What an interesting afternoon I have had! I’ve watched P. Ramlee The Musical which runs at Istana Budaya from now till Oct 12th and met some of the main cast such as the always friendly and approachable Tony Eusoff a.k.a P. Ramlee, Lisa Surihani a.k.a. Junaidah (P. Ramlee’s 1st wife), Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina a.k.a. Norizan (P. Ramlee’s 2nd wife) and Nadia Atiqah a.k.a. Saloma (P. Ramlee’s 3rd wife).
The musical is in its 3rd season and brought to the audience by Enfiniti Vision Media and Tiara Jacquelina. This 3 hour long musical (minus a 15 minute intermission) starts before P. Ramlee in Penang on the night of P. Ramlee’s performance at the Bukit Mertajam Festival where he meets a director from Malay Film Productions. Impressed by P. Ramlee’s singing voice, B.S. Rajhans invites P. Ramlee to Singapore to expand his career
There’s a scene on train carriages which I thought was very entertaining as P. Ramlee and his friend make their ay from Bukit Mertajam to Tanjong Pagar, Singapore. It is in Singapore that P. Ramlee meets his 1st wife, Junaidah. Initially, it’s a happy marriage but as his fame grows, Junaidah is unable to handle her husband’s growing success and being hounded by the paparazzi (she should see what it’s like nowadays!) so she decides to leave him leaving him very broken hearted and crushed. There is a rather moving scene at the end of Act One where P. Ramlee sings of his heartbreak, he must have loved Junaidah very much and it is a pity that she couldn’t handle the consequences of her spouse being famous.
In Act Two, P. Ramlee is already married to Wide No. 2, Norizan played to perfection by Tiara Jacquelina. Norizan is obviously a much more sophisticated woman than “kampong” girl, Junaidah who probably would have been happier living out her life in a village. Norizan manages her husband’s career and they meet the Shaw Brothers. I was wondering why Run Run Shaw had such an over the top Malaysian accent since he is from Hong Kong! It was funny to hear but didn’t fit the character. Also, how could Run Run Shaw possibly know so many Malay words?
The Shaw Brothers enabled P. Ramlee to direct his 1st feature film but he started to neglect and spend less time with Norizan which led to her spending time with others and rumours of her infidelity began to spread. One of the most powerful performances came from Norizan as she was about to leave P. Ramlee. The song is entitled “Sudah Tidak Bermakna” and really brings across the anguish she must also have felt as she realized that this is a marriage which could not be saved and they had to go their separate ways. So sad! So poignant!
However all is not lost as P. Ramlee finds love again in the arms of the beautiful, glamorous and talented Saloma. The costumes for the 3 wives are by Jovian Mandagie and are simply breath taking. The courtship scene between P. Ramlee and Saloma is very sweet and this couple is made for each other as they remain in wedded bliss until his demise. Unfortunately, his star began to dim as his name began to be slowly forgotten. He is far more famous now than he was at the end of his life.
This is a musical well worth watching and for all races, ages, sexes and even for people who normally don’t like watching musicals. If you like looking at fashion from the 60s, you really should not miss this wonderful musical. The cast sang their hearts out and gave stellar performances. A must-watch, I say!
