Embracing Musical Theatre

by Fikrianti Surachman
In the last few years, the world of show business in our country has begun to
develop, specifically in the musical theatre industry. From original production to adaptation,
Indonesian artists start to show their potentials in making musicals to general audience.
Perhaps one of the reasons musicals have become more popular nowadays is because of
the emergence of musical television shows, such as Glee and SMS!. "hese merican#
originated television shows have opened the eyes of many people all around the world on
how musicals can impact their lives. pparently, Indonesian artists see this as an
opportunity to make their arts recogni$able to the people in this country, since musicals are
entertainment triple threat% they combine acting, singing, and dancing in a performance.
&ven though musicals are such a complete package of entertainment, there is no
guarantee that producing them will make huge benefit. 'e have seen some shows doing
great, while others struggling and becoming flops. Many factors are involved in how the
show will do, from the tiniest aspect like technical issues to a bigger frame, like the critics (
view towards the show. In our opinion, this does not change the fact that musicals have
important roles for both the talents and the audience. "hus, musical theatre in Indonesia
should be embraced to support local talents, preserve traditional culture, and promote
moral values in society.
In developing a musical, the actors who originate the characters become an integral
part. "hey have to be able to sing, dance, and act at the same time, since musicals
combine three of them together in a performance. "he talents are hard#working people.
"hey have to be fully committed and passionate about their )ob in order to survive in this
industry. "hese criteria mostly define the ethics of Indonesian artists. Some may not seem
to have these criteria, with all the instant success from winning a singing competition and
making a one#hit wonder, but some others may have them. In *++,, the first singing
competition in Indonesia was held% Popstars. It became such a huge hit that many
television producers decided to make other singing competitions as well, such as kademi
Fantasi Indosiar -FI., Indonesian Idol, /ontes 0angdut Indonesia -/0I., and many more.
&ach year, the number of people who auditioned for these competitions keep growing. It is
a proof that people in this country have the talent, at least for singing and dancing. Plus,
while competing in the show, all of the contestants are trained musically by professionals
in the music industry. Most of the contestants fade away from stardom once the
competition is over, though. Music industry is still a business, no matter how talented these
people are. "hey have these hidden talents and musical theatre is a way to make them
shine. For e1ample, in 2nited States, where most of these singing competitions originated,
many people who came out of them end up on 3roadway, the representation of the highest
level of commercial theatre in the &nglish#speaking world. "o name a few of merican Idol
alumnus, Fantasia 3arrino -season , winner. starred in the 3roadway production of fter
Midnight, 4onstantine Maroulis -season 5 si1th#place. starred in five different production of
musicals on 3roadway, and 4lay iken -season * runner#up. starred in the musical
Spamalot and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. "his actually sets a great
e1ample of how these talents can be embraced.
6ot only the actors, creating a show also involves many parties with different skills.
"he people who take charge in building the shows are the producer, director, book writer,
music composer, and choreographer. "he talents who play in the show, are of course, the
actors. Some shows have additional dancers and singers as well. 6ot to forget the people
who work on the technical 7ualities of the show, such as scenic designer, costume
designer, lighting designer, and sound designer. 8ne show can recruit less or more than a
hundred people. Musical theatre has such a high production value that it can boost these
talented people to show their skills and best performa.
'ith easy access to e1plore and develop talent that people have, musical theatre
artists in Indonesia has made their own space to create their art by making communities,
and on a professional level, independent companies. "hey built these 9spaces: based on
their love and appreciation toward performance art. "hey periodically hold musical pro)ect
to keep their art alive. From time to time, slowly but steady, they established their name to
be recogni$able and introduce musical theatre to a whole new audience at the same time.
2ntil now, one of the most well#known musical theatre communities is ;akarta 3roadway
"eam.
Musical theatre can play an important role in supporting local talents, but it also
plays an even bigger role in preserving traditional culture. 8ne of the popular shows that
has successfully done heritage preservation through musical theatre production is
/umiodori, a ;apanese performance art based upon traditional 8kinawan music and
dance. 3esides, /umiodori dramas also recount local history and ma)or events happening
in the past era. nother show that plays this role, and interestingly does it with Indonesian
culture, is the stage adaptation of 0isney movie that has been playing on 3roadway for
si1teen years, "he <ion /ing. "he story was based on the biblical tales of ;oseph and
Moses and the Shakespeare play !amlet, being interpreted as the story of lions and their
kingdom in frica. &ven though the story takes place in frica, the production is inspired by
Indonesian culture. ;ulie "aymore, the director and costume designer of the show, stated
that the costumes, masks, and puppets in the 3roadway version of the <ion /ing were
heavily influenced by the Indonesian arts of wayang kulit -shadow puppet. and topeng
-masked dance#drama.. "hroughout the show, details and techniques in traditional
Javanese art performances are applied. "his shows )ust how much potential Indonesia
actually has, in relation to its rich arts and culture.
