How did you hit upon the idea to create this one-woman cabaret show? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve wanted to do it for a long time. Apart from being inspired by stand-up comedians like Margaret Cho and Pam Am, I have such fond memories of Happy, this amazing gay club in Tanjong Pagar. I practically lived there! I would sing, sometimes, and I performed stand-up on comedy nights that was tailored to the gay crowd. Which means I already have some material to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why now? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
As always, Ivan Heng [Artistic Director of WILD RICE and the Singapore Theatre Festival] was my final push! Ivan, of course, is one of my dearest friends and I am his #1 Faghag. Over the years, I\u2019ve talked to him about wanting to create a show like this. Last year, he told me that I should just start writing because he was going to reserve a slot for me in the Singapore Theatre Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it\u2019s also fitting to be staging Faghag<\/em> this year, because it coincides with the tenth anniversary of Pink Dot. I\u2019ll be doing my annual duty as Pink Dot\u2019s Grand Marshall before performing my show on Saturday, 21 July! Making it to ten years is a milestone for the gay community, but also a sad one. A decade on, and Section 377A [which criminalises homosexuality in Singapore] is still on the books. I\u2019ll be exploring that and more in the show. I had a huge<\/em> crush on a gay man when I was 13 years old. I became such a fangirl of Lim Siauw Chong after watching him perform with Jacintha Abisheganaden in Talentime! I even stalked him. [laughs] Back then, everyone\u2019s name was in the phone book. So I called him up at his house on his birthday and sang him a birthday song. F**king scary, right?! I didn\u2019t know he was gay then \u2013 I didn\u2019t even understand that concept. We\u2019re friends now, and he still remembers me doing this! You\u2019ll have to come to the show to find out more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve had two boyfriends who turned out to be gay. One is still deep in the closet. The other is out, proud and happily married to his husband. When we were together, he was figuring out and fighting with his own sexuality. But he eventually came screaming out of the closet. Again, come watch the show! [laughs]<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the wedding of my second cousin in 2001. But he wasn\u2019t fully out, you know? So he couldn\u2019t invite all the relatives \u2013 just me and his sister, and we were the bridesmaids. It was so moving: two people exchanging vows in front of all their friends. The ceremony wasn\u2019t legally binding, but it was very much a wedding. My cousin and his husband have since moved to Australia, and they\u2019re going to legalise their marriage there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m still working with Julian on the song list \u2013 I can promise you that there\u2019ll be at least one fabulous gay anthem! Julian brought to my attention Carefully Taught<\/em>, a song from the Broadway musical South Pacific<\/em>. It talks about how children have to be carefully taught to hate others. It\u2019s not natural. It\u2019s important for me, as a mother, that my son not see any difference between my gay friends and my straight friends. And he doesn\u2019t.
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Ebi Shankara, Nathan Hartono and Theresa Goh
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWho was the first gay man in your life? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Any other close encounters with gay men you’d care to share?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Tell us about the first gay wedding you attended.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What are some of the songs you’ll be performing in the show?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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