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The Secret Life Of Nora – Part 2

Nora & Mr J

I caught the second half of the musical Secret Life Of Nora on Saturday. Thanks to Azimy (Enfiniti’s MARCOM Manager), I was seated at the exact same spot as previously. The reason I requested for this was to ensure continuity for the pictures. (See pics from Act 1 here)

Lead Tiara Jacquelina’s performance shone under the direction of Steven Dexter. Her facial gestures were expansive, making her a joy to watch (and to listen). Pay attention to that military training sequence where she switches back and forth between bewilderment and enthusiasm. She stole the show!

Tiara Jacquelina as Nora

Agent Nora in training

Agent Nora & Agent Foss

Ryan Silverman is perfect as the suave, sensitive Matsalleh spy. He sings great and I particularly like the ‘firefly duet’ with Tiara. Hey, it is a love story after all. Look out also for his song and dance tribute to history’s famous honey trappers.

Agent Foss & Mata Hari

The Spy Who Loved Her

It may be hard for anyone to shake off Aznil Nawawi’s trademark swagger, but he played the role of villain Mr J very convincingly. The character is like a cross between Dr No and the Queen of Hearts. He and sidekick Aaron Khaled were hilarious taking a bow chained together. Aaron was very good too with the song and dance skit with the female ensemble.

Aznil Nawawi as Mr J

Aaron Khaled as Sidekick Sharif

A member of the female ensemble

Adibah Noor is undoubtedly the crowd favourite, drawing chuckles with every single line and expression. She sings, she dances, she vacuums and she flies! My favourite is Tony Eusoff’s understated performance of the cynical and bumbling spy with a touch of gadget man Q. Stephanie Van Drissen appeared to relish her innocent, Ugly Betty-like character, and it was a nice surprise to see her bursting out in a lavish Samba costume for the encore.

Adibah Noor as Khatijah

Tony Eusoff as Agent Farouk

Stephanie Van Driesen as Betty

The set design of the villain’s lair is brilliant. The moving elevators and multi-tiered complex is visually stunning. And like every worthy spy story, there is an exciting self-destruct sequence in the finale. Spectacular!

The Star makes a grand entrance at The Villain's Lair

All pictures photographed with the Olympus Pen E-PL2 by & © TV Smith

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Tiara Jacquelina as Nora

I like going to a movie, a play or a musical armed with as little information as possible. It is something difficult to do when one is bombarded by a barrage of publicity material daily.

For months, I kept seeing Tiara Jacquelina tweet about her upcoming musical The Secret Life of Nora. Nevertheless, she didn’t reveal much of the actual storyline, preserving the surprise element for the audience.

I went to Tiara’s Puteri Gunung Ledang The Movie (reviewed on my blog in 2004), PGL The Musical, P Ramlee The Musical (reviewed on my blog in 2007) and tonight’s Nora, all with little inkling of the plot and cast. Yet, I found myself enjoying each show just as much.

From a photography standpoint, going to a play or musical without any advanced idea of the script means you cannot anticipate any of the moves. But I love the challenge of capturing whatever that is thrown my way. The trick is to sit back and enjoy the show. You will then know when to click, intuitively.

The Secret Life Of Nora will open tomorrow night (Thursday, 29th). Don’t worry, I am not giving away any spoiler except some pics to whet your appetite. Unfortunately, there was a backdrop malfunction and some technical hitches tonight. As a result, only Act 1 was performed. I will try to catch the second part on Saturday. (Update: 2nd Part here)

Even then, I thought one half of the show alone was worth the price of admission. This very entertaining musical will run from the 29th of September until 16th of October 2011 at Istana Budaya. Don’t miss it!