1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,760 Hello! You there! Welcome to our premiere episode of A Spoonful of Theatre! 2 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,160 I'm TJ, theatre practitioner, director and performer. 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:19,080 And I'm Sam Sam, a teacher of language, literature and self-proclaimed show business, Luvvy. 4 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:24,800 Now this is our podcast where we spill the tea on all things Singapore theatre. 5 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:34,760 It's tea time! And this is our special preview episode to give you a little sip of what's to come on this podcast. 6 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:42,720 Absolutely. So pop the kettle on, grab a biccy and let's add a spoonful of theatre to sweeten up your day. 7 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:45,720 Sam. 8 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:46,720 TJ. 9 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:47,720 We're here. 10 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:48,720 We're here. 11 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:49,720 We're in a podcast studio. 12 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:51,400 We have microphones in front of us. 13 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:54,080 We do, and we are making our very own podcast. 14 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:55,080 It's happening. 15 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,240 It's happening. My God. It's been a few months, hasn't it? 16 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,360 It has. It's been a few months in the planning. Now we might be talking to ourselves, this 17 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:05,440 no-body's listening, but if you are listening to us right now, thank you so much. There 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,680 might just be two of you. It might be our mothers. But if anybody else is listening, 19 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:11,520 we thank you for listening to this podcast. 20 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:16,040 Oh dear, it won't be my mother. She barely knows how to use Facebook. But no, so to your 21 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,080 mother and to TJ's mum, thank you for listening. 22 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,520 Absolutely. But this is so exciting. 23 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:26,360 It really is. It really is exciting because we thought about this a few months ago. We've 24 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,320 talked about nothing else since. 25 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:36,680 And we're now in a studio with microphones, with equipment, which I have no bloody clue 26 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:41,520 what does. I just press a button and it goes red and apparently I talk into this thing. 27 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:43,640 But yes, we are here. 28 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:48,840 We are here and we hope that you will be here with us on this journey of podcasting. We're 29 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:49,840 podders now. 30 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:50,840 Yes, we are. 31 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,560 OK, so, but who are we? Who are we? I ask myself that all the time. 32 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:57,800 I bet you do. 33 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:04,400 Now I had an idea for this. I had an idea for this. Now it'd be very easy for us to 34 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,280 roll out our CVs of who we are and what we do. 35 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:10,960 But then our two listeners will be switched off within about 10 seconds. 36 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,880 Well, especially if they have to listen to your CVs. It's a lot longer than mine. I tell 37 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:22,680 you now, don't be rude. Now, no, let's do it differently. Let's describe each other. 38 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:29,120 Let's identify who that's because we're best friends. We've known each other for 10 years. 39 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:30,120 Yes. 40 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,880 Let's see what adjectives we'll use for each other. 41 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:36,520 Absolutely. Who's going first? 42 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,440 You, because I came up with the idea. 43 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:43,600 OK, sure. So as you said, we're best friends. We've been best friends for 10 years and we're 44 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:47,880 both from the UK. And obviously we've both lived in Singapore for 10 years and we both 45 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:55,760 love Singapore theatre. We both love Singapore theatre. But Sam Sam, you are a, as you say, 46 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:01,440 a theatre lovey. OK, so you do love the theatre and you love going to the theatre, but you're 47 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:07,560 not necessarily from a theatre background. You're very much English and French major. 48 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:16,120 However, you did go on the cruise ships. Yes, you did, ladies and gentlemen, in our episodes. 49 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:20,600 If you hear this noise, Sam has mentioned that he was once a performer on the cruise 50 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:21,600 ship. 51 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:28,880 Yes, yes, I was. I was a host and emcee, deputy cruise director, DJ, pantomime day. 52 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:33,960 Lovely. OK, that's enough. So, yes, he was on the cruise ships and he was a performer. 