The show on the 5th at the Substation went ok and the question and answer session was very lively. Gillian's very glad that there are people who would choose theatre's works-in-progress over a cinema, karaoke and a fancy dinner. She's completely grateful there were many familiar faces present. She should've added this on the 6th but was still recovering from sleepless nights and have been busy rehearsing for other shows... So she has lazily plagiarised her facebook note.
"These people are amazing and beautiful so I consider myself very blessed. Unless I ever get amnesia or the like, I'll never forget any kindness and goodness I've been so fortunate to experience.
"Nothing can match the treasure of common memories" - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (1900-1944)
Last night was disorganised & a blur for me cos I hadn't really slept in two days. & because I lost my glasses. I apologise... Yet I recall the sweet kind souls who gave us your precious time although my piece "Tuesday Afternoon" really wasn't a big deal at all. Please forgive me if I left anyone out. Send me a message & I'll do a headstand for you. Or just buy you a drink if you prefer. Thank you all sincerely for spending your Saturday evening with me:
Andrea - thanks for all the love, patience, understanding & support
Ru - you were awesome; you saved me!
Adi - for the important notes I've yet to hear
Allen - for your kind words & sorry about your knees
Andrew - for wanting to even read the initial script
Audrey - without whom this wouldn't even be possible
Chun - for the lights, camera & more
Donovan - for thinking so highly of me (huh?) & bringing others
Eleanor & Julius - for hearing the rants & all our history together
Emilie - for your ernest presence from months before
Gret & Madeline - glad to see you after so long
Ivan - glad I can ignite a love for theatre in you
James - for sitting so close & bringing a friend
Jerry - for your support always & rushing down from Ikea
Jing - for your keen observations
Lawrence - great to see you again after so long & bringing a friend
Mahadi - for leaving Sentosa in time :-)
Peer - love watching, & now hearing from my peer
Terence - for arranging so much including the tables & chairs
Vincent - for the drink I didn't claim last night, screen husband
And those who weren't there but were actively involved:
Gaoju - for your valuable time & input
Hemang - for the help, input & insights from my first draft to submission to rehearsal to the camera
Keith & Bharati - for the radio interview, believing & helping to promote the arts
Mark & Shawn - my caring brothers who encourage (they won't admit it) my crazy ideas
My mom & dad - cos I'm alive, loved & inspired. I miss you papa.
Thank you all once again. Oh who am I kidding? I could never thank any of you enough!"
Wakey wakey! Keith DeSouza hosts the morning show on News Radio 93.8 FM from 6am to 10am everyday. And he is very sweet and gracious to invite Gillian on the show to talk about her first original play, "Tuesday Afternoon".
You can hear the interview at 7am on Friday July 4th. Who knows what it's about since it'll be live? :-) Gillian is flattered though she'd hardly consider her play news worthy at this point.
Just in case she isn't coherent in the morning, she wants to now thank a few friends like dear Nanda (Hemang Yadav) and Lee Gao Ju, and the good folks at Substation - Audrey, Terence and Chun. The script would still be a mere idea if not for them!
Gillian finally wrote her first theatre piece. Not for a corporate event, not for kids, not for any monetary benefit. Now why did she write it? She doesn't know. She just had to tell the story of... Zelda and Susan. Yes but not quite.
Growth, changes, choices and sacrifices. It's only 30 minutes and will be staged at the Substation (Armenian St) at 8pm on Saturday July 5th (just a couple days away!). She is honoured that the Substation has selected it to be part of their Test Tube event, a free works-in-progress showing, so it'll probably be a read rather than a performance.
After much thought, she's decided to title this short piece "Tuesday Afternoon". This is the write-up she sent to Substation:
"A long overdue visit from a friend brings back happy memories from the past. Yet it also reveals the inevitable and impending future she has to face. The gravities of time and life refuse to be ignored, in what would have otherwise been a regular afternoon."
(Aiyah, does it sound tacky?)
In episode 2, Bee Geok is a simple yet complex character who goes on a date with the lead of Channel 5's newest TV series, "Sayang Sayang".
You can watch Gillian as Bee Geok on channel 5 on June 11th 2008, Wednesday.
Yes and being a real Peranakan, Gillian had her own kebaya and sarong for this shoot. She is grateful to the team who thought of her while casting for the role of Bee Geok. The same team and director worked with her on "My Sassy Neighbour", where she played Lin, a Vietnamese girl who only knew the word, "yes"...
