VICTOR/VICTORIA Asian Premiere Opens 11/9

Zebra Crossing Singapore raises the curtain for the Asian premiere of acclaimed composer and conductor Henry Mancini’s VICTOR/VICTORIA at the Esplanade Theatre on November 9, 2009.  The show stars international jazz songstress Laura Fygi as Victor/Victoria, and Filipino theatre stalwart Jake Macapagal as King Marchan.

Zebra Crossing promises to recreate the Esplanade Theatre into a magical evening of swinging jazz, magnetic grooves, dazzling sets, lights and costumes reminiscent of 1930s Paris.  

“Victor/Victoria,” the 1982 musical comedy film was a remake of “Victor und Viktoria” penned by German screenplay writer Hans Hoemburg, and directed by Reinhold Schunzel in 1933.  The film starred Julie Andrews as Victor/Victoria, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, and John Rhys-Davies.

It was later adapted into a Broadway musical in 1995, which also starred Julie Andrews. Mancini and Frank Wildhorn wrote the music with book by Blake Edwards and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.

VICTOR/VICTORIA the musical was the last piece of music Mancini worked on before his death in 1994. He did not live to see the staging of the musical but that did not stop the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences from awarding Mancini the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. In his lifetime, he was nominated for an unprecedented 72 Grammy Awards, 18 Academy Awards, and 9 Golden Globe Awards.

The Asian premiere of VICTOR/VICTORIA is honored to be staging Mancini’s work with Singapore’s music maestro, and 2008 Cultural Medallion winner Iskandar Ismail conducting the 23-piece orchestra. 

The orchestra comprises multiple award-winning musicians, music composers, arrangers, conductors, and even music educators. Many are scholars at prestigious music colleges around the world such as the Berklee College of Music, and the Peabody Conservatory of Music. 

Singapore’s top drummer Tamagoh, who has traveled and performed around the globe was immediately drawn to VICTOR/VICTORIA as it allowed him the unique opportunity to play alongside other top-notch musicians such as Fygi and T’ang Quartet violist Han Oh. Oh has performed internationally with the Grammy award-winning Gnarls’ Barkley, AMERICAN IDOL, THE TONIGHT SHOW with David Letterman, Linkin Park, Jay Z, Michael Buble, and Josh Groban.  

Star trumpeter Ron King will be flown in from Los Angeles to be the lead musician for VICTOR/VICTORIA. Ron had previously played on THE TONIGHT SHOW with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live, 50^th Grammy Awards, and worked with Frank Sinatra, John Mayer, Alicia Keys, Michael Bolton, and Tony Bennett to name a few.

This Asian premiere of VICTOR/VICTORIA is directed by Loretta Chen, and produced by Felina Khong.

For more information, visit www.victorvictoria.com.sg.