"Tropicana The Musical" Resurrects Singapore's Spunky 60s

By Carolyn Oei, 04 January 2017

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“Our musical is not about tits. Our musical is about balls.”

So says Tan Kheng Hua, producer of “Tropicana The Musical”, a show that we cannot wait to see when it starts its run at Capitol Theatre this 13 April.

“And where are those balls now?” Tan asks.

Singapore in the 1960s wasn’t the ordered, orchestrated, almost-sterile metropolis that it is now. Back then, it betrayed a certain liberalism and fierce independence; in thought, vision and action.

The real Tropicana, on which the musical is based, embodied that mindset. It was a restaurant nightclub established in 1968 in what is now Pacific Plaza on Scotts Road.

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Like so much of the post-Independence development that was taking place in Singapore at the time, Tropicana was loud, brash and brave. It was famed for its topless revues, kick-ass dim sum and ability to reel in the punters, both local and foreign. The joint was eventually shut down in 1989 as a result of waning interest in the wake of competitors such as Neptune and Golden Million.

Written by Cultural Medallion awardee Haresh Sharma, directed by Beatrice Chia-Richmond, with music by Julian Wong and lyrics by Joel Tan, “Tropicana The Musical” boasts a who’s-who in Singapore’s small English theatre scene. It includes a cast comprising established and emerging actors such as Lim Yu-Beng, Sharda Harrison and Mitchell Lagos.

We’ll be featuring Sharda in an upcoming PORTRAIT in March and there’ll be a few more nuggets on the musical over the next few weeks. Keep your eye out for these here and on Facebook.

Tickets for “Tropicana The Musical” are on sale now on an Incentive Ticket Pricing Scheme, which means, the longer you wait, the more expensive the ticket. 

LINKS

Tropicana The Musical
http://www.tropicanathemusical.com/

Tickets on SISTIC
http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/ctropi0417?cid=NRI-tropi0417