ENTERTAINMENT: A powerful love story

2009/11/10

DENNIS CHUA

The spiritual musical Two From Galilee soars with a tale of a pair of lovers destined to change the lives of generations coming after them. DENNIS CHUA writes. TWO From Galilee, a production of The Canticle Singers (TCS), which was staged in Panggung Bandaraya, Kuala Lumpur from Oct 23 to Nov 1 was conceived in the US in 1996 and has since travelled the world.

TCS originally staged Two From Galilee at the First Baptist Church in Petaling Jaya in 2002 as a fundraiser for Malaysian Care.

The musical, described by artistic director Chin San Sooi as “the story of a young woman and a young man very much in love and faced with a hostile world and an awesome responsibility” is based on American author Marjorie Holmes’ novel of the same name which was first published in 1972.

It became one of the top 10 best-selling books that year.

Subsequently, composer Robert Sterling and lyricist Karla Worley created a musical backed by rich orchestration.

The story begins in the village of Nazareth, Galilee in ancient Palestine, where Mary (Joanne Poh) welcomes the arrival of her cousin Deborah’s (Khu Gek Sim) son.

In the same village, Mary’s childhood friend Joseph (Low Tzu Liang) is urged by his parents Jacob (Caleb Tan) and Timna (Cheah Jan Mie) to settle down, and this is reflected in the powerful song What Are You Waiting For? Mary’s parents Joachim (Colin Wong) and Hannah (Patricia Ngo) line-up a series of suitors for their only child, but Joseph is not on their list.

When Mary chooses him, her parents are not pleased, but eventually accept her decision.

Meanwhile, Caleb falls seriously ill, and announces his dying wish for Joseph and Mary to be together.

Poh is clearly the star of the show, and she portrays Mary as sweet but strong with vocals to match. Mary also loves her parents dearly.

Mary and Joseph are greeted by villagers.

Her most defining moment in the musical comes when she delivers Mary’s Prayer, a heart-felt, spiritual song amidst a “night of shining stars”.

Both Wong and Ngo also excel as Mary’s parents.

First-timer Low is also commendable, though less expressive than Poh.

The same can be said of Tan and Cheah, even though Cheah gives Poh a run for her money in the vocals department.

Joseph’s defining moment, which Low executes with gusto, is the deathbed scene of Jacob.

Here, Joseph’s Prayer is performed with a passion that moves the audience to tears.

Some scenes of the musical are strikingly similar to many a Broadway play, particularly Fiddler On The Roof, West Side Story and Oklahoma.

The powerfully inspiring song All I Ever Wanted, played at the beginning and end, has a strong resemblance to Oklahoma’s Oh, What A Beautiful Morning.