Kee Hua Chee Live!: THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA IS HERE RIGHT NOW IN KUALA LUMPUR! AIYEEEEEEEE! MUST GO SEE THIS WORLD FAMOUS MUSICAL THAT HAS BEEN WOWING AUDIENCES THE WORLD OVER FOR 33 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG.. BY APRIL THIS YEAR PHANTOM OF THE OPERA WOULD HAVE PLAYED OVER 13,000 TIMES WITH SONGS AND LYRICS THAT ARE NOT ONLY CATCHY BUT RIGHT UP WITH THE GREATEST SONGS EVER CREATED BY MANKIND! MISS THIS AT YOUR OWN PERIL AS THIS IS THE FIRST TIME A GENUINE FULLSCALE MUSICAL IS BEING STAGED AT ISTANA BUDAYA. NEVER BEFORE HAS ISTANA BUDAYA STAGED A FULL LENGTH SHOW IDENTICAL TO THE ONES BEING STAGED IN WEST END LONDON OR BROADWAY NEW YORK! NOT ONLY IS THE CAST FULLY IMPORTED SO TO SPEAK, THE SET IS BRAND NEW . FOR INSTANCE THE FAMOUS CHANDELIER IS NOW MADE OF PLASTIC AND WEIGHS A MERE 400 KG COMPARED TO THE ORIGINAL WHICH WEIGHED 1 TON! MIND YOU, A FEW COSTUMES ARE SAID TO BE 20 YEARS OLD!

KEE@FSWMAG.COM

PHOTOS BY CANON SX 720 HS

The world’s most popular musical, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is now showing at Istana Budaya from 15 June till mid July. Tickets from RM 200 are now on sale through TicketCharge.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber blockbuster has won over 70 major theatre awards, including seven Tony’s on Broadway and four Olivier Awards in the West End. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA became the longest running show in Broadway history on January 9, 2006 when it celebrated its 7,486th performance, surpassing the previous record holder “Cats”.

On January 1, 2018 it celebrated its 13,000th performance and later that month on January 24, the Broadway production celebrated an amazing 30 years on Broadway.

With 130 cast, crew and orchestra members, jaw-dropping scenery, breathtaking special effects and more than 230 costumes by the late international designer Maria Björnson, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA contains some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most famous and stirring music, including The Phantom of the Opera, Think of Me and Music of the Night.

The original cast recording, with over 40 million copies sold worldwide, is the best-selling cast recording of all time.

Based on the classic novel Le Fantôme de L’Opéra by Gaston Leroux, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA tells the tale of a disfigured musical genius known only as the Phantom who haunts the depths of the Paris Opera House.

Mesmerised by the talent and beauty of a young soprano, Christine, the Phantom lures her as his protégé and falls fiercely in love with her. Unaware of Christine’s love for Raoul, the Phantom’s obsession sets the scene for a dramatic turn of events where jealousy, madness and passions collide.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London’s West End on October 9, 1986, starred Michael Crawford as the Phantom and Sarah Brightman as Christine. It is produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is presented in Kuala Lumpur by Lunchbox Productions, Base Entertainment Asia and TEG Dainty.

BOOKINGS INTERNET TICKETCHARGE.COM.MY TUESDAY TO FRIDAY SATURDAY & SUNDAY 8.30PM 2.00PM & 8.30PM TICKET PRICE FROM RM 200* * EXCLUDES THE BOOKING FEE OF RM 4 PER TICKET

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA became the longest running show in Broadway history on 9 January 2006 when it celebrated its 7,486th performance, surpassing the previous record holder “Cats”. This coincided with the Broadway and the US national touring company celebrating an unprecedented 20,000 performances in the United States.

On 1 January 2018 it celebrated its 13,000th performance and later that month on 24 January the Broadway production celebrated an amazing 30 years on Broadway. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has won over 70 major theatre awards, including seven Tony’s on Broadway and four Olivier Awards in the West End.

It won the ‘Magic Radio Audience Award’, voted by the public, in the 2016 Laurence Olivier Awards. It is produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Theatre Company Limited. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA became the first stage production to reach worldwide grosses of $6 billion.

Revenues far surpass the world’s highest-grossing film “Avatar” (at $2.8 billion), as well as such other blockbusters as “Titanic”, “The Lord of the Rings”, “Jurassic Park” and “Star Wars”. Worldwide, over 140 million people have seen THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in 37 countries and 172 cities in 16 languages.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is currently showing in London, New York, Budapest, and on tour in the US.

www.thephantomoftheopera.com www.andrewlloydwebber.com www.reallyuseful.com

Base Entertainment Asia is the largest presenter of live theatrical entertainment in Southeast Asia with offices in Kuala Lumpur and its Asian headquarters in Singapore. It is the resident developer, producer, programmer and manager of live entertainment at Singapore’s Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands.

