A recent baroque sold out four-night concert series at KLPac attracted more than 1,000 music fans, Joe Hasham’s Mandarin adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ classic A Streetcar Named Desire last month attracted more than 800 theatregoers, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra’s long-awaited return was a sold out affair with each show at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas attracting nearly 400 classical music lovers, while even an experimental puppet theatre show series Ibu at PJPac last month drew a sold out crowd of 400.
The audience numbers don’t lie. On the balance, theatre shows (subject to limited capacity) sell out as soon as they go on sale these days. The hits have been more misses.
In the Klang Valley, people have shown they have missed the performing arts and the live theatre stage.
With the country moving into an endemic phase and the recent reopening of borders on April 1, the Malaysian arts and culture scene is set to continue its forward momentum recorded in the last three months, which has seen sold out shows being the “new normal”.
This is not only good news for the performing arts industry for the year ahead, but also a sign that audiences’ appetite for large-scale productions is growing.
The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac), for example, enjoyed back-to-back sold out shows throughout the month of March.
The KLPac Orchestra’s Baroque Elegance concert, presented in collaboration with the Early Music ensemble Wicked Music People, sold out all four performances last month (at the main Pentas 1, with current seating capacity of 251). It was the KLPac Orchestra’s first public performance in two years.
“This pandemic has taken two years from all of our lives, and being able to come together as a community to make music and share it with a live audience is so important as a way of creating and expressing hope,” says Lee Hai Lin, KLPac Orchestra’s concertmaster and violinist.
Besides Baroque Elegance, other sold out shows last month at KLPac include the Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur’s Min’yo two-night concert (featuring musicians from Japan, and Sarawakian sape player Alena Murang) with more than 500 people attending, while Pentas Project’s Mandarin adaptation of playwright/author Kee Thuan Chye’s The Swordfish, Then The Concubine played to 475 people.
The Min’yo concert, which was one of the first in KL to feature touring foreign musicians, showed that Japanese folk music could attract a pop concert-like audience and fill up a venue.
“I think audiences are ready to return – they have sent a strong signal. Their cheers may be a bit muted with the masks and all, but we can feel it, the sense of excitement seeing familiar faces at the theatre again and just being seated inside sharing their first theatre experiences all over again,” offers Ang Yue May, KLPac’s head of marketing communications.
“All the time, effort and resources that went into getting our SOPs right, learning how to manage the traffic flow well, continuous testing of cast and crew and slowly working our way to gain audience confidence again has finally paid off, we hope,” she adds.
The Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre (PJPac) has also been fortunate to have several sold out shows in the last three months.
Liver and Lung’s restaging of Sepet The Musical in February at PJPac’s Nero Event Space (capacity 100-150) was sold out, forcing the indie theatre company to add two more performances, which were also packed out.
“Liver & Lung has always choreographed a delicate dance between championing stories that we know will have mass market appeal and driving experimental ideas that push the scene forward,” says Shafeeq Shajahan, the company’s co-founder.
A popular show like Sepet The Musical, which is based on the late Yasmin Ahmad’s classic film, has evolved through the years, with the recent restaging featuring a technical upgrade and new actors.
The Ibu puppet show, which also showed at PJPac last month, was new performing arts company Iron Gang Puppet Theatre’s debut show, which combined traditional Teochew iron-rod puppetry and elements of contemporary theatre.
“We had a show that wasn’t really a conventional one. So we were worried about ticket sales at the beginning. How would you explain to the masses that it was not an ordinary puppet show? At PJPac, we had a show with elements of visual theatre, projection mapping, original music, live performance, puppetry, objects and live performers... so we relied on word-of-mouth and support from theatre regulars,” says Koe Gaik Cheng, the Ibu show’s co-producer.
“It was a relief that this Ibu production sold out a week before we opened. It also shows that arts lovers now might be more willing to try out new and experimental productions.
“A common response we received from the audience after the Ibu show was that it was great experience for them to watch a live show. I think most people are tired of watching things at home on their screens,” she adds.
