Puteri Gunung Ledang the Musical is BEST GILER BABS!! OUTSTANDING MALAYSIAN ACHIEVEMENT! TAK TENGOK RUGI KODOK!!!

It was one of those things that when you see it,
a)YOU ARE PROUD THAT YOU ARE MALAYSIAN BECAUSE YOU ARE WATCHING A WORLD CLASS THEATRE PRODUCTION
PRODUCED BY MALAYSIANS
b) You are in Awe of the performances of these talented Malaysians and FREAKING wished you were up there with them.
c) PISSED OFF THAT TIARA NEVER CALLED YOU TO BE A PART OF THIS WONDERFUL JOURNEY!
d) You are STILL thinking of the show hours after the last performer took a bow on the stage.

When you are a performer, and you feel all those emotions that i listed up there, then you know that one thing has happened... YOU HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH to have been in the presence of one of the country's greatest theatrical production efforts of recent times.

I didn't go to the press preview that all the other blog viewers went too. I went on their premiere night yesterday with the PM in attendance and i must say i was impressed, my wife who is a theatre major was impressed and i guess most of the audience, if not all present were impressed too. i had heard that during their preview nite, things did not go particularly well with some techical glitches and what have u but such is the nature of theatre. it is not like the movies where if there was something wrong during the press preview, we wouldn't be able to fix anything, i was told that changes were still happening up till yesterday's performance. Every review has its pros and cons but i choose to focus on the strengths of this show because i believe it deserves a positive review and also because the cons were too few and negligable to me.

Gang, i am from the theatre. At the aged of 10 i fell in love with the experience and from then onwards have always had a high regard and the greatest respect for it and all who give their llife and love to the embetterment of it. After years of theatre, i know i can tell the good from the bad , the wannabes from the truly great, the formulaic from the truly inspired. In short, i am hard to please when it comes to theatrical performances.
BUT TONITE I WAS AWED, i left the Istana Budaya feeling like a little child that found a 5 ringgit note on the ground to buy chocolates with. I was excited, delighted, inspired, flabergasted and proud. Why? because i had just watched the PGL Musical Premiere.
Ohhh my god, PGLTM was OUTSTANDING!!!... It was 10 times better than the Movie (which i quite liked) but the stage production of PGL is absolutely frakking Marvellous!! I am not even kidding when i say that somebody if not everybody from this production deserves a datukship. The musical was easily one of the most beautiful, poignant, exciting and satisfying piece of Malaysian theatrical production i have ever seen in my life. I watched the production of the hit musical 'Chicago' when it first opened on the west end in London and i believe i didn't leave as satisfied as this.

MUCH KUDOS TO ALL THAT PUT THIS BABY TOGETHER. Your hardwork and Dedication really paid off guys. You gave the audience such a wonderful memory of Istana Budaya that i believe it should now be called Istana Puteri Gunung Ledang!!!
Believe me gang when i say tak rugi kalau kita tengok show ni 10 kali pun. Dan tak malu gua rasa kalau show ni pergi ke london atau new york sekalipun untuk bersaing dengan Musical-musical si Andrew Lloyd Webber tu.

GUA BETUL-BETUL teruja ni, macam gua rasa gua kena jampi lak.... i can't stop talking and praising this show.
Although everybody performed well for the show, One person really stands out in this production for me - my BRO and i believe now, ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING PERFORMER MALAYSIA HAS -AC MIZAL!!
To tell you the truth, i was never really impressed with AC during his GERAK KHAS days but when i interviewed him during my (now defunct) talkshow BILA LARUT MALAM, i realised that this guy had something special. Tonite after seeing his interpretaion of GUSTI ADIPATI i trully trully believe that this man is a STAR and one of Malaysia greatest actor - entertainers in this day and age. HARD TO BELIEVE some of you might be saying, since now he is known more as a PAK LAWAK thru my movies but believe me friends, there depth and talent the size of mount Everest within this man and to top it off, he's such a nice guy too. GUA TABIK SPRING RACING COIL to you bro. I am in awe of your talent and feel honored to be a part of ur life. GOOD things come to good people i believe AC and i believe your time to TRULY SHINE has arrived and the light are spelling out the letters A C M I Z A L. You make me proud that i used u before them. heehee!Watch AC (the former theatre virgin) hold his own and then some against all the other more seasoned theatre actors in this country. KORANG MESTI TENGOK DIA DALAM PGL NI barulah korang akan paham apa yang gua membebel ni.Another thing to watch is Tiara's truly inspired performancela. This Lady belongs on stage man. She made me cry tonite huuhhuuhuu. She rocks !!! in this production, i truly felt for her character in this PGL, more so than in the movie.
Did i mention the rest of the cast is also truly outstanding. That Stephen Rahman guy - what a voice! Adlin Aman Ramli - EXCELLENT beyond words!
The music by Singaporean DICK LEE is so heartfelt and so SEEEDAP!!! Tanpa disedari muzik beliau yang di susun semula oleh pengarah muzik dan gua punya former boss ROSLAN AZIZ bermain dgn emosi kita dan ianya seakan dibuai mengikut segala perintah muzik itu.
ZAHIM ALBAKRI the director, is a FREAKING GENIUS!!!... cara dia mengarah persembahan itu adalah bertaraf antarabangsa. HE SHOULD BE WORKING ON BROADWAY OR AT THE WEST END la gang. Whatever it is, he made PGL the musical happen and has given it's audience an unforgettable evening.
Before u ask, NO! they are not paying me to write all this!.... this are my honest views, my perception, my good fortune to have been able to watch this show.
I personally believe this show needs a home of it's own, a theatre which will show PGL the MUSICAL all year long!!... so that everyone can see. Make it one of the country's premiere tourist attraction to Malaysia. I want this show to sell out because it has the potential of changing the people's perception about theatre in this country.

I want to go again and watch it with my staff and friends and i urge you all to do the same. GIVE YOURSELF this opportunity to watch something really great from MALAYSIA.

AS a matter of fact, let's do a KODOKS FLASH MOB event at PGL the musical!!!!!!!!!! I WANT!!! I WANT!!!! kita tengok ticket 30 ringgit je pun takpe.... janji kita support diorang ni hidup-hidup!! okay those interested to be part of this flash mob, sila taip KODOK NAK TENGOK PGL, bagi nama, nombor handphone and email kat gua di selambakodok@gmail.com so we can pick a date and arrange our event. Lepas show tu gua akan introduce you all semua kepada cast PGL tu and seperti biasa kita teh tarik sampai pagi!!!. ADA BERANI??

HIDUP PEKERJA SENI MALAYSIA, POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!

AFDLIN SHAUKI aka CIP KODOK