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!

Tiara Jacquelina as Nora

Nora in the budget movie Ali Baba & The 10 Thieves

Tiara with Adibah Noor and Ryan Silverman

Adibah Noor is Khatijah the Manager

Tony Eusoff as Agent Farok watching Agent Foss in action

Stephanie Van Driesen as Betty

Continue with Part 2: The Spy Who Stole The Show

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

Tip: You can view larger versions of the images here, gallery-style. When the page finishes loading, click on any picture. Navigate via the arrows on each side of the frame.