Culture
A highly anticipated production of film noire pastiche ‘Song of Singapore’ debuts March 3 at the Southeast Ohio History Center
By: Emily Votaw
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In the late ‘80s, Paula Lockheart was one of six New York City co-writers and co-composers whose love of film noire and composers such as Hoagy Carmichael and Gilbert and Sullivan coalesced to create “Song of Singapore,” a musical set in a Singapore nightclub in 1941.
The musical borrows heavily from tropes and characters associated with film noire. There are stolen jewels, a lead singer in a swing band with a terrible case of amnesia, a cop who is up to no good – all set to an infectious, entirely original score. “Song of Singapore” debuted on stage in 1991, going on to be produced all over the country, and even in London.
However, “Song of Singapore” has never yet graced a stage in Athens County. That will change when the musical makes its Athens debut on March 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southeast Ohio History Center (24 West State Street), marking the first of a run of greatly anticipated shows.
The Athens production of “Song of Singapore” is a long time in the making. The ball started rolling on the project when Lockheart moved to Athens several years ago, drawn to the region by its rich music scene.
“I guess it was my friend, Mimi Hart. She had seen [“Song of Singapore”] out of town and she thought that it would do well to do it here [in Athens] because you have so much musical talent here,” said Lockheart.
“Song of Singapore” director David Tadlock said regional musicians naturally gravitated towards the production simply because of the caliber of its music.
“There were lots of musicians who had heard the show — Mimi, especially — and when the musicians came to Paula’s house, she would often play the soundtrack and people would say ‘Hey, this is great. You know, when could we do this?'” said Tadlock.
“Song of Singapore” is a very musical musical – to say the least. The plot centers around a small, multinational swing band who find themselves stuck in Singapore right before the Japanese invasion of the Malay peninsula in 1941.
“Of course it’s a comedy, but there’s some serious overtones to it. We’re dealing with the plot of an imminent invasion and a group of multinational band members who are trying to get out of town. And at the same time, they’re dealing with stolen jewels and a lead singer who has amnesia and a corrupt police officer who’s trying to shake them down for money.”
Finding appropriate funding is always a facet of producing professional theater, and “Song of Singapore” was no different.
Producer David Burke was one of the major forces behind fundraising for the production, and he said it was a long process.
“Even before I got involved, they had already had donors committing – and a lot of it was by simply asking people,” said Burke.
By November of last year, Burke suggested the production try raising funds in addition to those they’d already secured by crowdfunding on GoFundMe. The campaign kicked off in November 2021, and has raised $1,656 as of the date of this feature’s publication.
“Of course it’s a comedy, but there’s some serious overtones to it. We’re dealing with the plot of an imminent invasion and a group of multinational band members who are trying to get out of town. And at the same time, they’re dealing with stolen jewels and a lead singer who has amnesia and a corrupt police officer who’s trying to shake them down for money.” – “Song of Singapore” director David Tadlock
“Song of Singapore” producer Carol Patterson said that the production has also been made possible by a number of organizations. This includes the Southeast Ohio History Center, the Actors Moveable Theatre, and the Ohio Arts Council.
“There are lots of ways that this show is unique, and unique to Athens in particular,” said Patterson. “This is not a show that half of the audience will have seen someplace else. We’ve got an Athens connection with the show in that one of the writers now lives in Athens, the professional musicians are all musicians from the region. So we’ve got all of these different local things that tie the production back to Athens — but we’ve also got the donations that have come in from all over the community that made it financially possible to not only do the show, but to stick to small audiences. People have been so generous. So we’re really excited about all of that pulling together and presenting something that Athens isn’t used to. I call it an ‘Athens original!'”
Listen to WOUB Culture’s interview with cast, crew, and producers affiliated with the production — as well as some snippets from the “Song of Singapore” soundtrack — in the Soundcloud widget embedded at the top of the article.
Productions of “Song of Singapore” at the Southeast Ohio History Center in Athens are scheduled for Thursday, March 3, Friday, March 4, and Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, March 6 at 2:30 p.m. Attendees are strongly encouraged to wear vintage clothing to fit in with the production’s pre-war aesthetic and appetizers from Purple Chopsticks will be provided. A cash bar will also be available for attendees wishing to drink. Proof of vaccination and masking while not eating or drinking is mandatory for all attendees.