I've not caught the PCK musical, which i suppose is still running at the National Stadium presently. Neither am I very interested in it except for the fact that a very talented ex-classmate of mine has a role in it. And for that matter, if i were to buy a ticket to watch it, it would be exactly for that reason: to watch my friend in action, to show my support for her.
No, it's not because i think the rest of the cast are terrible; on the contrary, i believe there are quite a few thespians in the musical who no doubt would contribute to making the musical a good experience. My problem is with PCK the sitcom itself - its painfully caricatured lead (i.e., Phua Chu Kang), the almost bland and trite humour that local sitcoms somehow inevitably would descend into after the first few seasons and, in general, the cacophonous acting demanded of its actors. Whenever i caught the sitcom on Mobile TV (which i do not have a choice), i realised i would invariably make a conscious effort not to pay attention to what's going on on the screen: because i get really irritated by it, especially when PCK and his wife speak and gesticulate.
Yes, perhaps that's why it's a comedy: the characters are caricatures indeed; the actors have to exaggerate, obviously; and isn't slapstick humour part of the mandatory ingredients to making a comedy sitcom, you ask? This is perhaps all true and i reckon i have my prejudices. But the reasons i listed are still that which make me not want to catch the muscial, or the sitcom on TV for that matter. The musical may indeed be fabulous and prove me wrong but it's not likely to change my opinon, not least because PCK is PCK and will continue to speak the way he speaks - and that's irritating enough.
But enough of my displeasure with PCK.
Still on PCK the musical however, but about its publicity. I was watching the TV one day when I saw their ad which ran some quotations that praise the musical. That same ad also had mediacorp artistes giving the thumbs up for the musical. To use praises and positive comments of reputable audiences to drum up support is, of course, to be expected. The question is whether or not one buys them. If they come from distinguished critics or people in the theatre business, one is very likely to deem them credible; but when they come from such people as well-known politicians, they are likely to be questionable.
The point is this: politicians and fellow colleagues of the artistes in the cast are hardly the sort of people whom one would trust to give an honest or, indeed, valuable feedback on a muscial production. In this case, the ad in point quoted SM Goh and DPM Tony Tan, whose words totally convey the impression that the musical is professional, is very good. Well, SM Goh and DPM Tan may very likely feel what they said of the musical, but the point is that they are also very likely not to say anything unflattering, especially of such a production that features a character who has achieved something akin to national iconic status. (Consider who was the face that Singapore chose to show the rest of the world when The Amazing Race was filming the Singapore leg of its competition.) In the same way, it is difficult to imagine that mediacorp artistes would say anything negative of the musical were they to find any part of it unsatisfactory. If one should not be surprised that it is only natural for the publicity managers to find value in positive comments from very well-known guests, one would also have expected that they should know better than to use such unsatisfying and questionable sources. After all, politicians are better known for their political cunning and politically correct statements than insightful comments on the arts. I, for one, am certainly unimpressed with the material that was chosen to ostensibly lend credence to the musical production. It could have been better, not unless of course...
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