Pengembaraan Muzikal Pak Pandir (Part 1??)

Pengembaraan Muzikal Pak Pandir

Produksi Pertubuhan Jiwa Seni Malaysia

Karya & Arahan Amar Reza Zainal Abidin

20-22 Sep 2024 at JKKN Negeri Sembilan.

Pengembaraan Muzikal Pak Pandir, for me, is strong. It is personally for me musically pleasing, well-choreographed and executed. It evokes that sense that I always look forward to in a musical - a great opening number that sounds so positive and the composition, both the lyrics and melody are just splendid, well-placed character songs, the songs do not feel detached from the story, it moves together in a very well-blended manner. And a bonus, a reprise of any number, in this case a reprise of the opening number at the end. 

That’s one thing about musicals of Amar Reza that I must admit, and even when I was asked about him, my go-to response is, his musical is so far the closest to that of the Broadway musical structure/style. My sample is not big though, I’ve sampled 2 of his works only: Muzikal Tanggang in 2023 and Muzikal Pak Pandir this year. But I can assure you, based on my limited knowledge on theater and musicals, this is to me so far the closest to that of Broadway. 

This is just a statement about his work. In no way by saying this Malaysia menidakkan hasil2 muzikal lain. Again, when talking about musicals, the one yg really held it now is the western. So, there’s nothing wrong if he decides to follow/adopt musical structures based on the western tradition. But, having said this, tak bermaksud itu sahaja la kiblatnya. Kita pun ada musical tradition kita sendiri, yang Malaysia yakin it can be developed. Who knows one day the world will have our locally produced musical structure/style as an alternative kiblat for musicals in addition to that of broadway.

And we have tons of khazanah yang mempunyai element musical, untuk dijadikan inspirasi, contohnya teater-teater tradisional kita. Yes, it’s not "Broadway style", tapi jujur bagi Malaysia itu boleh diangkat sebagai acuan/panduan untuk develop our own modern musical tradition.

And benda ni bukan mutually exclusive. “Musical kena ikut structure sekian-sekian sahaja. Selain daripada tu salah.” Who decides? Ingat, there’s no textbook telling us what to think. Multiple styles, multiple approaches can coexist. Yes, Malaysia yakin bila nak ke arah tu akan ada terjadinya puak-puak, akan ada bunyi-bunyi yang menidakkan itu menidakkan ini. But that’s okay, it’s a part of the process yang dunia seni kita kena lalui. Itu memang sifat kita as human. But I do hope kita akan gagahinya and such coexistence can be achieved. The more the merrier kan? 

This year alone, banyak locally produced musicals. Ini baru bulan 9 and Malaysia already have a few more upcoming lists of musicals I aim to sample. And target nak come up with a survey of it (doakan Malaysia rajin).

A note on bias: I can’t be purely unbiased, Malaysia ni human je awak. So nak taknak ada la sikit bias tu. Tapi, I always try my best to be objective when talking about something. Disclaimer, Malaysia tiada kepentingan apa-apa pun dengan produksi tersebut. So ini ialah sejenis review jujur (lahhh). But don’t simply take my words, or agree. Remember, you’re not required to agree with this, but I do hope you consider it.

One thing I must puji is, albeit his approach to musicals close to that of western styles, Amar Reza angkat cerita-cerita rakyat. So while his style seems to be western, his musical’s flavor is undeniably local. Through his musical, dia boleh tackle both yang suka cerita-cerita rakyat, and those yang nak tahu about cerita-cerita rakyat but need it presented in a much modern way.

In Pengembaraan Muzikal Pak Pandir, you will be introduced with characters from Malay folktales. Of course we have Pandir (obvious kan?), Andih, Tanggang, Bawang Merah, Bawang Putih, Mak Kundur, Kancil dan buaya2 beliau, Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup. They also have Ratu Labah-Labah yang super powerful visually and concept-wise. 

Note/Question: For me Ratu Labah-Labah is a creation, a good one. Either that or Malaysia belum exposed to folklore tentang ratu labah-labah. Someone please enlighten me.

And based on what Malaysia has experienced, this musical is suitable for both children and adults. I can imagine that I myself can enjoy it as an adult and as a child. It’s not an easy task to create something that’s appealing to different categories of audience.

There are few things yang Malaysia nak highlight about this musical, tapi, ni pun macam dah panjang eh. Malaysia tahu orang sekarang ni (including Malaysia) attention span dah singkat, sebab kita ni selalu dah exposed with short contents, our brains dah wired untuk enjoy benda-benda pendek. So, akan ada few more postings berkisar tentang muzikal ni.

Hah, mesti ada la tu yang cakap Malaysia dibayar kan. Hah, lamberttt lagi. Of course I have a lot to say about it sebab Malaysia watched 3 of their shows, so… as an audience Malaysia had the chance to absorb and contemplate more.

Melampau eh 3 shows? Tu la, Malaysia ni takde life sebenarnya hahah (sedeyh). And bukan complimentary eh, I paid for it, but of course la Malaysia gosok2 sikit nak seat baik, hahaha. Thanks to production, terharu Malaysia, they put tagging so Malaysia tak perlu nak berebut2 sangat seat. Great musical, great experience. I can’t thank them enough.

Bukan tadi kata nak habiskan ke karangan ni?

Ok, ok. Nantikan more postings from Malaysia ya.