Mesmerized and blown away...

Nope - this has nothing to do with a certain Mongolian beauty who met with a gruesome end not so long ago on a secluded hill/mountain somewhere. But, this is about another beauty...who...errr...has something to do with a mountain, too. Different beauty, different era, different ending. And different mountain. So, sit back, and relax :)

I had never been to a Musical before. Not even when I was residing in London way back in 1991-92 when the West End was a just a tube ride away from where I was staying. I don't know why I was never interested to go and see Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Miss Saigon and the likes then. The closest I got to a Musical was all those Christmas pantomimes at the end of the year. Pathetic, huh?

When Istana Budaya was having Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical Season 1, I never bothered to find out when the show was on, or even how much the tickets cost. I was saying to myself, "Alangkan West End shows pun I tak tengok...why should I go and watch PGL kan?" (I know...I know...sungguh macam diva, kan?!) And I guess because I never got to watch PGL The Movie, there was no "attachment" to PGL The Musical. I started to pay attention and show some interests only after hearing the rave reviews it got.

PGL 2 came....and went. Just like that. Both Ayah and I were just too busy. By the time we decided that we could go and watch it, all the tickets were sold out. And we thought, that was it. There goes our chance to witness the most talked-about Musical in town.

So, when we heard that there was going to be PGL 3, we decided that whatever the prices were, we would just get the tickets. Everybody else we knew seemed to have watched The Musical. Some had even gone to watch both PGL1 and PGL2 and were going back to watch PGL3, too! So, there must be something with this Musical which kept on pulling/calling people back to it, kan?

We decided to coincide this PGL3 outing with two of our MT members' 40th birthday celebration - Ibu and Re*a. It was kind of a belated birthday treat for them, as theirs were the only 40th birthday parties of the MTs and hubbies' which we didn't manage to organize properly last year. So, their PGL tickets were on the rest of us :)

So, armed with 3 credit cards which entitled us to a 15% discount on the tickets, Ab*d and I went to Ro*k Co*ne* at The Cu*ve about a month ago to purchase the tickets. As one person could only buy 5 tickets per one credit card, we decided that I would purchase 5 with one of my credit cards, and Abid would purchase another 7 using 2 of her credit cards. And we managed to get quite good seats for Thursday 19 February. (I was sitting right smack in the middle - in fact almost directly behind PM Pak Lah malam tu, albeit selang 4 seats behind him! And before anyone starts asking me, NOPE! I didn't see him sleep/doze off that night. Hehehe!)

There were a few celebs which caught our eyes that night, one of whom was the ultimate Perempuan Melayu herself - Datin Seri No*ma*a Sh*msu*in. There were a few dramatists whom the MTs for the lives of ALL of us could not remember their names at all! Haiyaaaa...where got time to watch all those Samarinda and yang sewaktu dengannya, and hafal their names what...I must say Datin Seri NS memang anggun and jelita in real life (or should I say "LEBIH" anggun and jelita dari dulu?)

The show started right on time, and from the moment the curtains were up, we were all mesmerized and blown away with everything The Musical had to offer. There were moments when I suddenly realized my mouth was gaping while watching the superb performance. There were moments when my eyes were welled with tears. There were times when I would just laugh at the hilarious antics portrayed on stage. And the songs...and, oh, the dances - they were just brilliant. And the backdrops and props and all those special effects. Oh my...VERY impressive indeed. Kudos to the whole PGL3 Team!

I can't even pick my favourite character(s) of the night! I loved AC Mizal as Adipatih. I also loved Ida Mariana who played Bayan - she has such a beautiful voice. She was the best singer on stage that night, I must say. But, Stephen Rahman-Hughes a.k.a HUNKY Tuah has such a wonderful and dreamy voice, too! And Adlin Aman Ramli - Mahmud Melaka, was one hell of an entertainer, too. And Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina - what can I say? She was in all her elements that night. She was really into her character...

After the show, the rest of the MTs and their hubbies decided to go for a Teh Tarik session in Keramat, but Ayah and I had to give it a miss as Ayah had to rush back to TMC to see a patient. We also had to fetch the kids from Mak's house in PJ and bring them back to SD as the next day was a school day.

All in all, we had a great time at PGL3 The Musical. Worthed all the money and time spent. And Ayah and I have decided that when P.Ramlee The Musical makes its next round, we're definitely going. This time, bringing the kids with us, insya Allah.

Who needs West End musicals when we have such superb talents in our own backyard, huh? (says the once-a-diva-me-when-it-comes-to-local-musicals... Hehehe!)

(Errrr...do I get commissions for this 6-Star review?)

Here are some (BLUR) pics...