Theatre review: Beauty World

SINGAPORE — There are still a few productions left on the calendar this year, but the latest staging of Beauty World — the fifth since 1988 — is arguably local theatre’s last big event for what has been a packed SG50 year.

When the news of the revival was announced, the talk was of a “darker”, more realistic cabaret life in playwright Michael Chiang’s and composer Dick Lee’s hit musical, with the latter himself as the director. While you get hints of these in glimpses of cabaret girls having a swig in the morning and scenes taking place in back alleys, we’re still talking about Beauty World here and not Blade Runner.

The familiarity of the dynamic duo’s fish-out-of-water story and characters is, at this point of its theatrical history, rather comforting.

Innocent Malaysian Ivy Chan Poh Choo arrives from Batu Pahat in search of her father and has an unlikely adventure inside Singapore’s seedy cabaret world. There is her love triangle involving straight-laced boyfriend Frankie back home and the cabaret’s beng bouncer Ah Hock; and the ruthless, bullying ways of “number one cabaret girl” Lulu.

The songs, too, despite slight musical arrangement changes (and we do love those conga drums) are as catchy as ever.

The musical’s foundations are still undoubtedly solid, but what has been built on top of it tends to lean more on the rickety side.

For sure, there were perfectly decent performances. Janice Koh’s tai-tai take as Beauty World’s mama san Mummy has its moments; Timothy Wan’s beng character exudes a sensitive side. Newcomer Cheryl Tan’s Ivy — a role previously filled by the likes of Claire Wong, the late Emma Yong and current Broadway actress Elena Wang — is nerdier and less an innocent angel, but is certainly a curiously odd presence inside a cabaret.

This Beauty World incarnation’s stand out performer has been Frances Lee, who lights up the stage in her peripheral role as Ivy’s pen pal, the seamstress Rosemary Joseph. Less kooky and spunkier than previous incarnations, her loneliness shines through.

Unfortunately, the musical’s most pivotal character is also its weakest link and is the biggest flaw of this version. For all of Jeanette Aw’s star power on the small screen, she was clearly out of her depth: Her Lulu has a presence so negligible you wonder what the cabaret’s customers see in her.

Here is a woman who is the epitome of success in this particular cut-throat underbelly of entertainment, yet you can’t help but feel she’s more tolerated than grudgingly feared by her cabaret peers, with the attitude more of a whiny, spoiled princess than scheming survivor whose territory is threatened by a newbie. It doesn’t help, too, that she’s vocally overwhelmed by the rest (especially in a duet with Lee), and her singing strays off-key and is mostly unintelligible. When Aw’s ultimate dramatic turn comes, and the faucet is switched on — you hardly feel the iconic cabaret queen’s fall from grace.

On paper, Victoria Theatre sounds like the perfect venue for one of Singapore’s beloved musicals, However, the stage is too cramped: Seated on the side, this reviewer found himself staring at speakers and completely missing one of the most important turning points of the story — a big reveal involving Ivy and her quest to find her father.

Beauty World might be a classic that everyone needs to see at some point, but be forewarned this one needs to work on its moves.

Beauty World runs until Dec 12 at Victoria Theatre. Tickets from SISTIC.