Concerto!

As promised. The kiddies year-end concert at Early Years Playgroup for this year.

Theme of concert is Children of the World. Good news for the mommies is that we only had to prepare three screens as the backdrops because the screens used for Anna and the King last year are gonna be recycled as part of Hang Jebat's istana. Less to design and less to paint. :) The main screen is of 4 prominent landmarks of the world - Great Wall of China for the tanglung dance by the nursery kids, Taj Mahal for the Bollywood dance by the kindergarten kids; as well as the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy and the Eiffel Tower in France for the international medley they sing as a finale. The second backdrop is of a desert for the Cowboy/Western sketch cum sing-a-long and the final scenery is of a beachfront for the hula dance. The teachers also prepared 3-d cacti and coconut trees as props - very believable.

First up was the nursery kids doing the tanglung dance. Unfortunately, Khaleeq froze. He just stood there, stone faced.. heh heh heh .. Stage fright lah, mamat nih.. Took a little snippet of him doing nothing. if you are interested, click here for the link.
Then came Khadra's Bollywood dance. Fuyyoh!!! Check that booty shaking, dudes!! (Khadra's in the sexy green and pink number)

The Western sketch is of the cowboys riding their stick horses around a campfire and having a drink after. Then comes the cowgirls in their stick horses (some were pink horses!) and having a cuppa also.. At the end of the long ride, they have a little sing-song session of Country Road.

Next is the Hawaiian dance by the nursery kids PLUS the girls from the kindergarten class. Watch the snippet here!

Then, a little sketch set during the Sultanate of Malacca era, Hang Jebat has his dancing girls dance for him, Hang Tuah kills Hang Jebat and everybody's happy. Khadra is Melor, Hang Tuah's girlfriend from the jungles of Malacca. She even had a script:
"My name is Melor. Hang Tuah likes me!"
(She then doubled up as one of the dancing girls)

As a finale, they performed a medley of songs: Can Mali Can, Kookaburra and Frerre Jacques. Watch it here.

Oh, there was also the awards presentation where everyone got a prezzie. Khadra had an additional one for Best Overall Development for 4 1/2 year old. This is Khadra's last concert here as she'll be attending another school effective Jan 2008. Fear not though, I'll still be volunteering for the backdrop designs next year as Khaleeq is still gonna go there.. heh heh heh I hope he'll learn to control the stage fright by then!

-dillz blogging out-

Busy As A Bee!

Have been busy, people.. Mainly because that time of year is here yet again... I have been running around town to prepare / assemble / acquire / tailor costumes for the children's concert this coming 12th of December. Just like last year and the year before last, the kids will be performing their year-end concert as a finale, before school is out. This is truly an event that I look forward to every year. The theme this year is about Children of the World. They will be travelling around the world, showcasing the different cultures through songs, sketches and dances.

The costumes I need to prepare for Khadra are:
1. Sexy Indian costume for her Bollywood dance;
2. Cowgirl costume;
3. Customized "Kemban" for her role as Hang Tuah's gilfriend, Melor; and
4. Bikini set for her hula dance.

For Khaleeq:
1. A Chinese boy costume complete with the headgear with the braided hair and tanglung for his lantern dance;
2. Baju Melayu for his role as extras in the Hang Tuah sketch - orang kampung je; and
3. Swimming trunks for the hula dance.

Status update: So far, all have been obtained pending the tailored Melor outfit and Khadra's Bollywood skirt that had to be altered. These will hopefully be ready for pick-up this Sunday. Pheww!!

Also, just like previous years, I am officially the designated artist for the concert's backdrops this year. Not too many backdrops this year; just three new ones. And because of my pantang status, I am only designing and sketching the backdrops for other mommies to paint. (Who knows, I might just paint a little bit of it..) I'll definitely get a snap of my fruits of labour once it's done, okay?

Yes, I know I am still in my confinement... But, I make sure that I have my barut and socks on when I am doing all of the above, though.. After all, a mom's got to do what a mom's got to do, no?

-dillz blogging out-

Khadra's Concert

The long awaited and anticipated concert finally took place on December 13th, 2006. Khadra's supporters included Azrul, me, Khaleeq, Bibik Parmi, Mek, Ewa, Kira, Naqib and Teyta. We had to send Khadra at 3.30pm to allow for makeup and such. The guests came in at 4.45pm. As I mentioned in an earlier post the show is entitled "Famous Musicals".

Khadra had four sets of outfit for the show. ONE: A dress she picked out from Carousel for the Sound of Music:

Updated: Khadra singing Tomorrow!

TWO: A tattered set of clothing for Oliver Twist and a black baseball cap (as below). I went around looking for pants and t-shirt that could be sent off for edging. That basically means that the edges will be ripped and I didn't want her Osh Kosh be ripped apart as such. So, I finally found a pair of pants at Carrefour for RM19 and a t-shirt from Jusco for RM6. When I got home, I diligently sew on patches on her t-shirt and pants so that she'd look like an orphan from Oliver's.

THREE: A custom made Thai princess costume for The King & I. This particular costume was tailor-made by the teachers at school. FOUR: A kebaya for her Tiru Macam Saya and Waktu Semalam Bung.

I can't for the life of me remember each and every song that she sang in the show but she really sang each one of them wholeheartedly. I could hear her voice distinctly every time and her expression is just so priceless. Even Marlia Musa commented that she loved Khadra's expressions. (Yes, her kid goes to the same school as Khadra) Here's a little sneak peek on her Tiru Macam Saya on youtube, courtesy of Kira. Just let the whole thing load up first before you actually play it one shot, okay?

During the Awards presentation, Khadra won the Best Artist award and us lot got a bouquet of flowers for helping out with the backdrop. :) Later, there were lotsa food for everyone. Everybody goes home a winner, and I can't wait for the next concert preparation!

-dillz blogging out -

Creative Cats

I just had to share these pictures with you.

Khadra had her annual concert on 13th of December last year and the whole show was themed 'Famous Musicals'. So, the mommies and the daddies were invited to come over to her school to help with painting of the backdrops for the show. There were 7 screens to paint in total. 1 screen for Oliver Twist + 3 screens for Anna & the King + 3 screens for Sound of Music. So, I came by one sunny day and I was told that the teachers needed me to design the backdrop and draw it on the 9 feet by 6 feet gigantic plywood screens. (They were obviously impressed by my creative trees in the last year's concert heh heh heh) Great! I'd LOOOOVE to! ;)

So, here are my favourite two screens, one picture shows the inspiration of the design and beside it is the final outcome!

From Anna & the King:  

From Sound of Music:

The backdrops were painted in by the other parents and teachers but the finishing was mainly done by yours truly. You know, the shading, the borders, the 3-d effects and other details. Of course, I also had help from my hubby and Kira. We came in a few Saturdays before we were finally pleased with the results. Kira did the details on the Siamese grand entrance and Azrul's proudest masterpiece is the hilltop drawing from the Sound of Music.
(see below)

Turned out rather nice, didn't they?

-dillz blogging out-