Story & photos by Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling GourmetTM
All rights reserved
The irascible and resourceful Travelling Gourmet explores The Star Theatre at Buona Vista to realise…
MY first visit to this halcyon new icon of Singapore’s burgeoning arts scene left me at a loss for directions…to the Star Loft on Level 11. This is because on levels 1 and 2 there are an eclectic myriad of restaurants, shops, coffee joints and shoe shops, with NO sign of any theatre or auditorum. Peserverance is my middle name, and I finally found The Star Loft… to be part of the exclusive Media Conference which highlighted…
SINGAPORE and ASIA’s very 1st The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie concert combo! The idea is so ‘think out of the box’ original that it reminded me of when I was the very 1st Gourmet in the world to match Durian (the King of fruits) with wines in 2004 at the Singapore Marriott.
The original Academy Award winning Music score by Howard Shore is to be performed live by 95 musicians (a total of 250 performers when you include vocalists) while the audience enjoys “The Lord of the Rings” movie!! This is the REAL 3D with no need for special glasses that make you dizzy! I like this idea greatly! As affable Professor Chan Tze Law, Music Director of the Metropolitan Festival Orchaestra enthused,”The Metropolitan Festival Orchaestra actually took over from the Singapore Festival Orchaestra…it is very new and we can have performances around the year…and not just during the Singapore Arts Festival…” Well, I am all for it…as long as Singaporean home-grown talents are not cast aside in favour of foreign artistes from China. My good friend, Russian speaking Darrell Ang is now the Directeur Musical of the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne in far away France because he felt his considerable talents were not appreciated, but passed over in his own homeland…c’est le monde n’est pas? I received an email from Darrell Ang on 31 July 2013 with regard to this humble line in my article and I print it in its entirety here:
There will be NO further discussion on this particular issue.
From left to right: Prof. Chan Tze Law, Dr. Kevin Koh, Justin Freer, Samuel Yuen & Benjamin Cavalli
The production features the youngest Soprano I have ever met…Samuel Yuen Hao who said with a wisdom far above his chronological age, “I’ve been going through intensive training for my role.” I can well imagine…
The Executive Producer of the MFO, Dr. Kevin Koh, who has a Biomedical Engineering PhD from London, remarked candidly, “When you enjoy this production you get a 3D movie but you don’t stagger out of the cinema with a giddy head! That made me chuckle! Think of gooogly eyes…Ha! Ha!
Square jawed Justin Freer of Italian ethnic extraction, is a Californian with rugged movie-star looks that is the Maestro for Lord of the Rings. Justin was so enthusiastic or nervous or both, so much so that when he started to talk about his role in The Lord of the Rings, he knocked over his glass of water. Lucky it wasn’t red wine or his pink shirt might have got stained. Technical Supervisor Jeffrey Markowitz joined the Media Conference live from New York via SKYPE. Shades of Star Trek!
Sponsored by Credit Suisse and American Express. MD of Credit Suisse Singapore, mild mannered Benjamin Cavalli revealed, to my question to him in Hochdeutsch, that: “Cultural sponsorship is part of the Credit Suisse brand which creates brand awareness…and is also part of our social responsibility to give back to the community. Benjamin added, “Given the uniqueness of this musical production, it is a good platform to display Credit Suisse in Asia.”
If you love J.R.R. Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings and if you love the movie interpretation of the series of books, including “The Hobbit”, I strongly recommend you watch this blockbuster Movie Concert Event…the very FIRST in Asia! The Lord of the Rings has been awarded “The Travelling Gourmet’s Cultural Gem for the month of JUNE! *****
{Thursday, Friday and Saturday on 6, 7 and 8 June 2013 at 7.30pm
The Venue is The STAR Theatre, The STAR Performing Arts Centre}
For tickets >>>SISTIC Hotline 65 6348 5555 & Authorized Agents islandwide.
You can also book through the SISTIC Website:
It is only 4 minutes and 38 seconds walk from Buona Vista MRT station…if you are a fast walker 🙂
If music be the food and wine of life…play on! ENJOY!
Please see related article:
https://thetravellinggourmet.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1515&action=edit&message=1
about Conductor Maestro Darrell Ang’s Italian ristorante in Singapore – Rubato
The Travelling Gourmet 
pretty good post. i just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that i have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. bbom bbom bbom bbom bbom
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Sorry, my friend, but I’m sure it wasn’t I who left that remark “…because he felt his considerable talents were not appreciated, but passed over in his own homeland”: I don’t feel that way at all. Singapore has given me many opportunities and I count myself mighty blessed. If others wish to speak for me, don’t believe them one bit! However, whoever it was that told you “Rubato” is my favourite Italian restaurant must be telling the truth: have you reviewed it yet? Worth a try!
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