EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Sugar & Spice with the Cast of Hansel and Gretel!

If I hear the words “Christmas is not fun”, I’ll immediately call you a liar, and maybe even pack you up and hand you over to actor Sebastian Tan, who plays the Wicked Witch here. He’ll gladly cook you in his pot of enchanting soup.

Yes, you’ve heard it right. Things are totally not normal, not what they seem, and have never been more interesting than this.

Seriously, what do you get when you take Hansel & Gretel, the well-known Brothers Grimm fairytale, and give it a comedic, family entertainment twist? You still get your Hansel & Gretel, but perhaps not quite the version you were expecting.

For one, this must-see Christmas pantomime, which kicks off next week from 22 November to 15 December 2012, is directed by celebrated actress Pam Oei of the Dim Sum Dollies.

It’s packed with fun, loaded with musical numbers and VERY local, staying true to W!LD RICE’s tradition.

With a story that goes something like, “I’ve got a new stepmother (Vernetta Lopez), and she’s a pop-star wannabe who dreams of going to Hollywood. Needless to say, she doesn’t like us very much,” the play follows twins Hansel (Dwayne Tan) and Gretel (Denise Tan), who are abandoned by their stepmother because of the family’s tight budget, while their henpecked father (Dwayne Lau) is far too smitten with his wife to stop her from sending his children away.

The siblings suddenly find themselves fending for one another in the jungles of Mandai, a place where all things strange happen, before stumbling upon the tastiest-looking house imaginable, owned by none other than the mysterious Wicked Witch (Sebastian Tan).

Indeed, that spells like total trouble!

This is where you’ll witness the siblings fighting for their lives as the Wicked Witch, who also happens to be a chef, goes searching for her missing ingredients. Them.

Along the way, they also meet other bizarre characters, including the spunky rapper Nicki Minah (Siti Khalijah Zainal), the Chef’s assistant who happens to be hiding a rather surprising secret identity.

Will their father make it in time to save his children, or even lend a helping hand? We’ll see!

But before we reveal too much about the plot, we couldn’t be more excited to chat with the cast, who were more than happy to tickle our fancy and put smiles on our faces in their own unique ways.

BREWING MISCHIEVES UNDER HER (HIS) SLEEVES

To get the ball rolling, we had to speak to Sebastian Tan. Best known for his hilarious Broadway Beng, the actor will be cross-dressing to play the Wicked Witch.

That alone is enough to cause quite a sensation, leaving us with plenty of burning questions for this incredibly funny and talented man.

Tell me more about your role as The Witch aka The Chef

Sebastian: She is a brilliant, eccentric, schizo chef Extraordinaire who lives somewhere in our deep deep local forest in a extraordinary house made of all our favourite Singaporean food! She has every secret recipe and ingredients she needs except for one or two….HANSEL AND GRETEL.

How is this role different from other roles that you have acted?

Sebastian: For one, I’m playing woman and although I had played a woman in 2 other shows (one was as a cross dresser and the other, a Queen), I should think this time as a chef with all the characteristics stated above, she’ll be quite different…but we’ll see…

Since you’re acting as the chef in this musical, do you cook in real life?

Sebastian: Oh yes I do, I love to cook!

If you can eat one local food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Sebastian: This is a cruel question! To choose ONLY one??? Impossible! Laksa? Chilli crab? Chicken rice?….

Did your interest in Broadway and acting start when you were young?

Sebastian: Not too young…I was forced into a story telling competition in kindergarten and hated it! It wasn’t until

I was 15 years old and took part in a school play and won ‘Best supporting actor’ in the inaugural ‘Young people’s theatre festival’ that I caught the acting bug.

Will you be directing any more musicals in the near future? Any hints about what’s next after this?

Sebastian: I would love to direct another musical. There are talks for me directing next year but we’ll see. My next show might be a play or movie but for sure, we are bringing back a brand new Broadway Beng show!:-)

What do you like to do during your free time?

Sebastian: Travel.

What’s the worst part about being an actor?

Sebastian: No one takes me seriously.

What’s the best part of being an actor?

Sebastian: No one takes me seriously.

Do you have anything to say to aspiring actors?

Sebastian: Don’t take it too seriously. Have fun! Live life! 🙂

GETTING TO KNOW GRETEL’S TALE

She may not act her age, but that’s exactly what makes audiences love Denise Tan.

