Wednesday March 22, 2006
Rising to the challenge
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Paula Malai Ali: "I am dragged out of my comfort zone but I see it as a challenge." |
Well, considering everyone knew the cast went into rehearsal several months ago...
“One of the actresses pulled out and I was asked to replace her,” she offers the answer before I can ask.
So she was a Second Choice? Horrors! She shakes her head vehemently.
“There is nothing wrong with being second choice. It happens to the best of us. Hey, I have no ego over such things. It’s not as if I auditioned for the role and was rejected. Having such a shockingly short time to get ready means I am dragged out of my comfort zone but I see it as a challenge. They were in a quandary and I was helping out friends.
The play is written by Jit Murad with music by Saidah Rastam.
“The decision was either yes or no. I have never joined a cast so late. I am whacked out rehearsing and getting ready but it has been an invaluable experience. On a personal level, I am enjoying the journey.
Then again, I am not doing this for charity.”
“I really can’t reveal too much about M! The Opera,” begins Paula piously but after I scrape the surface, she lets it be known her character Dominique Soong is a fashion reporter. She describes Dominique as a “style maven”, a “vixen” and “not a big role, really”. Though undoubtedly pivotal?
“Yes, I guess. M! The Opera is about a Malay fashion designer who is called M who has a seamstress mother living in Kg Baru. M is played by Khir Rahman and his mother, by Maizura Hamzah. It’s about the local fashion world and my playing a fashionista working in the media reflects my real career so I am enjoying the sensation.”
Dominique Soong is not exactly evil reincarnate. “I am not a bad girl. I try to lure M away from his muse Sepi (played by Doreen Tang) by flirting with him. I am just a Distraction! Oh, don’t look so confused – M is straight. Yes, a designer who is straight. It happens! Sexual preference is not an issue here.
“Raymond Jolly is doing all my clothes and I am looking forward to his costumes – all those feathers, sequins, plunging necklines, bare backs, all the good things in life! It is a big cast and a real visual feast!”
So is she, come to think of it.
The much-touted local operetta M! The Opera opens tonight at Istana Budaya and runs till April 2.
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