Sometimes the best story telling is not about having the most elaborate props or costume, but an engaging story teller and what makes it more surreal if the story was narrated by the author herself.

It was probably THE most memorable one hour story telling session that we ever had since we have been visiting the theatre for more than 5 years.

Frankly as I am doing the pre- event blog, I did try to research and how Julia Donaldson will present her stories with her cast of 5 which includes her husband and her sister. How would it differ from the other shows from her books that we have been watching thus far? But besides the once in a lifetime opportunity to meet Julia Donaldson, I wasn’t quite sure if the show will be as entertaining as the typical shows that we used to watch.

The set of simple, 3 boxes and 2 big panels , and to watch how cleverly all the props, scenes and costumes for the 5 stories cleverly used and reused by the Julia and the cast was simply astounding.

Gruffalos, Ladybirds and Other Beasts with Julia Donaldson is one show that kids growing up reading her book should NOT missed.

The cast started by introducing the stories that will be featured in the one hour long performance / story telling and introduced Julia Donaldson, her husband and her sister. I have heard that Julia has musical background and they started the show with the song Funny Face. (after the show, I not only need to buy her books but her music cd too, the last I search I do find them at bookdepository)

The first story was Jack and the Flumflum tree. The kids and I are not familiar with this story but the storyline was typical Julia’s Donaldson style . Each cast including Julia played different character of the story and it was word for word coming out from her book. (I can’t attest for Jack and the Flumflum tree as I had not read this story but for the rest like a story teller reading the books but with songs, actions, props and costumes). Next , was What the ladybird heard. And the cardboard animals were placed through out the stage and each and every word that I read to my kids at night I could hear it being dramatized by the cast and Julia as the main story teller.

what the ladybird heard

Then, 6 kids were called upon from the floor to be the dragon students in ZOG and C bravely went up to become of the one of the dragons. It must be a dream come true to be sharing the stage with Julia Donaldson (at one point she was sitted beside Julia herself). I am sure she will remember this day for a long time to come.

that’s C in blue next to Julia

There was a puppetry in A Squash and a Squeeze and it was a musical performance throughout for this story with her husband on guitar.

A squash and a squeeze

Finally, the story and the character we’ve been waiting for….Gruffalo to end the unforgetable hour we spend with Julia Donaldson. It amazes me how an ugly creature created by Julia Donaldson can be so well loved by kids of all ages. With Julia in her mouse costume, she narrated the story and literally having the story come out of the book.

Julia as the mouse with Gruffalo

I have watched Gruffalo on stage where the story will be stretched to a 1 hour long performance and its not word for word from the book but what Julia did was what story tellers do, read word for word from the book. Would I say its less entertaining ? Obviously not, especially for younger kids with shorter attention span , the 15-20min performance per story was just perfect!

And Julia ended the show with another song, I would preferred that she and her cast did the Gruffalo’s song but she called 8 kids and did an action song. My girl was so entertained throughout the show that for the very first time she went “I want to watch this again”! And she also wanna meet Eric Carle (ok, darling that abit too difficult) My boys too were eager to meet Julia outside to have autograph on our Julia Donaldson’s books.  Even as a adult I was very entertained and honoured to meet Julia in person having read so many of her stories to my kids. I am definitely inspired to be a better bed time story teller to my kids.

You can also purchase Julia Donaldson’s book from Closetful of books before or after the show and have Julia autograph on them too!

Victoria Theatre
Thu, 19 – Sun, 22 Jan 2017 (only 8 performances)

• Thu:3pm, 6pm
• Fri:3pm, 6pm
• Sat:11am, 4pm
• Sun:11am, 4pm

Tickets are now available at any SISTIC outlet, the official SISTIC website at, or at the hotline 6348 5555. Prices range from $42 to $62.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All photos except the photo of my kids and the story book are credited to ABA productions. 

Media invite

Since Spartan Race came to the shores of Singapore in Nov 2015, they have organised obstacles based race for adults and kids. My kids finally attended their first spartan junior race and it was 3rd kids edition since its inception.

You can read more about the background of the Spartan Race in my earlier blog post

For the 4 years old, it will be a 0.5km with challenges through the route. For the 5 to 10 years old, it is a 1km route with around 10 challenges. For kids between 11 to 13 years old, they have the 2km route with more challenges and are competitive in nature , hence the top 3 finishers will be awarded. I signed up my kids for the mixed categories 5-7 years 1km.

You might ask me how did I prepare my kids for the race. As the race distance is a mere 1km for their race categories, and my kids have been tested on 5km races before, I was sure the distance would not be an issue. However, I would ensure that my kids are prepare for height challenges. I have seen playground structure like spiderweb, if your kids can climb up and down without fear, there isn’t much challenge that will faze them during the race.