Most musicals, from past to present, use folklore as their storyline. Some great
e1amples are 0isney musicals such as "he <ittle Mermaid, 4inderella, and Snow 'hite
and the Seven 0warfs. Indonesia, on the other hand, has many folklores and legends
ready to be told. In this modern era, people might be concerned on how to keep these
stories alive, to preserve them for many generations to come. Musical theatre can be the
alternative way to do the role. Since musical theatre production is very detail when it
comes to staging, not only folklores can be preserved, traditional culture can also be
preserved, too. 'ill it still sell for the audience= 8ther professional theatre in other
countries have turn their folklore into stage adaptation, some even achieve huge success
with them and become long running shows. 'ith the right story telling, they will become
cultural treasure in the future.
'ith the emergence of musicals from other countries to Indonesia, some local
production house have made the initiative to turn Indonesian folklore to the stage version.
"he most recent adaptation is the production 9Siti 6urbaya -/asih "ak Sampai.: by
/harisma production. "he show was staged last month -pril *+>?., being held for two
shows # matinee and night show. 0enny Malik, a legendary dangdut singer, took charge as
art director in the production. !e e1plained that the concept had been made for two years,
and he finally got the call to stage it once he reali$ed foreign culture had made an entrance
to our country and interfere with ours too much. !e used this opportunity to tell the folklore
to a much larger audience while making sure the details in this stage version adapts
traditional cultures, such as for the costumes and properties. nother show that was
inspired by folklore is Musikal <utung /asarung, produced by 0idi Petet in *+>>. 3ringing
folklore to a bigger audience gives the opportunity for our nation to introduce traditional
culture to the world as well. n Indonesian musical show once had the chance to do it,
which was Musikal <askar Pelangi -@ainbow 'arriors.. Musikal <askar Pelangi was a
novel adaptation of the same title by ndrea !irata. In *+>>, the musical stepped on the
international stage in &splanade "heater, Singapore. 2nder the direction of @iri @i$a, the
musical received mostly positive critics and reviews. "he success of this musical proves
Indonesian shows, with the traditional culture and local values, are internationally
accepted.
Stephen Sondheim, a legendary merican composer, once said, 9Good theatre
teaches:. "heatre, from time to time, has been used to deliver message on purpose to its
audience. It has the same impact to Indonesia. Indonesia has been introduced to theatre
since a long time ago, even before its independence. It was used as a tool to fight colonies
and as a media to 9speak: to our people. "heatre makes people think, debate, and not
forget.
3ased on history, musical theatre has a significant impact in promoting moral values
in society. Promoting moral values to younger audience, however, is not an easy )ob to do.
"hey need something they can relate to. 8ne local show that had tried to do this was
8nropA, a musical directed by ;oko nwar. ;oko nwar is a famous Indonesian filmmaker
who is known for his critics through his movie. !e tried another way to do it, which was by
making a musical theatre. 98nropA:, spelled backward as 9porno:, tells the tale of people
living in 8nrop island, a place where people are being punished for doing pornographic
action. "he writer delivers many critics on our countryBs perspective towards pornography
through brilliant lyrics and dialogues. nother shows delivering good values to the younger
audience, specifically to the kids, were 8peret 3obo and Petualangan Sherina. 3ack in the
early *+++s, they were acknowledged for becoming kids#friendly entertainment. I had the
privilege to watch these musicals when I was a kid, and they were the kind of
entertainment kids want to see. Packaged by stellar cast and uplifting score, they received
good critics from the audience for delivering good values while being an entertaining
shows.
Musical theatre production is a show business, after all. 'hen you see production
like 93uto, the musical: failing before it even started, no one can be blamed. "here is an C
factor in every production # whether the production house, the book, the score, the actors,
the audience, the promotion, the timing # it could be anything. 8ne of the e1ample was
3uto the musical. It was directed by ;oko nwar, the director who also did 8nrop. 'hile
8nrop had a successful run, 3uto did not, unfortunately. It had the potential to be the first
musical with a long#running period -it was going to be held for a month., but due to
technical problem, the show could not go on before it had the chance to open. "he C factor
could also be the production budget, since producing a show costs five to seven million
rupiahs per production. It also takes a long time to be developed, three to five months the
shortest. "hose months are only spent for rehearsals. "he writing could take years to be
done. Des, it is a very long road to produce a show out there # not only it is complicated,
but it also does not guarantee the production will be a huge hit. It can be a failing show.
&ven though a show is good and receive many nominations, it still can be a flop. Musical
theatre needs dedicated people, big budget, and a long period of time to be developed.
!owever, the benefits of creating musical theatre can overcome these potential troubles.
In conclusion, embracing musical theatre in Indonesia is an important step to do for
the future of performance art in our country. It has many beneficial impacts% supporting
local talents which are many in Indonesia, preserving IndonesiaBs rich culture, both
traditional and modern, and promoting moral values throughout the country. Musicals are
hard to develop, since it relates to the show business a lot, but it has greater impacts than
the trouble that may come along the way.