Gillian's friend and director, Jeremy Sing, has a film showing in an online film festival based in Japan. It is super 8mm film in the genre of a silent movie, but a little more quirky. There is a online system for voting and posting comments. So vote away! Thank you!
The title of his work is "The Girl in Red Sarong", and see if you can spot Gillian. View it on http://jp.con-can.com/watch/preview.php?id=20081118
She also recently hosted for UST and it was a fun experience. She'd like to thank Nicole for thinking of her and organising it so seamlessly! The rest of the team made it a blast. She hopes that the good people at UST had fun that Monday night and weren't having any hangovers the next day.
The last weekend for Gillian was a fun filled one working with friends. She was a nosy Nonya in the Peranakan Museum on May 10th and 11th, interacting with all the amused museum guests.
After her museum performance, she also did a little photoshoot which only lasted about an hour but the photographer, Bilal, managed hundreds of photos of the bubbly energetic punster in 3 outfits, including her traditional kebaya.
Keep a lookout for a possible photo gallery on this site. She will be glad to keep you informed by email. All you have to do is ask.
As a citizen of the large world we live in, Gillian was proud and honoured to be part of Three Men Productions' "Use", an empathetic and thought-provoking drama piece written by dear friends Hemang Yadav and Lee Gaoju. She burst into tears after the first rehearsal from the weight of the truths and emotions so many of us conveniently deny. "Use" was staged at the Post Museum on Saturday, May 3rd, for Migrant Voices' "Integrate" weekend event. Please visit migrantvoices.org to find out more about, and to support this unique arts society.
After gladly being used, she sang a little jazz and funk at a little cafe called Milk & Honey, on Binjai Park (in the vincinity of Bukit Timah) on Saturday. Gillian definitely couldn't have done it without James on keyboard, Eugene on guitar and Andrew on drums. The talented band plays with her other dear friend Jo who is the resident singer there. And she also wants to say thank you to Andrew for kindly drumming to her jokes.
Of course, she's grateful to Jo, Victor and Vicky for the gig and for dinner and continuous hydration. Last but not least, Gillian wants to say a big thank you to all the patrons and her friends who really livened up the place. She hopes to see you all again on June 7th, when she sings again!
The Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) is on again and Lucky 7, an experimental local feature is a film not to be missed. Made up of 7 segments by 7 different local film directors, Gillian plays May, the sister, in the 5th segment by Chew Tze Chuan. This feature, rated R21 without cuts for the SIFF screenings (expect censorships in general local theatrical release), is the brainchild of Sun Koh. You can find out more about Sun here.
It was already a hit at the Rotterdam Film Festival where it had its world premiere. Singapore definitely had a voice in the festival. Gillian forgets how Eric Khoo is involved but he was on set, and more recently he had her see it in his Zhaowei office one evening.
So visit lucky7.sg to find out more about Lucky 7 (Qi ying pian) by Sun Koh, K. Rajagopal, Boo Junfeng, Brian Gothong Tan, Chew Tze Chuan, Ho Tzu Nyen, and Tania Sng.
Gillian was recently hosting for Olay, American Express, HSBC and CAAS. Not only did her guests and she have a whole lot of fun, she learnt a lot about skincare, history, food, women's golf and the airport.
By the way, the new Terminal 3 in Singapore's Changi Airport is gorgeous. She's always loved airports for the limbo of being on the verge of change. The anticipation of a new adventure, the surreal sense of how small the huge world is, and the possibility of no impossibilities.
Anyhow, back to hosting. She managed to throw in some of her original jokes while at work and believe it or not, her guests loved them! She cracked them up all the way. Good thing there were no eggs in the audience. Someone once told her that she has a sincerity about the way she works as an Emcee (Master of Ceremony) and host. But honestly... why be insincere anyway?
While in LA, Gillian was very honored to be part of a short film called "The Black Rabbit" which was written and directed by Eric Dapkewicz and produced by Ray Richards. You can watch the trailer to see Gillian as Mei-li Wu.
The DVDs for the film are constantly sold out. The rave reviews are wonderful. It will make its big screen premiere at the International Film Festival England in June 2008.
So if you are in the vincinity between June 10th to 13th and wondering what to do, why not watch independent films? Try "The Black Rabbit" if you dare.
Better yet, spy on the next batch of DVDs to go on sale and you'd better be fast at grabbing your copy!
