Crazy Christmas: Balls Of The Belles
Dream Academy
Capitol Theatre
Dec 7, 8pm
Theatregoers in search of festive merriment could always count on veteran theatre company Dream Academy’s year-end revue series.
But this Crazy Christmas – the first since 2020’s pandemic edition – was greeted with little more than muffled laughter, as the jokes felt undercooked and cliches overplayed.
Its opening conceit of debutante belles at a ball saw A-list cast members George Chan (Lady SlayBelles), Dwayne Lau (Lady DumbBelle), Andrew Marko (Lady Belle Curve) and Sebastian Tan (Lady Belle Ring) decked in hoop-skirt dresses and swaying around Selena Tan (Lady Belley Good), who also directed the show.
But what this variety show of disparate, well-costumed powerhouse acts suffered from was – aside from progressively tiring puns on bells and balls – a strong unifying conceit. The idea of the debutante ball was dropped after the opening act and revived only irregularly in an often trite manner.
Out of this patchwork gathering, it was Sebastian Tan – also known as Broadway Beng – who won hearts with his casual code-switching between English and Hokkien as an angel, belting I Ask Heaven from Taiwanese melodrama Love (2006 to 2011).
It was no surprise he endeared himself to the room, having concluded a spectacular golden jubilee show earlier in 2023. But what Broadway Beng’s effortless delivery emphasised was how the night’s scripted comedy segments were its weakest links.
Comedian Kumar’s extended stand-up set – written by blogger and scriptwriter Benjamin “Mr Miyagi” Lee – was unevenly paced and felt like a ramble through punchlines he had little affection for. A particularly baffling joke cheaply punned on the Margherita pizza and the margarita cocktail to little reaction.
Kumar, perhaps self-consciously, distanced himself from the humour: They were not written by him, he said, otherwise there would be a lot more sex.
His set, too, felt the most unintegrated with the rest of the show. He had practically no interaction with the other cast members and did not appear in the curtain call either.
Selena Tan’s comedy segment touched on the year’s political scandals, including the affairs of politicians and a controversy over good class bungalows. The topics might sound tantalising, but her jokes felt unnecessarily coy, given that social media had already had a field day with bolder takedowns.
It was left to the musical acts to entertain. A cappella group Vocaluptuous was off to a shaky start with its harmonies – owing perhaps to opening-night nerves – but soon recovered and serenaded the crowd with its lilting Christmas tunes.
When the entire cast came together in the final segment to perform a medley of festive songs, one finally saw what the heavyweight cast could have brought to a more cohesive set-up. The final song was brilliant. If only this could have been the case from start to finish.
Book It/Crazy Christmas: Balls Of The Belles
Where: Capitol Theatre, 17 Stamford Road
When: Till Dec 16, various times
Admission: $48 to $178
Info: str.sg/iqKe
