Hello local guides! I am musical theatre nut living in Singapore.
Any musical theatre fans out there??
If so, and you are visiting Singapore, we do have an arts scene that includes musicals, and a wide variety of theatres to watch them in.
Here are some tips about four of the larger theatres we have in Singapore: ambience/ sound quality to expect in each of them, how to get tickets, what sort of seats to choose, and recent shows.
The list below is by no means exhaustive, but it covers the four larger theatres within which professional musicals are held here in Singapore. There are also many smaller theatres and black boxes where excellent musical theatre is put up on a smaller scale. But we’ll look at these larger ones first.
- Esplanade Theatres on the Bay: 3600 seater residing in the building that looks a lot like a durian, which is a smelly fruit that most Singaporeans love. The building has lovely views and faces a body of water.
The theatre itself is a huge, very grand affair. You will need opera lenses/ binoculars if you are sitting in the seats farther to the back, or up in circle 2 or 3 if you want to see performers on stage clearly. If you are going up to the circles, your entrance will be directly at the set of long escalators closer to the open performance area of the main foyer.
This theatre is usually used for large scale musicals, both touring and local. Recently, we had an amazing performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, which granted, was a play, was extremely captivating. Last year the Esplanade Theatres also put up Forbidden City, which is a long time musical favourite in Singapore. And the year before that, Les Miserables was one of the shows that played here.
Ticket brief here: https://www.esplanade.com/visitor-guide/buying-tickets
PRO TIP: For those who like to get autographs of performers, stage door culture isn't very big here in Singapore unfortunately. However, there are some, and Esplanade has one. It is at the Mezzanine level of Esplanade, to the right of the box office.
- Mastercard Theatre at Marina Bay Sands (Grand Theatre): This is another very large theatre seating a little over 2000 people. Most world touring musicals seem to set up shop here for the period of time that they are in Singapore. It does not have as cozy a feel as Esplanade, and the sound balance can sometimes be a little off. E.g.: vocals get drowned out by the band.
Similarly, you will need opera lenses/ binoculars to see the actors on stage if you are sitting further back in the stalls or up in the grand circle or the dress circle.
Earlier this year, Evita was played here with the South African cast which was a stunning affair. Also, Sister Act and West Side Story were played here last year.
Tickets can be booked here: https://www.marinabaysands.com/entertainment.html#shows or bought from the Sands Theatre Box Office (Level B1 of Marina Bay Sands)
PRO TIP: There is also a stage door here, but it is slightly more hidden and difficult to get to. This is slightly old, but gives a rough guide of how to find your way there: http://roadtophantom.tumblr.com/post/58929703031/marina-bay-sands-grand-theatre-stage-door
- MES Theatre at Mediacorp: The newest of the large theatres, seating 1500 people. Unlike the above two theatres, this theatre is a little ways farther out from town and the usual tourist spots. It is closer to an health/industrial area, so that may not be so convenient for some visitors. I watched the Addam’s Family here last year. The management was slightly overboard with bag checks, requiring guests to leave anything edible (including breath mints) or drinkable (including water) on the table outside the theatre. I am not sure if their policies have changed since then. The overall feel of the inside of the theatre is modern, however it gives a slightly cold vibe of a school auditorium, with acoustics that felt similar. It may have been teething issues that they were experiencing during the show, with music drowning out actor’s voices at quite a few parts.
Tickets can be booked through Sistic, or from the box office outside the main theatre entrance.
- Drama Center: This theatre is housed in the main National Library Building. It is very central and accessible. It is cosier, seating 615 people. It’s a rather “vertical” theatre with a modern vibe. It has a short section of stalls and two circles. Your entrance to seats will determine which floor of the library you go to in order to enter the theatre doors.
This theatre hosts many local plays and musicals, and other local, experimental performances. The acoustics here are good. The most recent performance I watched here was Fun Home by Pangdemonium. The music was beautiful, and the voices were carried very well even to the farther seats.
Shows and tickets can be found here: https://www.dramacentre.com/events/events-calendar/ or their box office on level 3 of the National Library Building.
PRO TIP: If you are getting the cheaper (especially the balcony/circle) seats, be careful not to select the first row, because there is usually a safety railing that will obscure your view of the stage (unless you are an exceptionally tall individual). Leaning forward will help a little, but 1. You don’t want to be leaning forward for 2hrs, and 2. If you lean forward, you will inevitably obscure the view of audience members in the row behind you.
I hope this is useful! Please do add on if I've missed anything, and let me know if there are anything else you'd like to know.
Enjoy!
#singaporelocalguides
2022
