New Straits Times
15th June 2005

The tale of two friends, Joe and Suzie, striving to make their dreams come true, features a cast of 50 young and talented performers aged between eight 8 and 18, alongside guest artistes including actors Radhi Khalid, Tony Eusoff, dancer Peter Ong, Omar Arif, Sabrina Hassan as well as Sodhy herself. Playing Joe is 17-year-old Lim V Co while 16-year-old Sarah Lim plays Suzie.

Set in Kuala Lumpur, the show revolves around Joe who wants to be a pop singer and Suzie who dreams of becoming a famous ballet dancer. However, they cannot afford classes so they spend their free time after school outside the Stars of Tomorrow School of Stage and Screen on Jalan Impian.

Their destiny changes as they save the young daughter of the school principal from a gang of drug dealing thugs and the grateful principal rewards both of them with scholarships to the school, on the condition that they prove themselves in six months.

Things take a huge turn from there as the two friends struggle through dangerous obstacles while making new friends and enemies along the way as they get closer to realising their dreams.

At a recent preview the cast performed a lively rendition of Don’t Worry, Be Happy, I’ve Got Rhythm and a feisty performance of King of New York.

King of New York

The performances were so dynamic that the audience was awestruck by the dancing, singing and acting, especially the scene with the younger children.

“We taught these kids how to really feel the music and to just be happy when dancing, so it made it easier for them to learn the dance steps,” said Farah, a professional dancer and artistic director of several successful charitable musical productions including Dance Hysteria (2000), Broadway Babies (2001) and Dance Hysteria II (2004).

Sodhy was optimistic and extremely passionate about the musical; her eyes lit up as she spoke about the musical.

“Our theme for Jalan Impian is to show young people that they should never give up, should always hold on to their dreams and reach for the stars,” she said.

Sodhy, a founding member of the Instant Cafe Theatre Company said the show — based on the experiences of students at a professional stage school in Malaysia — will help promote the fluency of the English language among the participants and encourage more interest and participation in the arts while making them more confident and outgoing.

As an experienced speech trainer, Sodhy said she’ll ensure the younger cast members speak clearly, with good diction and intonation.

“Although it is mainly in English, we have incorporated other languages to give some authenticity to the show. It also promotes the values of friendship to young people.

“We wanted to give these children the opportunity to work and interact with professional artistes on and off stage as they get to learn more about real life in the entertainment industry and how to get along with different kinds of people,” added Sodhy.

Working with 50 children may seem like a colossal challenge, especially where time management is concerned but Sodhy said it’s all in a day’s work.

“We coordinate our rehearsals for the weekends from 2pm to 8pm on Saturdays; and 1pm-6pm on Sundays because these children have other obligations like school and family. Although the rehearsals are intensive, it’s been good so far. They are usually exhausted but happy at the end of the day,” said Sodhy with a chuckle.

She added that the show was initially meant for a predominantly adult cast, but an overwhelming turnout of 230 children came for the auditions last year landed her with a difficult task of changing the original script to suit the new cast of young children.

Jalan Impian will showcase a delightful list of songs that we can sing along to such as Under the Sea, When You Wish Upon a Star, Car Wash and the show’s theme song The Impossible Dream as well as other popular tunes.

The show is in aid of Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Hulu Langat, Selangor (PKKI Hulu Langat) — a non-profit and charitable organisation for disabled children — and is supported by the Ministry of Education.

PKKI chairman Shirley Tan said the success of the event will contribute greatly to the organisation’s coffers to ensure that it will be able to continue to develop the abilities of the special children in its care.

Jalan Impian — The Musical! will be staged at the KL Performing Arts Centre in Sentul West from July 13 to 17. For information, call the Actors Studio Box Office, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur at 03-2094-9400 or KL PAC Box Office, Sentul West at 03-4047-9000.

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