drowning and is saved by Pinocchio, who unfortunately becomes lifeless. However, his selfless sacrifice earns Pinocchio a final magic wish from the blue fairy, and he is transformed into a real boy. At this point the audience and me had tears of joy. This is the power of Wild Rice’s reincarnation of Pinocchio the musical. Every aspect worked, from the hummable songs to the strong characterisations, the dancing, the set design, and the projected images. Satirical jokes hinting of recent pandemic lockdown by using the euphemism “circuit breaker”, references to scams becoming prevalent, and promoting unlimited time for playing computer games in defiance of society’s old-fashioned attitudes... all these spoofs make Pinocchio more current and relevant as well as adding howling hilarity to the show. One must mention the six young children in the supporting cast who made the show so engaging: they are brilliant! I highly recommend this musical.