Battle between inertia and exertion ( or stagnation and growth)

Imagine: dark heavy clouds, terrible traffic, no dinner, unknown locale, weary eyes and body after a long day of work, crowded transportation system, etc. You get the picture. Makes me want to go home and crawl into my bed and rest all night long. But do these all the days of your life and imagine again: stunted imagination, narrow perspective, and undeveloped mind. Yeah, yeah, exaggerated but this can happen to anyone who will choose not to expose oneself to the finer things in life (…and so the artists may say).

Good thing I decided to brave the dark clouds, fight the terrible crowd, subsist on a small siopao, and just rest my eyes and body for a minutes while waiting for the show to start Good decision to meet my mother at the MRT station instead of at the house since the need for rest might have tantalized my groaning body to just stay home and forget the free tickets my brother got for us. Good thing.

And so I was able to watch the musical “Beauty and the Beast.” The stage, creatively used with three wide screens flashing different images depending on the scene, and moving backdrop with beautiful depictions of the countryside and interior of an immense house, was enchanting. The characters, all in colorful and exquisite costumes, sang with beautiful voices. The lyrics, containing hilarious puns and modern allusion, were poetic yet not boring. The dance creations combined classic and contemporary steps that made the show interesting. The music, done live by a full orchestra, was quite hypnotic ( I am not only saying this because my brother was one of the violinists!). It was quite deceiving because it was quite perfect, making one think that the music was recorded.

Of course, the musical was not perfect. It was a preview show, I have to say. The characters might have been saving their energy for the grand opening the next day. Sometimes a singer did not reach a high note or sustain a long tune. Four sets of characters may not be doing a dance step at the same time. It was not perfect yet it was truly excellent. Especially for someone who has not seen a theater play for quite some time.

It was superb, superb in reminding me that I need to make an effort. It was a love story that admonished me to exert myself. I need this. For my own growth.