Ismail the Last Day @ KLPAC

Two weeks ago I went to KLPAC, Sentul for the first time. The purpose I come here is to watch the musical, Ismail the Last Day which some of my blogger friends Aronil, Nick, Charmayne and Min Li are in the cast.

KLPAC

The price for the ticket is RM 40 on weekday and RM 80 on weekends. It was Wednesday so, I got RM 40 ticket. I sat in the 3rd row from the stage. The stage floor was covered with a large Jalur Gemilang. First came in the orchestra members, and then the orchestra conductor. Then the orchestra starts to play the prelude. Okay, okay. Not going to spoil the whole thing.




Before this musical, all I know about Tun Dr. Ismail is Taman Tun Dr. Ismail (TTDI). Never have I knows that he was our Deputy Prime Minister to Tun Abdul Razak. He was Home Minister before that whom responsibled for jailing extremist using ISA (Internal Security Act), this was after all after the May 13th riot. He will even jail his own mother if found her to be guilty, he once said.

Back to the musical. For those of you expecting political story in the musical will be disappointed because as the story goes, I found that it is more about Tun Dr. Ismail choices between his family and the country. He already knew that I have cancer before he accept the job as the Deputy Prime Minister when Tun Abdul Razak was elected as Prime Minister. Thus the title, "The Reluctant Politician" a biography of Tun Dr. Ismail which this musical is loosely based on.





The leading actress/singer have a very good vocal. The cast also did a good job. I especially like the Malay dancing scene and the scene from Queens College back in the 40's. While his wife asking him to quit as the Deputy Prime Minister because of his failing health, Tun chose to go on for the future of his country, Malaysia.

The musical starts from after May 13th riot, and the days of Tun Dr. Ismail being the Deputy Prime Minister until his last day. During the Malay dance scene, one can hear a familiar tune back in P. Ramlee's time and also the ending tune is somewhat similar to AM Bank's theme song in the ads.



Taken with Aronil after the performance ended.

While this is not a Broadway production but this is a story that is closer to home. The music is fabulous and the ochestra did a great job. The choreograph while not flawless but somewhat makes the flow. Vocals, I might say is better than some of the new singers that just came out from those reality contest. Today is the last day of Ismail, the Last Day will be showing. Since tomorrow is a public holiday. Why not go to KLPAC and support our local performance art. Click here for more info.