If you think getai is loud, dramatic and colourful, well, wait until you see what goes on backstage. That’s the premise of Ge Tai — The Musical, which opens next month at Resorts World Theatre.

The show, staged in Mandarin and featuring Hokkien and Cantonese songs, stars bona fide local getai stars Desmond Ng and Hao Hao in the leading roles, flanked by the Baobei Sisters and international stars such as Sakura Teng, Zhuan Xue Zhong and Yang Xiao Ping. Ng plays a getai veteran whose reign is threatened by the arrival of a new performer from Taiwan, played by Hao Hao — who himself happens to be from Taiwan.

The musical is written by Jonathan Lim, the creator of the popular Chestnuts comedy revue series. With theatre and film credits such as Oi! Sleeping Beauty!!, People Say Got Ghost and In The Room under his belt, he isn’t the first person you would normally associate with getai. But, he said: “I’m not that ‘angmoh’, actually! There is a ‘ching chong’ side to me!”

Getai has fascinated Lim since he was a child. “When I was a kid, there wasn’t much to do — there was no Facebook or Instagram,” he quipped. “Getai, in those days, was such a source of joy — it was the loudest, noisiest, most colourful thing you could ever experience. It was like a free Madonna concert.”

These days, the unique breed of getai in Singapore is “one of the things we can be very proud of”, he added.

PUBLIC SHOW, PRIVATE PAIN. Most importantly, Lim pointed out: “Getai is raw and wild and passionate and alive” — which makes it perfect fodder for a musical show. The story is really about the rivalry and friendships among the characters, with getai as their gestalt.

“I admire getai a lot because it’s really the toughest thing to do. It’s so competitive. The people you would consider your peers and colleagues are also your competition. It’s very tough,” said Lim, who went backstage at getai shows and spoke to performers in the course of his research. “The picture I had of getai, from the front, suddenly became very complex (when viewed from) backstage.”

For 34-year-old Hao Hao, who moved here from Taiwan 10 years ago and has since made a name for himself on the local getai stage, Lim’s script was so real, it hurt.

“I feel the character’s story is largely my own. So, I’m very much into the role,” he shared. “Reading the script really stabbed me in the heart. I thought, ‘At last someone has given voice to my innermost feelings’. Those emotions I felt when I came to Singapore all alone to work; sitting at home all by myself; having to swallow insults and prove that I had something to offer, and that I wasn’t just here to take what wasn’t mine and then leave. Even as I’m telling you about it now, I’m feeling emotional.”

Exposing the private pain that takes place behind the glamour of the stage was an intriguing task for Lim, who chose to play up that dichotomy by shifting the audience’s focus between front and back stage “in real time … almost documentary style”.

“I like the idea of what happens (from) moment to moment. And it’s almost breathless. Here you are b****ing about someone and that person is finishing up their song. They’re going to come back at any moment. ‘Shut up! Oh, she’s here. Die’ — that kind of drama that happens when things are alive. It’s like watching (the television show) 24! I think that will be a unique experience for the audience.”

BITING THE BULLET. It is certainly a unique experience for Ng, the winner of Mediacorp TV Channel 8’s reality competition show Getai Challenge. For someone who is used to singing onstage, being in a musical is still a completely different kettle of fish.

“On a getai stage, you can say and do whatever you want. But in a musical, you have to deliver your lines word for word, and that’s the worst thing I can ever think of,” he admitted. Even when filming for the screen, said the actor in Mediacorp TV Channel U’s Project W, you can go back and do your line again if you flub it — but not when performing to an audience.

“I’ve done so many getai competitions, but I’ve never felt any stress. Now, I finally know what stress feels like,” he quipped. “Then again, if I wasn’t stressed out, it would mean I didn’t care.”

Ng is putting on a brave face because the show must go on — and that’s just what Lim is talking about in his script. The schism between the stage and the backstage, he explained, is the perfect metaphor for the “the face you show the public and what you feel inside”.

At the same time, he said: “The face you show the public is also what you need to believe in. It’s not fake. It’s your hope. You might be crushed by reality, but you sing the dream, and that keeps you going. You can survive anything if you come out on stage and smile. To me, that is a great strength. That is how we all survive. Getai embraces that. It’s a celebration of strength and courage.”

Getai — The Musical runs from April 20 to May 29, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 8pm at Resorts World Theatre. With 3pm weekend matinees. Tickets from S$38 to S$98 at SISTIC.