Tuesday May 5, 2009
Taking it to heART
By SHARMILLA GANESAN
LOVE was definitely in the air at the seventh BOH Cameronian Arts Awards (Cammies) – love for the arts, that is. Themed “I Love”, the event, organised by online arts magazine Kakiseni, saw the local arts community turn up in full force to honour and support achievements from last year’s productions.
Displaying an encouraging mix of veterans and fresh faces, this year’s nominees competed for 35 awards and seven special awards in the fields of dance, music, theatre and musical theatre.
Despite the long list of awards to be handed out, the night went by at a snappy and entertaining pace in the capable hands of hosts Fahmi Fadzil and Lim Tiong Wooi. To add to the fun, there were also entertaining performances by Instant Cafe Theatre and the National Arts Culture and Heritage Academy’s (Aswara) Dance Department.
The musical theatre awards field, which was a new addition to the Cammies this year, saw Ismail, the Last Days netting six awards, including Best Original Book or Lyrics for U-En Ng and a Best Performance in a Leading Role nod for Malik Taufiq.
Not far behind in the awards haul was Jewel of Tibet, the Musical, which bagged a Best Original Music award for Imee Ooi, a Best Director honour for Ho Lin Huay and two other awards.
A dance performance by the National Arts Culture and Heritage Academy’s (Aswara) Dance Department brought some energy to the night. The theatre awards field displayed the diverse work done in the area last year, and saw productions like Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins and Hero scooping up a much-deserved award each (for Best Group Performance, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Original Script – English respectively).
The Chinese-language staging of George Orwell’s Animal Farm also received three awards, among which was a Best Director for Loh Kok Man. The forerunner, however, was Air Con, which received five awards including a Best Actor in a Supporting Role nod for Ryan Lee Bhaskaran and a Best Original Script – Bahasa Malaysia for Shanon Shah.
“This was a dream play for a beginning playwright like me, and it wouldn’t have happened without the support of people like (director) Jo (Kukathas),” said Shanon after accepting his award. “Here’s to continuity in the arts, and continued support.”
In the music field, four of the six awards were swept by Let’s Go Mamak!, while The Legend of Hou Yi and Chang Er by Dua Space Dance Theatre won three awards in the dance field. Jamu 2008 by Aswara also picked up two awards for Suhaili Ahmad Kamil (Best Featured Performer) and Umesh Shetty (Best Choreographer in a Mixed Bill).
In keeping with the night’s theme of love for the arts, a study grant was organised for top first-year students in Aswara’s dance, music, theatre and writing departments – all nominees and guests were asked to contribute RM10 to the grant, and the total was matched by BOH Plantations.
The endeavour raised RM11,024, and upon accepting the cheque from BOH Plantations CEO Caroline Russell, Aswara director Datuk Omar Awang announced to much applause that the academy would further double the amount collected to RM22,048.
The night also saw the presentation of the Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur Most Promising Artist Award to Suhaili Ahmad Kamil and the Cross-Cultural Champion of the Arts Award to Sivabalan S. Shanmuga Sundram. The BOH Cameronian Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to former ballerina Lee Lee Lan for her efforts in promoting dance in Malaysia.
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