M! The Ops!pera

Riding on the crowd's current flavour for theatre offerings (thanks to PGL hype) M! The Opera finally came to me last night.

First impression:
- "Wah seats baekk punya! Thanks a lot Abang Badak Biru Yang Tak Dapat Balik Kampung Raya Tahun Lalu!"

Second impression:
- Eh, apesal lambat start nih?

Continuing on:
- Hmm... chaosnye opening act dia... Vocals tenggelam dek orchestra la pulak... Nasib ade subtitles... Besides, the set looks Oscar-ly inspired glam!
- Oh M masa kecik-kecik dulu rupenye - ha ha ha... quite funny lah Azean!
- And that "pondan" character - hmm, familiar, oh yeah saw him in the same kebaya outfit in Ghazal Party Queen last year, ooh didn't know he/she could sing that well - voice control and projection baekk gitu!
- Why lah everyone keep measuring each other's breasts ni - kot iye pun tukang jahit takkan la tak amik ukuran kat tempat lain kot? Sukatila cik director and choreographer...

More acts down the road:
- Hmm... best juga lagu "There is no time... There is no time..." layan.. layan... *eh interrupted* "Paula Malai Ali punya breasts pun kena ukur on stage juga!" says a friend.
- From another friend: "Perasan tak bila tengok lama-lama, texture muka Khir Rahman sama la dengan father dia A. Rahman Hassan!" Says I back to her: "Texture muka ye Intan?"
- And Khir's most memorable line tonight goes something like this: "Apesal nak stress? It's only a dress!"

Intermission:
- Ooh... ramenye kaum artists... Shuhaimi Bab the film director, Rafi the guitarist, tu sape ke tu - "Roy Azman la.." says my friend. And that deejay... And model Bernice Chan... And actress from Bolehwood... And the actor who played Rahim Razali's first son in Split Gravy on Rice...
- Eh eh big big boss aku pun ade? Takde lah tinggi sangat. Senyumlah, senyumlah ahai cek mek - Aiyoyo kadavoley he smiled back! Quick must transfer very important sub-conscious message to his brain wavelength now: ~Bagi~la~ bonus~... ~Bagi~la~bonus~...!
- A mate was asking, how come the girls are all singing soprano? My take on that: The men have to ultra-low and females ultra-high so that the pondan's vocal range can be slotted in the middle. Tis only fair. Ahhah...

After intermission:
- Aik dah ade yang dah balik? "Don't they want to know the ending?" asks my officemate. "Agaknye they could not connect with the opera kot?" says moi back.
- Eh dah start - ek awat jadi lagu nih? Sepi ni still the angel or already a devil? Didn't she had something going on with that pelat Kerabat just now?
- Wow, that has got to be M's second most memorable line tonight: He goes, "Kahwiiiin dengan akuuuu!"
- Ooo... camtu rupanye... ala.. habis camni je ke? Anti-climax la pulak...

After the show:
- The same officemate asks, "So how would you rate it?" Says I, "To me, my benchmark would be how much they managed to connect with the audience. Actually I'm kinda disappointed that Jit, S.Rastam, Jo & co didn't get under my skin this time.. Ops! But it's not fair to compare M! with their previous works, which are all of a different genre.."
- Oops terserempak - singer Shafinaz still remember her super juniors la.. suka la si Pipa dengan Intan tu!
- Teh tarik at Pelita anyone? Four takers - reminiscing the days of Split Gravy on Rice, Bolehwood and Gross Indecency: Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and Alang Rentak Seribu. Just when I thought one drama is enough for one night, another one kick-starts... Oops!