Kopi Shop Rock : Blog

Here in our Band New Home!

2007-09-16T00:10:00.000+08:00

This post is dedicated to the people responsible for the sweet music that wafts down Lim Peh Street. Let’s meet the Law IV Band.

My poor Law IV Band is absolutely overworked.

They have been practising for weeks in absolute darkness obscured completely by the back drop. They have had to strain their ears, listening out for cues amidst the backstage bustle. They’ve been shouted at, they’ve had to play on demand and they’ve been made to pick melodies out of thin air in the matter of seconds.

That is why Yeshye is giving us a dirty look, Kee Min is asleep, Sylvia is depressed that Delphia’s not around and last but not least poor Melissa’s eyes are clamped shut because we have flogged every creative fibre in her body for every ounce of music. Even the ever happy Elvin can’t perk them up.

But on Friday, everything changed...

A kind soul came along and provided us with a brand new Band platform. We can now see Melissa and Sylvia beaming from some 9 metres away.

The ladies still can’t stop smiling.

The boys break into their new home by shooting the breeze and snacking.

No longer is the Law IV Band bathed in darkness… no longer are they relegated to a corner behind the back boards, no longer do they have to sit in darkness.

Presenting the Law IV Band, and their brand new home sitting proudly right smack in the centre of all the action.

All Access!

2007-09-14T19:32:00.000+08:00

Have you ever wondered what the cast and crew get up to backstage?

They stone..

They tackle take-home examinations..

They fraternise..

They scheme and plot..

Some attempt to dance *cough* dude in white *cough*..

Most importantly they wait quietly and patiently, lest Gillian and Siok Hoon (the trusty SMs) crack their whip..

LAW IV: The Mammoth Project

2007-09-10T03:22:00.000+08:00

We’ve been in rehearsals for more than two months now but we’ve been working on the different components of drama, song and dance separately, and as the performance draws near, we’re piecing the components bit by bit.

It’s extremely astounding how our little acting rehearsals (conducted on the corridors of Law school no less) have blossomed into this mammoth production. Instead of hollering at just 5 to 10 characters, we now have to manage the cast, extras, chorus, crew, band and technical crew. This adds up to more than 30 people on stage at a time!

Now let us take you through the bustle!

We certainly can’t manage without our two trusty stage managers Gillian and Siok Hoon. Beyond dealing with the cues and props, these two ladies also serve as disciplinarians back stage, hushing the hyper-active cast as they await their turn.

Check out these two ladies hard at work!

Here we have Kenneth, Bernia and Angelene who form the chorus. Leon is pictured here giving walking lessons to our songbirds. These cheery songbirds actually have problems drifting off and on the stage pensively. At one point, Ange was caught exiting from a scene like a burglar. Walking issues aside, they sure have no problems summoning the blue birds from the woods.

Next up is the extremely talented band led by our mildly grumpy band leader Zhu Zhi Wei. He’s been grumpy because we’ve been having some lighting issues and the band’s had to play in complete darkness for awhile. He is photographed here registering his displeasure.

The cast is photographed here as they react to our directing.

And we leave you with the Kopi Shop Rock couples...

Spider York

2007-09-01T13:18:00.000+08:00

Spider York
Spider York
Does whatever a Spider York does
Can he swing from a web?
No he can’t
He’s Chun York!
Look ouuuuutttt
He is a Spider York!
For the uninitiated, this is the catwalk that is suspended right above the auditorium stage. This is Soh Chun York, our set builder cum cat walk manager and we pay tribute to his courage.

Just to give you an idea what the view is from the top:

Certainly not for the faint hearted. Especially Julia, who barely made it up the ladder access to the cat walk.

Legal Artistry: May it Please the Court?

2007-08-25T03:14:00.000+08:00

Megan cannot suppress the mooter within, while something on stage leaves Leon absolutely terrified.

Perhaps Leon was looking at this:

Jin Huang surprises all with his flexibility!

Hairspray, Hairspray, Hairspray

2007-08-10T17:38:00.000+08:00

The day started early with April and her make-up angels Ange and Angie. Armed with Rosemarie Swinifield’s “Stage Makeup, Step-by-step”, we set about adding some thirty years to the boyish Zhiqian.

We scrupulously documented Zhiqian’s ageing process. Let’s just say that at some point, we added clear glue to his face but we changed our minds when he started to peel.

The poor man then endured some serious exfoliation as we ripped our failed experiment off his face. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and now we know that clear glue is not a replacement for latex which professionals use to add lines and textures when ageing actors.