Her affinity for theatre has shone through productions such as Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), Beauty World (Lulu), Fried Rice Paradise (Bee Lean), and even Sebastian Tan’s Broadway Beng.

Before we see her sporting two ponytails as little Gretel, we spoke to her about the role and, naturally, food.

Tell me more about your role as Gretel.

Denise Tan: This very Singaporean version of Gretel I play is a feisty tomboy with a sharp tongue and a soft heart. She cares deeply about her family and though is always bickering with her twin (though very different) brother, she’s very protective of him and is always ready to jump to his defence. She’s Garang, Gregarious and Greedy!

How is this role different from other roles that you have played?

Denise Tan: Well, for one, I’m playing a character who’s still in Primary School onstage, whereas off-stage, I left my schooldays behind decades ago!

And I’ve never played a twin before, but it’s great to always have that “twin support” and to have Dwayne Tan (Hansel) with me onstage all the time. Building a believable sibling relationship will be a new experience for me and I think that singing duets with beautiful harmonies all through the show will be a challenge that will pay off!

Do you take any reference from any young girl to make Gretel believable?

Denise Tan: I think I’m still very much the same girl was when I was Gretel’s age and I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to play the character, because of her personality, which is quite similar to mine!

But if I run into any trouble during rehearsals, I have a niece who is exactly Gretel’s age, whom I can take notes from!

This play is filled with food. What are your favourite local delicacies?

Denise Tan: Mee Pok Tah, Hiam Jio Juay, Cho Juay! I also have recently discovered killer beef rendang epok epok and I always enjoy a big plate of chicken rice (white, not roasted) every Sunday with my family. My mother’s Nasi Ulam, ayam buah keluak and Nyonya laksa are also faves.

What is your favourite part of this musical play?

Denise Tan: The food references, the snacking and the really fun musical numbers.

How was it like working with the other actors/actresses in this musical?

Denise Tan: Good fun, of course. Most of us have worked closely together before and because it’s a compact cast (only 6 of us), we have more time to bond. But ask me again later in the rehearsal process when the 15-30 children are added into the mix! It should be chaos, but in a good way! 🙂

Have you faced any challenges so far?

Denise Tan: It’s only day 2 of rehearsals, so no, not yet.

THE STEPMOTHER WHO LOVES TO SING

Last but certainly not least, we spoke to Vernetta Lopez, who’s stepped into the shoes of the evil stepmother, happily chasing her superstar dreams, preferably without the children around.

This is probably one of the few times you’ll see her embracing her selfish side, but we all know what a natural she is, especially since the glory days of Under One Roof back in 1994. (We were kids then!)

So let’s hear from her:

Hi Vernetta, have you ever played someone of the opposite gender?

Vernetta: Actually, yes! Cross dressing is more a man thing but I have had the pleasure of portraying Freud! This was on ‘Under One Roof’ where Paul was having a horrible nightmare in which Freud was expounding the very fear that Paul had; that his wife was wearing the pants in the relationship. In my book, ‘Memoirs of a DJ’ I describe how my makeup was cause for amusement for me on the day of the filming…. Other than that, I can’t remember playing anyone else of the opposite gender!

What is the strangest thing that a role has required you to do?

Vernetta: It would have to be Zero Hero where I had to act with 5 different husbands, and one of them was a dog! A real dog! And the other was a penguin! A fake penguin! And a Pierre Png! A real Pierre Png! And … you get the idea. It was very fun and most interesting trying to get a reaction from a toy stuffed penguin. He was most generous.

How do you memorise so many lines?

Vernetta: It starts with getting the gist of the scene, then its the flow of what happens logically, then its which line is just before mine and that acts like a cue, and finally the rest is about going over and over the script bit by bit until i end up memorising it!

Have you ever forgotten your lines, a prop or choreography during a performance?

Vernetta: It was during the Mr Kiasu play. I was acting as a twin weather girl and I totally blacked out and just couldn’t remember the lines! It was a terrible moment fluffing ang huffin’ and finally it came back to me! Awful.

Are there any local foods you simply can’t stand?

Vernetta: I can’t think of anything that I don’t like! I know there’s a fermented bean that’s a japanese cuisine that tastes like saliva. CanNOT take it! It’s terrible! Yecch!

Catch this must-see comedic musical at the Drama Centre Theatre from 22 November to 15 December 2012.

Tickets are priced from $39 to $69 and are available through SISTIC ticketing.

WE’LL SEE YOU THERE!