Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
183
as w ell. B roadway r oad sho ws don't stop in S an Francisco, wher e the r oad ends, but
continue on to include Singapore in their itineraries, and international stars like P lacido
Domingo, Yo Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, and Michael Jackson have come to town. Inter-
national stars make up only a small portion of the performance scene, though. Singapore
theater comprises four distinct language groups—English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil—
and each maintains its own voice and culture.
CLASSICAL PERFORMANCES
The
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
performs at the Esplanade-Theatr es on the B ay,
with regular special guest appearances by international celebrities. For information about
the orchestra, check out www .sso.org.sg, or for per formance dates, see www .esplanade.
com. Tickets purchased through
Sistic
(www.sistic.com.sg).
The
Singapore L yric O pera
collaborates with r enowned opera companies fr om
around the world to stage such Western operas as
Turnadot
and
Madame Butterfly
at the
Esplanade. Check their w ebsite at www .singaporeopera.com.sg for what 's on. S istic
handles ticket sales.
The
Singapore Chinese Orchestra,
the only professional Chinese orchestra in Singa-
pore, has won several awards for its classic interpr etations. They perform every 2 weeks,
mainly at the Singapore Conference Hall, 7 Shenton Way (
&
65/6440-3839
). See per-
formance schedules at www.sco.com.sg, and buy tickets through Sistic.
THEATER
Most international companies will per form at the
Esplanade-Theatres on the B ay,
1 Esplanade D r., a 10-minute walk fr om City H all MRT (
&
65/6828-8222;
www.
esplanade.com). Smaller shows are sometimes staged at the
Victoria Concert Hall,
2nd
floor Victoria M emorial H all, 11 E mpress P lace (
&
65/6338-6125
).
Sistic
(
&
65/
6348-5555;
www.sistic.com.sg) handles bookings for both v enues.
A fe w local companies ar e quite note worthy and manage their o wn per formance
spaces.
The Necessary Stage,
278 M arine Parade Rd., #B1-02 M arine Parade Com-
munity Building (
&
65/6440-8115;
www.necessary.org), blazed trails for the local per-
forming ar ts scene after staging pr oductions that touched tender ner ves for the
community, including a startlingly frank monologue by the first Singaporean to publicly
declare his str uggle with AIDS. The
Singapore Repertory Theatre,
DBS Ar ts Centre,
20 Merbau Rd., Robertson Quay (
&
65/6733-0005;
www.srt.com.sg), is another com-
pany to watch; in recent years, they've staged local productions of perennial favorites like
The Glass Menagerie
and
Little Shop of Horrors.
9
ARTS PROGRAMS
A number of venues have nightly programs of performance art pieces, fringe music pro-
ductions, art talks, demonstrations, readings, and other specialized arts events.
The Arts House,
1 Old Parliament Lane (
&
65/6332-6900;
www.theartshouse.com.
sg), is housed in the former Parliament House, whose government rooms, in grand colo-
nial style, have been converted into intimate spaces for use as an alternativ e arts venue.
The building also hosts an intimate music club and small cafe.
Also check out the many ev ents at the
Substation,
45 Armenian S t. (
&
65/6337-
7800;
www.substation.org), which offers its space to smaller theater tr
oupes, cinema
groups, fine arts exhibitors and performance artists.