Nonetheless we succeeded, thanks to Angie’s deft fingers (see said deft fingers in the first photo from the right) and liberal use of silver hair-spray!

We took 2 whole hours to create Rose Chan’s look and Julia got into character by making the director shield her from the sun and the costume manager to provide her with a steady breeze all the way to the car. Sigh how to refuse the Golden Rose of Gayworld Cabaret… *cough-SUPER-DIVA-cough*

By 3pm we were on location and ready to roll. Notice how we make efficient use of all our resources. Cast member by day and reflector holder by night.

In between shots we relaxed with beh-teh-saw from the very famous Tan Hock Seng Cake shop at Far East Square and the bare-bodied Jin Huang entertained/terrorised the women as Lim Ah Long, the fierce and strong leader of the Jade Dragon Clan!!!

The photos from the shoot will be out real soon so watch out for it around campus!

And now we leave you with…

The End of Summer

2007-08-07T23:58:00.000+08:00

We have one week before school begins.

We have our beautiful backdrops up and our leads get cosy on stage.

The cast gets some serious tongue lashing from Mama Megan and Papa Leon.

Band of Builders

2007-07-20T01:28:00.000+08:00

While the cast went away for a week long production break, York and Lilly gathered up their troops to begin construction on the set.

And here is where we pay homage to our conscientious set builder:

York brainstorms...

he holds up the pole...

he vexes women...

& he takes a break.
We also pay homage to Lilly, our talented set designer:

(and Shuwen on the left gets another photo op)
Not forgetting the men and women of the set-building team (some are featured in the collage, while some hid from the lens of photographer of the day Choo Tse Yun):

Adam has taken on the task of constructing the lamp. Note how he manoeuvres the saw as he carves out the intricate details to re-create the 1970’s street lamp:

Nothing says romance like lovers dancing around a well-placed streetlamp, eh?

Rehearsals

2007-07-13T00:22:00.000+08:00

We’ve been rehearsing on a corridor for the past month and this week we managed to get on stage for the very first time and it just feels so right.

Even little cast briefings like this looks so artistic when cast under the warm theatre lights.

And the hard floor provides better support than a posture-pedic mattress.

Official Opening of BTC

2007-07-08T04:24:00.000+08:00

The cast had their first taste of performing before a ‘live’ audience today, before 1000 people to be exact. It was a nerve wrecking experience, having been in rehearsal for just over a month. Nerves or otherwise, it didn’t stop us from taking many photos to commemorate our first public performance!

The LAW IV Cast

The LAW IV band
with vocal instructors Bernia and Delphia

The LAW IV Men

The LAW IV Women

Project Emote Emo

2007-07-06T00:24:00.000+08:00

We’ve been in rehearsal for a month now and we just got news a week ago that we have to perform before 1000 people at the BTC homecoming! 1000 very important people!

We do have a plan of course; we intend to worm our way into everybody’s consciousness with our heart-rending performance of “We’ll Find Our Way”. The working title of the song, “sad theme” really says it all. We present you with the best of our emo faces.

Eunice tells us, “It’s cold on my own… it cuts to the bone but I know that I’ll find my way...”

Francis ponders, “What’s easy anymore?” In response, Susie quips, “Life’s full of sometimes, sometimes it rains and sometimes it shines!”

Evelyn laments about her loneliness. “Starting a new life, here in this new place, here on my own...”

The despondence meter hits 100!!!

And here are the people behind the music.

From the left we have Bernia, one half of the vocal ~~dictating~~ directing team.

In the centre, we have Jordan who composed the sad theme by tormenting fellow Torontonians exchange students with the many versions he composed and thrashed in his bid for artistic perfection.

On the right we have Delphia, our vocal director. We are always impressed with Delphia’s eloquence when it comes to deep breathing technique. For example, she always advises the cast to “ration their breath” and yes we plebeians will just say, “Don’t breathe so fast hor.”

‘L’ is for the Way You Look at Me

2007-06-20T00:54:00.000+08:00

We’ve been in rehearsals for three weeks now and some commentators claim that there’s something electrifying in the air. Well all we can try to do is make a pitch out of this and encourage all of you to come watch the musical and make that decision for yourself!

In the picture above, it’s not the look of love that our photographer of the day Choo Tse Yun was trying to capture but rather Francis’ pre-kiss-look. Before our suave male lead goes in for the kill, he takes his time to make eye contact and then he... melts into a puddle of giggles.

We present you with documentary proof:

And here we have Eunice balking at the suggestion that anyone would fall for Francis Cheah:

Girls... he is very single and eligible and the only way you can secure his attention is to procure front row seats when the time comes.