53 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:38,400 And you also still do perform every now and again at the musical theatre Open Mic Night, 54 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,480 which is where we've been hosting for a long while. And I'm sure if anyone is listening, 55 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:49,000 probably knows us from there the most, I imagine. So, yes, so you are a performer and host. 56 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:56,440 And I think you bring to this podcast a you bring the the regular person's perspective, 57 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:02,280 the every man, the every man. You are the every man. But no, you are a theatre fan's 58 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,880 perspective, I think you're a theatre fan's perspective that brings brings the inquisitive 59 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,800 nature. You're not you're not embroiled in all of the dramas of theatre and all of the 60 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:15,000 nuances. You're just asking what everybody, hopefully, who's listening at home wants to 61 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:20,360 ask, which I think brings a lovely perspective to theatre podcasting. It's a fun place to 62 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:26,560 be in. I you know what I'm jealous. Genuinely, I would love to go back to there. But I think 63 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:31,080 once you've trained and once you've been in theatre, your world is you can't unthink it. 64 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:35,480 So I can't go to watch a show now without knowing all of the things and having some 65 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:42,320 sort of opinions. But anyways, yes, that's some some. Now then, TJ, I can I can do this 66 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:50,440 very easily because I've said it before and I still mean it now. Maestro. Oh, I mean that 67 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:56,720 with every definition of the word, because I have had the wonderful privilege of seeing 68 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:06,680 your career grow in Singapore, we both started off as enrichment teachers and you then went 69 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:14,520 on to Universal Studios. You went on to evolve. You went on to sing theatre to eventually 70 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:19,960 become associate artistic director. And in all that time, you were performing, you were 71 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:28,600 dancing, you were singing, you were vocal coaching, you were directing, you were producing. 72 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:35,080 In one show, you were doing all that in one go. Little Shop of Horrors. And you really, 73 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:41,560 you truly are a master of your craft. And I am not the only person to say so. There 74 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:49,480 is an army of young, talented people out there who I know will be listening and will feel 75 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:58,240 exactly the same because you have nurtured so much talent in this country. And it's wonderful 76 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:03,440 to have watched that grow. So yes, I can sum it up in one word, the maestro. Oh, well, 77 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:08,600 thank you, Sam Sam. And yeah, I bring that theatre perspective to this podcast. You know, 78 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:13,840 I'll be I'll be I'll be coming at things with theatre knowledge and quite quizzing, quizzing, 79 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:17,160 quizzing things from that perspective, which I think is interesting. So we come from two 80 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,880 different sides. Yes, there was a reason to that, isn't there? Because as TJ said, we've 81 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:27,880 seen a lot of performances together, local and mass produced, international, international, 82 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:35,960 I'm sorry. And we've gone and seen seen these performances. And we always see things from 83 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:41,440 a different perspective. Usually I'll be coming, I'll be dancing out of the auditorium doors 84 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,900 because I've had such a marvelous show. And then she'll be walking behind me with a face 85 00:06:45,900 --> 00:06:50,440 like a smack the ass because somebody's done the wrong vocal technique. But that's exactly 86 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:56,040 how we've we've always done it. And we always discuss shows afterwards of what we liked 87 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:07,200 what we didn't like, where where things could have been better. And we often jump over each 88 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:13,560 other's fence, don't we? We do. Yes. It's not it's not a very big fence. No. No, because 89 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,240 I think we do we do often have very similar opinions. But I think we come at it from a 90 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:22,200 different perspective. So I think that made made this kind of podcast. That's kind of 91 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:26,720 the essence of why we're doing this. Because we're bringing together two different sides, 92 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,560 hopefully the audience side and the performer side. So you get a peek behind the curtain 93 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:35,120 with the performer, but you also get to ask those questions that you would maybe as an 94 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:39,480 audience member. So what we wanted to do is for me, as you said, you know, I've worked 95 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:44,280 with some of the amazing performers that we have here in Singapore for the last few years. 96 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:49,440 And everything I've ever done is about bringing people up and creating a community. And I 97 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:54,200 wanted to showcase that community even more so, because both of us now are over in full 98 00:07:54,200 --> 00:08:00,240 time education. Yes, we are. So this is honestly my way of just keeping my hand in, keep it 99 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:05,600 keeping, keeping, keeping, keeping in the theatre circle, but also lifting it up as 100 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:10,400 well. I think, you know, we want to celebrate celebrate and shout from the rooftops on this 101 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:15,600 wonderful medium that is podcasting, which has come up over the last few years. And there 102 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:21,320 isn't a regular theatre podcast for Singapore theatre. And we wanted to change that. We 103 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:27,760 do. It's our turn. So we'll give it to you straight. And how are we going to do that, 104 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:32,600 TJ? How are we going to do that? We are going to do that through two episodes, which would 105 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:37,360 be our tea time main episodes. And that one is where we get interesting people from across 106 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:41,600 the Singapore theatre space. So that might be an actor, it might be a director, might 107 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,440 be a producer, but not only that, it's also going to be the people that you maybe are 108 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:51,800 not expecting. So the stage managers or the costume assistants or the design assistants, 109 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:56,760 maybe even the front of house, you know, finding out what every single job in Singapore theatre 110 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,400 is and really kind of getting beneath the skin and finding out about all these people. 