The company has presented over 200 of the world’s most recognised shows of varied genres in Singapore; musicals – The Phantom of the Opera, Disney’s The Lion King, Wicked, Jersey Boys, Cats, My Fair Lady, Annie, MAMMA MIA!, The Sound of Music, Blue Man Group, Chicago, Sister Act, Evita, Legally Blonde, Kinky Boots, Matilda The Musical; stage magic - The Illusionists, Cosentino: Anything Is Possible; circus – Le Noir, Cirque Adrenaline, Cirque Eloize, Circus 1903; concerts - Michael Bolton, Bjorn Again, Cliff Richard, AR Rahman, Air Supply, Elvis Costello, The Village People and Bjorn Again, The Simon & Garfunkel Story, Bee Gees Gold; performing arts – Cavalia; classical concert – The Music of John Williams, The Music of Hans Zimmer VS John Williams; ballet – Giselle, Superstars of Ballet Gala, Romeo & Juliet; comedy – Laugh You Long Time; children – Disney Live, Hi-5, Disney in Concert.

Along with supporting international content, it is part of Base Entertainment Asia’s on-going efforts to give Asian content a platform to showcase their talent - Kabuki (Ebizo, Takizawa), Cai Xiao Hu, Kit Chan, The Lee Kuan Yew Musical, THE SECRET (based on Jay Chou’s movie, Secret) and more. www.BASEentertainment.com.sg

Founded in Hong Kong in 1992 by James Cundall, Lunchbox Theatrical Productions has established an unrivalled reputation for producing top quality international entertainment across five continents, and is now headquartered in the United Kingdom with companies in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, The Philippines and Malaysia. Productions include musicals such as Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Wicked, Mamma Mia, West Side Story and Chicago; spectaculars such as Riverdance and Cirque du Soleil’s Alegria; boutique shows such as Stomp, Tap Dogs, Slava’s Snowshow, Potted Potter, Circus Oz and Barry Humphries’ Farewell Tour ‘Eat, Pray, Laugh!’; musical concerts including Thriller Live, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Abba Mania; international artists Jamie Oliver, Rick Stein and Elaine Paige; plays such as The Woman in Black, The Mousetrap and The 39 Steps; children’s shows Thomas the Tank Engine and Barney’s Space Adventures; events such as Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland (an outdoor Christmas ice rink and funfair in York, UK) and The Last Night of the Proms for the Hong Kong Handover; and The Imperial Ice Stars’ productions of The Sleeping Beauty on Ice, Swan Lake on Ice, Cinderella on Ice and The Nutcracker on Ice.

As well as producing this portfolio of shows, James Cundall spent the first five months of 2010 based in Shanghai, as Producer of the Outdoor Opening Ceremony of Expo 2010 Shanghai China, on behalf of David Atkins Enterprises.

In addition to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila; future productions for 2019/20 include: Potted Potter in Australia and New Zealand; The Mousetrap in New Zealand; War Horse in New Zealand and Hong Kong; Matilda The Musical in Hong Kong; Cats in Manila and Singapore; Peter Pan On Ice in South Africa; The Nutcracker on Ice in the UK; and Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre in the UK and Manila.

DATO SRI EDMUND GOH AND DATO KEE HUA CHEE SAT IN THE FRONT ROW

ANY NEARER AND WE WOULD BE INSIDE THE ORCHESTRAL PIT

ISTAMA BUDAYA WAS ALL GLAMMED OUT FOR PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

COOL

FABULOUS

DATO JARED LIM CHIH LI, CHAIRMAN OF TREMENDOUS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP WHICH BROUGHT IN PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR RAINER FRIED

JONATHAN ROXMOUTH PLAYS THE PHANTOM AND MEGHAN PICERNO PLAYS CHRISTINE THE HEROINE

I WAS IMPRESSED THE STATUARY WERE ALSO INCORPORATED INTO THE STAGE DECOR , EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE THEATRE IN LONDON!

THE FAMOUS CHANDELIER WHICH WEIGHS A MERE 400 KG COMPARED TO THE ORIGINAL WHICH WEIGHED A TON! PREVIOUSLY THE CEILING OR ROOF HAD TO BE BROKEN TO INSTALL THE CHANDELIER WHICH WAS COSTLY AND OCCASIONALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR SAFETY REASONS !