Finally after months of preparation, we succeeded in pulling off the greatest show ever from The Wicked Pitches. Incredibly, despite most of us being Noobs when it came to staging, it turned out pretty darn good. Thanks to the tutelage of our very own brilliant and talented Michael Xavier Voon aka MXV, choreographer of The Wicked Pitches this time round. Truly, it wasn't easy to grab hold of Michael for our staging. I remember in the early days when we first met him, it became quite clear that he didn't like our song choice. Too slow, dull, no energy doesn't sound wicked enough were some of his remarks, which was in fact honest in every sense. Actually, there was one point where I thought that The Wicked Pitches are going to lose him. Ahhhh..... sheesh off those pessimistic thoughts. Look where we are now...
I dare say that under Michael Xavier Voon, all of us have definitely improved in the staging department. With all those butt-swaying, smoochy body language, "hiauuuness", groovy body movements lessons and rehearsals, we as a group definitely know how to move more. But of course, there's still room for improvement. In fact, I did notice that change in me. Previously months ago, I realise I have a very stiff upper body, then after many months and towards the last few weeks before the show, when rehearsals became more important. I feel more relaxed and with Sam our stage master, I felt the difference.
Back to the show, sorry for my looooonnnngggg...windedness because I felt that those two paragraphs had to be cleared from my system before going head-on to the show review. My personal ranking:
Best Performance
- Sunday Night
- Saturday Night
- Sunday Matinee
- Thursday Night
- Friday Night
Personally, I think there's little difference between the best and the second best performance. I only say that because we maintained most of our energy on Sunday as on Saturday, and I felt that I was enjoying myselves more. Friday Night was a very tiring day for most of us. It seems that we are all down with "Second day Blues". Zal dropped her mic receiver on the stage on Saturday Night and it was real funny when she held the receiver and showed to the crowd with her goofy face. Sunday Night was when the crowd suddenly became great fans of The Wicked Pitches. Almost everybody were cheering for our group. I guess most of them were Coleen's fans, and some A Capella groups.
My personal favourites(in no particular order)
- Loch Lomond
- William Tell Overture
- Nella Fantasia
- Shenandoah
- City Moon
- Belaian Jiwa
- You raise me up
- I'll be there
- Mbube
- Moondance
Actually, most people would agree including my friends that this songs were done better. I felt that Summer 69 and Bouree for Bach was pretty horrible most of the time. I still felt that Summer 69 was our worst song, though the choreo made it a tad bit better. Why worst?? Rhythms, running all over the place and pitch dropping halfway during the song. In fact, I felt that we lose track of our rhythm everytime we start moving from one place to another when we follow Kheng Han. Bouree on the first night was so slow, I was wandering what people would think of us then...Then on the following shows, it got better but still it wasn't punchy enough. ON Friday, it was really falling apart. Thank God, our choreo saved us a little. Most of the feedback was, too fast or parts running all over the place.
There were times I felt that we weren't loud enough like on "Smoke gets in your eyes" especially when we start. The transition of the different styles could be better. Our first half was sometimes fine and sometimes weak. Not surprisingly, our second half is stronger most of the time if not equally strong as the first. I call this the "warm-up" scenario. The first half sort of prepared the group for the second half. One thing that I really liked about the show, was the lighting and the dobo. It really brought out the mood, especially for Loch Lomond and City Moon. As for the mic, somehow, I felt that my mic wasn't loud enough.
I really enjoyed the choreo part. I felt we were more connected to the audience and more interaction, like getting people to clap and groove with us. Towards the end of the show, I actually felt why we didn't move more. But then again, we were running out of time and we had to learn to move well which most of us can't except for some. I thought the choreo was well-suited for all the songs but strangely they are some who seemed to think that The Wicked Pitches aren't suited for this type of choreo. Spacing was a problem and as usual there were people forgetting their movements which includes me as well. But still, I don't think that the choreo was bad. The best choreo definitely goes to "William Tell" for its quick witty movements and storyline. ZAL.....The damsel in distress......who plays it good most of the time except when she dropped her receiver.
Some external feedbacks/comments( not mentioned yet)
- The girls aren't that strong in their singing compared with the guys.
** Actually I thought the girls were loud enough from backstage.**
- Malaysia has found the mens' choir
**How flattering!!!**
- Are all the guys in your group gay especially the one who sanged "You raised me up"
**When the guys heard that, we all started laughing.** This is definitely the best comment.. LOL
- Whye Mun and JP were fantastic
**OK, that is quite obvious( with a little bit of envy here)**
- Allan really looks gay on stage.
**ERRmmm, actually i didn't think so even with his "maney" hair.**
Finally, I feel a great sense of achievement after the show. Come on man!!! It's not like everyone has a chance to perform in KLPac. I know I've said this before but I think I surprised most people after the show including myselves. I really didn't think that I could perform like them given my noob status when it comes to performing on stage. I still wander where did I get my confidence to perform...It really is strange. Once again, thank you fellow pitches for the support and experience.