111 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:04,720 So those are our main episodes, hopefully coming about once a month. Yes, that's the 112 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:12,040 aim. That's the aim. And then what else are we doing, Sam? Sam? Well, we put it out to 113 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,120 the to the universe. What would you like in a Singapore theatre podcast? And the one of 114 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:26,200 the biggest, the most common answers was unhinged reviews. We talked about this and we thought, 115 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:31,200 right, well, we do this anyway. So let's just put it on a podcast medium. Let's spill the 116 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:39,960 tea with the performances that we watch and and talk about straight in straight out of 117 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:45,520 the out of the foyer. What we thought of some of the performances that we're going to see. 118 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:50,120 And I can't wait for that. Absolutely. So those episodes are going to be on location 119 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,480 literally straight after we walk out the theatre, we pop the microphones on and have the same 120 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,840 conversation that all of you guys when you go to the theatre will have with your friends. 121 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:01,920 And it's just going to be us chatting about what we thought of the show. So it's really 122 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:06,240 outside the theatre and we'll give you that kind of perspective, hopefully just after 123 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:10,040 a show open. So then you can kind of go find out from the different sides, whether it's 124 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,400 something you want to go watch, which just go watch everything in Singapore, folks, honestly, 125 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,320 support our local theatre because it really is absolutely amazing. So that's our two things 126 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,280 we're going to be doing. We've got our main episodes and I'll spill the tea episodes. 127 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:27,080 And it's going to be myself and Sam taking you through on hopefully a very fun journey. 128 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:31,040 And you're welcome to join us on that journey with all of these amazing things we're going 129 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:35,280 to be doing. But of course, there is something that you need to do, dear listeners. And that 130 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:42,280 is, of course, follow us on our social media. So we do have our Instagram, which is a spoonful 131 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:50,120 of theatre. And then we have our ex Twitter, which is at a salt a s o t just to mix things 132 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:56,200 up a little bit. We do have Facebook is also out there as well. You can follow us on Facebook. 133 00:10:56,200 --> 00:11:03,520 We will eventually have a talk tick tick tock eventually once this old queen can figure 134 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:10,880 it out. But no, but please follow us on the socials. Get in touch, comment, like, share, 135 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:17,980 subscribe. That's what they all in influences. Absolutely. Yes, we're now. And of course, 136 00:11:17,980 --> 00:11:23,840 you must stay tuned for our first exciting guest, but we will announce that on our social 137 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:29,140 media. So followers over there. And also very importantly, as well, whichever podcast platform 138 00:11:29,140 --> 00:11:33,440 you're listening on followers on there as well and click the notification bell, because 139 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:38,440 then you will find out when our new episodes are released. So definitely will be on Spotify, 140 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:43,440 Apple Music and whatever podcast platform you can find. And you will get all these beautiful 141 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:48,560 episodes coming up. Right. Now, my tea's gone cold love. So should we leave it there? I 142 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:54,360 think we should. But I hope that that has whet your appetite for our for our podcast. 143 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:58,200 And we hope to welcome you. So please share tell the world. We want to make sure that 144 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:03,200 this is an exciting platform to uplift our amazing Singapore theatre artists. So stay 145 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:09,120 tuned and you'll find out our exciting guest soon. Fabulous. Yes, we can't wait to be giving 146 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:14,920 you all these reviews, all these interviews and really finding out about the nuts and 147 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:19,200 bolts. Exactly. Marvelous industry in this marvelous country. Now, Sam, Sam, this has 148 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,160 been wonderful. We've worked out this podcast studio. And if you've listened to this, we've 149 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:27,600 worked out how to get it online as well. Amazing. So that is all for our preview episode. And 150 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:32,320 all that's left to say is thanks for listening. Thanks to all our friends who made this happen. 151 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:37,040 But cheerio will be back soon and ta-ra for now. And to all those involved in Singapore 152 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,600 theatre for this month. Break a leg.