What I did before race was to bring them for a rock climbing session to overcome any fear of heights especially for C as she has not done any rock climbing before or climb very high. This is not a necessity  but for me after the rock climbing session, I was assured that my girl will not fear height-based challenges if any.

Back to race day, I opted for an afternoon session on day 1 which happened to be a public holiday. It rained in the morning and the race was delayed for the morning session due to the rain. The afternoon session were unaffected and at some point in time the sun was bright and sunny. The race pack collection was on the same day and it was very smooth especially if you have already filled up the indemnity form before the collection.

Thereafter , my kids were all raring to go dressed in their Spartan tee and the awesomely cool head band. As we were advised to arrive 1 hour before our race timing, we did have some waiting time as we arrived early to the Yio Chu Kang stadium which was the venue for this edition. There was no delay to the start time as my kids were anxious to race.

In order to ensure that there is ensure space to run and tackle the challenges, each race categories were flagged off in waves. I reckon based on my observation each wave has approximately 30 kids.

For our 1km route, there was only 1 challenge were the kids needed to line up and wait for their turn as it is the most difficult and time consuming challenge, hence a bottle neck of sort. Other than that, there is no need to wait to attempt the challenges. As you can see later in my pics, there isn’t much photo of J as once we pass the half way mark of 0.5km,  he ran off to complete the other challenges on his own while I “ran along” side C to encourage and ensure she complete her challenges.

For difficult and height based challenges, there are many “coordinators” to assist the kids who are “struggling” and to ensure the safety of the kids. For parents who are worried that the kids may get injured while climbing etc, rest assured, the safety of the kids are of the utmost importance as the organiser has placed many “coordinators” especially for difficult challenges.

Parents are allowed to race along side for the younger warriors esp the 4 year old category and the 5 and 6 years old in the mixed categories.

I shall share the pictures of the race so y0u have an idea of the challenges throughout the 1km route. Of course different races will have different obstacles , but this will give you a fair idea.

That’s the finishing line of the Spartan Junior Race as the little warriors run, jump, cross over the “fire” logs !

AROO! my little Spartan warriors

My kids have attended many sporting events, from the ever popular Cold Storage Kids Run to 5km Marathon like the Tom & Jerry Run and the DC Justice League Run. When I heard it was a “mere” 1 km, I thought it will be another fun run for them , but boy was I wrong.  The race encourages kids to jump, run, get muddy, help each other, and have a good time while conquering obstacles. It is not about completing the race in the fastest timing but to attempt and complete all obstacles.

There were times when C gave up such as the gunny sack challenge and she was falling each time she hop or when she threw to rice sacks saying its too heavy to carry but I am glad she persevere and complete the challenges and race!

To compare with other kids run held in Singapore, the Spartan Junior Race is indeed one of its kind. It is about pushing your limit and when the tough gets going, you shouldn’t just throw the towel!

As for J, I didn’t witness the remaining of his race but he said that he overcame all the challenges easily and was extremely proud to complete  all in good time.

If there is one critic I had to made about the race, I wish there was more dirt and mud. Urban kids in general (C especially) are “fearful” of mud and dirt. If you see the US edition of the Spartan Kids race on youtube , you will notice there is much more dirt and mud as Spartan Race is also about embracing discomfort.

After watching my kids complete the race, I am so inspired to do it myself. For their age and size, it wasn’t an easy race even though it was easy for me just running along side them and watch as they tackle the obstacles. If there is one lesson I learnt when I joined my kids recently for their rock climbing session, it is easy to watch and critic but once I experience it for myself, I realised what the kids had achieved is not an easy feat. I am sure that I will not be able to do it as well as the kids and may even give up on some obstacles.

As for myself, as I am gearing up my fitness for the GE Women’s Run in mid Nov, I am stepping up on my fitness so that I can attempt for the adult edition in due course.I am all in for the next adult edition (probably not the Bintan race as it is too soon and it requires me to travel). I am hoping the organiser will do a Stadium edition (3km) for beginners and fitness newbie like me, I reckon a Sprint edition (5km) on adult course will be too daunting for me!

Taken out from their website:

3 facts you may not know about The Magic Paintbrush

1. It was based and inspired by a popular Chinese folk tale
2. It was first staged in 2000 at the old Drama Centre and now back at  the Drama Centre at the National Library
3. It was one of the first musical incorporating puppets back then

I purchased the book at the door and had a quick read through with my kids covering the gist of the books as the book is too wordy for my 3 and 5 year old. This beautifully illustrated story book is also a colouring book where kids can add their own colour using paintbrush if they like or just colour pencils or crayons.