Other recent sold out shows – a diverse list – at PJPac included Chinese New Year specials Nicole Hon: My Favourite 70s Chinese Classics, Bloom Jazzy CNY 2022, Singaporean stand-up comedian Fakkah Fuzz’s Fakkah Fuzz: Live in KL and KL City Opera’s La Voix Humaine solo opera show.
Balancing the content
“Content, I believe, is the attraction. Most of the sold-out shows at PJPac ranged from live concerts to musicals, and stand-up comedy. Each genre has good (social media) interaction with their target audience and the marketing exercises have helped,” says Brian Kwan, PJPac’s theatre manager.
“PJPac, through 1Utama Shopping Centre, has also provided marketing support via the LED screens installed inside and outside (the shopping centre) to provide maximum exposure for the shows.”
Diversity of content, including shows with strong commercial appeal, appears to be the key here.
If you’re a venue that has been shut for nearly two pandemic years, a celebratory tone to announce a return to regular programming is an obvious choice.
The MPO’s sold out Totoro Goes To The Carnival concert series last month was a good example of how to kickstart the “family day” programming at the DFP.
Yet again, the Japanese animated film My Neighbour Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki, underlined its enduring appeal. The MPO is set to present more family-friendly programming in the coming months alongside its regular classical music content.
“I’m very happy to be once again making music on the DFP stage, but the optimism I feel right now has more to do with the fact that people can come once again and take part in this sharing.
“This is one of the biggest reasons we become musicians – to share wonderful music because we know what it can do for people,” shares Gerard Salonga, MPO’s resident conductor.
Istana Budaya is also taking a similar approach in its 2022 programming, filling its roster with large-scale shows with populist appeal, including musicals, traditional theatre, dance, and orchestral concerts.
These include the National Symphonic Orchestra’s presentation of Sergei Prokofiev’s classic Peter And The Wolf, a symphonic fairy tale for children, and The Carnival Of The Animals, a humorous musical suite by the French composer Camille Saint-Saens in June, dance musical Ratu Kuning Langkasuka (in September) and musical theatre Jula Juli Bintang Tujuh (in November).
Full house or limited capacity?
One issue that is still unclear is the National Security Council and the Ministry of Health’s MyGaris Panduan guidelines, dated April 1, which removed the 50% seating capacity limit for event venues, but still encourages physical distancing (1m apart).
“From our understanding, we are still required to maintain a 1m distance, thus making it impossible to have a full capacity seating arrangement at our venue.
“Unless this changes, we will still maintain the current SOP we have been adhering to for audience capacity in both Stage 1 Theatre and Nero Event Space of PJPac,” says Kwan.
At KLPac, the upcoming shows there will still maintain the regular social distancing rules.
“When it was initially announced, many of our upcoming shows were already on sale and so the 50% capacity was maintained though we ran shows at very little profit. The new MyGaris Panduan, dated April 1, prepared by the National Security Council and Ministry of Health no longer mentions a capacity limit as we move towards this new phase. We will consider revising our capacities upwards soon,” says Ang.
Istana Budaya has taken things a step further and written an official letter to the National Security Council to say that the venue will be running at full capacity, starting with its June concert programme.
The reopening of the country’s borders also points to the return of international productions.
But how soon before KL welcomes back a Broadway or West End touring show?
“With the opening of the borders, Istana Budaya encourages the local producers or promoters to bring in more international performances to Istana Budaya,” says Mohamad Azlan Abdul Majid, Istana Budaya’s deputy director general (operations).
Ang shares that KLPac has also received enquiries from foreign theatre groups and performing arts companies that are interested to tour Malaysia.
As a new venue, Kwan hopes theatre show organisers will consider PJPac for their international shows.
“Most importantly now is if the Selangor government continues to impose the 25% entertainment duty on all foreign ticketed shows, Selangor will lose out on these shows as Wilayah Persekutuan has waived this duty,” says Kwan.
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