No pandemic will stop them from setting the stage on fire with young talent. Coming soon, Forkbeard: A Viking Musical Odyssey.
By Rachel Yeoh
Flashback to more than a decade ago—it would seem like musicals were only staged by affluent schools in Penang. Go back a few more years, and you’ll find that musicals that engage youth are a rarity, possibly a myth.
It took one woman, her team of supportive friends, self-realisation, and courage to start a musical theatre production house in a land not quite her own, but one she loves nonetheless.
Dr. Nancy P. Jenster, PhD arrived on the paradise island of Penang in 2013, expecting to enjoy a blissful retired life after a hectic stint in China. Alas, her heart didn’t let her stay idle for long. Soon, the music she composed from yesteryears and story plots she wrote resurfaced like a constant nagging in her head. Coming from a musical family, she knew she had to do something.
Having been a leadership consultant in the latter part of her professional career, Nancy knew that she had something to offer to the talented youths of Penang. Her first production, Abbie and the A Team, in 2018 proved that teens and young adults had so much to offer to the theatrical scene in Penang.
Simple, fun, yet profound. The cast of Abbie and the A Team getting into formation.
In 2019, she staged One Minute to Midnight, a musical that drew a significant crowd that marvelled at the colourful costumes, catchy tunes, and a script with a global purpose.
After running two shows, the growing team evolved to be a close-knit community, and in 2020, she started MYTH Productions. MYTH is an acronym for Musical Youth Theatre Happening, built on a goal to bring more attention to engage youth aged fourteen and above to performing arts. The team believes that coaching them during their formative years will build their confidence, producing good self-esteem that will make for a healthier society in the future.
Is another performing art production house needed?
For one so niche and focused on building intrinsic values among youth with family engagement, Nancy is certain that formalising her involvement in theatre in Penang through MYTH Productions will enable them to collaborate more easily with government and non-government bodies.
Small budget? No problem.
Music rehearsals at Nancy’s home with the One Minute to Midnight cast.
MYTH Productions is not looking to recreate complicated and expensive stage shows. Instead, they value the use of their own material and craft. They draw on private resources and investments, sometimes rallying support from public entities like government organisations. Members of the production have also been generous, with their families (since most are still in their teens) aiding though transportation, costumes, and other minor, but essential, facets of putting on a musical.
Stuck Between One Movement Control Order and Another
Ah, but wait — hasn’t 2020 been a curse to stage performances across the world? Has MYTH been reduced to being a myth during the global pandemic?
After a successful run in Dublin pre-Covid (which was also Nancy’s first foray into staging a musical), MYTH Productions was set to showcase a clash for power between two kings and their queens, weaving tragic love, greed, betrayal, and revenge—ingredients that will keep any audience at the edge of their seats.
But the first instalment of Forkbeard: A Viking Musical Odyssey came to a crashing halt right after full dress rehearsals due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18, 2020. Despite rescheduling dates for the show to go on, because it must, the uncontrollable nature of a highly infectious disease turned their efforts topsy turvy. Even sans musicals, the actors and crew stayed in touch, keeping each other in check and offering support when needed.
But 2021 is the year of promise as Forkbeard: A Viking Musical Odyssey is due to be staged from 30 September to 3 October in PenangPAC.
The turn of times has left a few “positions” vacant for Forkbeard: A Viking Musical Odyssey. MYTH Productions will be conducting auditions on 17 April at PenangPAC. Their eyes are on the lookout for young men of good physique aged 14 to 70, preferably with a background in combat and choreography. Singers and actors are also needed (both men and women). If you’d like to know more information about the auditions, head over to their Facebook page.
MYTH Productions is on a mission to inculcate talent and craft—and just like how it takes a village to raise a child, this team of talented directors, producers, costume and set designers, and publicity personnel is ready to set the stage ablaze with gutsy green talent.
Cover image by David ST Loh.
All photos courtesy of MYTH Productions.
A concoction of oxymoronic attributes, Rachel Yeoh is a lazy overachiever. She writes for a living and runs a homemade granola company. Always planning for something to do while procrastinating on her bed, she sometimes finds herself performing a little something-something in front of an audience.