The only deviation from the book was the main character was a boy called Tony Lee, and in the production, they decided to cast it as a girl named Toni Lee. It was set in modern Singapore whereby the expectations of the parents were high where success if measured not by talent but sheer hardwork. As Toni was mugging for her exams, her mind wandered after reading the story “The Magic Paintbrush”. A Magic Paintbrush came alive and granted Toni a wish and transported her to the southern province in Ancient China. She became Ma Liang, the character in the story. When she was gifted a Magic Paintbrush by an Old Man, she could paint anything and it will come to life. So she went and painted for food and items needed by the poor farmers and become the hero of the village. The greedy Emperor heard of Ma Liang and her Magic Paintbrush and ordered the palace guards , Sotong and Shrimp (who provided most of the slapstick comedy through this production) to capture Ma Liang so that she c0uld paint him all the gold and riches of the world. I shall not delved on further on how it ended but at the end, there is a strong moral message of the danger of abusing power and the value of creativity and of friendship.

and 5 reasons you should not miss this wonderful production.

1. One of the strongest cast in a I Theatre production

If you have been watching children’s productions for years like yours truly, you would be familiar with Dwayne Tan and Tan Shou Chen. I first saw Dwayne Tan 5 years ago in SRT’s Jack and the Beanstalks, (my first ever children theatre) . An ex Singapore idol alumnus, there is no denying his singing powess and his acting skills. In fact, back in the 2000, he was casted as Toni/Ma Liang. For this year’s production he plays the Magic Paintbrush and the Old Man.

And Tan Shou Chen who was last seen at SRT’s Treasure Island and he totally nailed the character of the very demanding father to Toni Lee and the very greedy and evil Emperor of China. In most production, the evil and the bad characters are the most memorable, which is clearly the case as well.

2. The most beautiful set of props and costumes

I shall let the photos do the talking.

3. Mixed of puppetry and luminous props

They have also incorporate luminous props  as part of the musical, a reminiscence of their prior production, Little Star which has captivated the younger audiences.

There were also 3 main puppets used throughout the productions, The Magic Paintbrush,  Madam Hoang, the phoenix and the Chicken which blend in seamlessly with the cast. Some of the cast played both the actor and also the puppeteer, truly versatile.

4. Beautiful written musical scores and catchy tunes

Reaching for a shining star
Working for a world so far
Looking for a place to call
My home at last.

Striving for a heart that’s true
Searching for the peace you knew
Hoping for a future better than your past

sung by the main character, Ma Liang, so heartfelt and bring up the emotions

And there was even a comical song about “taxes” by Sotong and Shrimp, I am sure my kids don’t have an inkling about taxes but the adult audience do very well. I really hope that I Theatre will complied the songs from this production into a CD so that theatre goers can bring back the songs after watching.

5. Truly something for the young (as young as 3) to old

There is slapstick comedy for the very young who will be wildly entertained by the antics of Sotong and Shrimp , the palace guards.  And for the older crowd like me or even grandparents , the cast has incorporated Cantonese in some of the dialogues much to my amusement.

And this is the bonus reason why we should bring kids to the theatre not just The Magic Paintbrush but children’s theatre in general – shared by Little Day Out with I Theatre. http://www.littledayout.com/2015/03/12/10-reasons-why-you-should-head-to-the-theatre-for-your-next-little-day-out/

As it is a 1 and a half hour production with a 15 minute interval, do ensure you bring some snacks during the interval as it is a tad longer than the usual productions that we had watched. The queue at the cafe was quite long during the interval so it is best you pack some snacks for the younger kids and some hot drinks at it is pretty chilly in the big theatre.

Do not miss this very special final production for 2016 for I Theatre as they commemorate their 15th year anniversary. Thank you for enriching the children in Singapore for the past 15 years and for my family, some of the most memorable productions we had attended to date – The Ant and the Grasshopper (2014, and it is back as the first production for 2017, yay! ) and Jewel in the Tale (2015) and of course we have added The Magic Paintbrush to the list as well.

The Magic Paintbrush
Presented by I Theatre
Dates:

Thu, 27 Oct – Sat, 12 Nov 2016
27 0ct 2016 till 30 Oct 2016
Thu – Fri: 10.30am & 2.30pm
Sat & Sun: 11am & 2.30pm

1 Nov 2016 till 12 Nov 2016
Tue & Thu: 10.30am & 2.30pm
Wed & Fri: 10.30am
Sat: 11am, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Sun: 11am & 5pm

Venue: Drama Centre Theatre, Drama Centre Theatre, Level 3 National Library Building, 100 Victoria Street, Singapore 188064

Recommended for three year olds and above
Ticket prices: $32 (excluding booking fee)

Tickets available from SISTIC.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. All photos except the photo of my kids and the story book are credited to I Theatre.