{"id":4578,"date":"2017-11-13T02:34:03","date_gmt":"2017-11-12T18:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wr\/sister-act\/"},"modified":"2019-12-09T15:51:30","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T07:51:30","slug":"sister-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/sister-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Sister Act"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Glen Goei and Ivan Heng have known and worked with each other for decades. Glen has directed Ivan in iconic W!LD RICE productions like Emily of Emerald Hill<\/em> and La Cage Aux Folles<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, for all the magic they\u2019ve made in the theatre, they\u2019ve never acted together \u2013 until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Mama White Snake<\/em>, Glen and Ivan will bring the legendary snake sisters to life. With the help of Alfian Sa\u2019at\u2019s words, Elaine Chan\u2019s music and an incredible cast, they\u2019ll tell a story about love, family and embracing diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a break from rehearsals, Glen and Ivan chatted with W!LD TIMES about the entire eye-opening experience…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A Little Fanfare during Rehearsals
Ivan and Glen flank Andrew Marko, who plays Meng<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Glen, what’s it like for you to be acting again?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Glen:<\/strong> I haven\u2019t acted on stage in 28 years, so it\u2019s rather terrifying! Three weeks ago, I had my first nightmare. It actually brought me right back to M. Butterfly<\/em> in the West End \u2013 I performed in that show, opposite Anthony Hopkins, for seven months. In my nightmare, it was opening night of M. Butterfly<\/em>, and I couldn\u2019t remember my lines or find my script. And I had the same nightmare again yesterday night. So all the nightmares that come with being an actor are returning to me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan:<\/strong> No matter how many times you go on stage as an actor, we feel that same fear. Always the fear. So it\u2019s wonderful to see Glen experiencing it anew… Now he remembers what we actors all go through! [laughs]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the terror, has the process also had its rewards?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Glen<\/strong>: Definitely. At this stage in my life, it\u2019s nice to get out of my comfort zone. A lot of my friends \u2013 people my age \u2013 are already thinking about retiring. And for me to return to the stage in a show like this? I\u2019ve found myself using parts of my brain that I haven\u2019t used for a long time. Beyond memorising lines, I\u2019m learning to sing, dance and do Chinese opera. It\u2019s demanding, but also exhilarating. The upside of all this is that I\u2019m physically feeling younger, and it makes me feel alive<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan, what’s it been like sharing the stage with Glen?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ivan<\/strong>: I\u2019ve known Glen intimately as my director and, as much as he\u2019s sensitive to the text and the actor\u2019s journey, he\u2019s always thinking of the bigger picture. So it\u2019s been very interesting to see him attack a script from the inside, bringing that same sensibility to it. We\u2019ve had this long, amazing friendship, sharing so many adventures \u2013 both on and off stage. But we\u2019ve never acted together. So I\u2019m really enjoying the opportunity to be on this incredible journey with him where we\u2019re both learning something new every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Warrior Women!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tell us about working with your director, Pam Oei.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Glen<\/strong>: Pam is a part of the W!LD RICE family. We\u2019ve been working with her for so many years on shows like Animal Farm<\/em> \u2013 which was staged when W!LD RICE was just getting off the ground. I\u2019ve loved getting to see her grow as an artist. She\u2019s one of the best actors we have, and it\u2019s been wonderful to have her direct us while taking care of every aspect of this huge show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan<\/strong>: The nice thing about the three of us working together is that, after years of collaboration, we have the utmost respect for one another. But it also means that no one has to apologise for an opinion or a viewpoint. We can cut through the crap and say what we think, because we all know that everyone\u2019s just concerned for the good of the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Glenda and Ivana think pink at Pink Dot!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The two of you are known for your original sister act – playing Glenda and Ivana at events like Pink Dot. How different is that from performing in Mama White Snake?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ivan<\/strong>: Glenda and Ivana are our alter egos. We always have a laugh \u2013 but there\u2019s also something political to it. We dress up in the pursuit of happiness, freedom and equality, hopefully changing the world one outfit at a time. With this show, we\u2019re not simply dressing up as women. We also have to create our characters as part of the story. Who is Mama White Snake? Who is Auntie Green? That comes from the script, first and foremost, but we also inform it with our own life experiences. We\u2019re drawing inspiration from the strong women in our lives \u2013 I think the two of us are thinking very much about our mothers as we work on this show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Adventures In Oz!<\/em>
Glen and Ivan on an exploratory trip in Melbourne…\u00a0
and heading over the rainbow for the 2017 RICE BALL!\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What message or theme has resonated with you while working on Mama White Snake?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Glen<\/strong>: Vive la difference<\/em>! That\u2019s one of the key messages of this show \u2013 celebrating difference and accepting diversity. I think that\u2019s particularly important given what\u2019s happening all around the world, not just in Singapore. We\u2019re living in an age where there\u2019s so much division, and everyone feels safer in their homogeneity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan<\/strong>: In Singapore, so much of our existence is predicated on what is considered \u2018normal\u2019. It means we don\u2019t have much space for people who fall outside of that category. And yet, we know that the reality is people are not<\/em> normal. We are all special, in our own way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you looking forward to being a part of WILD RICE’s year-end musical extravaganza?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ivan<\/strong>: Absolutely. I\u2019m so proud of how far this W!LD RICE tradition has come. I think we\u2019ve transcended the pantomime conventions that we borrowed from the UK. Now, we\u2019re producing a full-scale, original musical every year, with a real integrity to its music. Increasingly, the shows we\u2019re creating can be performed anytime, anywhere in the world. They\u2019ve become timeless, ageless and universal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glen<\/strong>: That\u2019s so true of Mama White Snake<\/em>. Alfian has taken this classical folk tale and made it so contemporary and relevant for our times. And, despite the nightmares, performing in our pantomime is truly a joyous affair. Our audiences look forward to it every year. It\u2019s such a happy occasion. So I\u2019m really excited to have the opportunity to end 2017 in this way \u2013 celebrating life and the past year, with good friends on stage and off!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time in 41 years, Glen Goei and Ivan Heng will share the stage in Mama White Snake! They chat with us about working together as actors, getting under the sssskins of their characters, and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[45,44,125],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4578"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}