Opening the Door of Your Heart Concert 24 Sep 2005

Photo by Richard Ow, BF

You lot really make me crack up.

So Jayson . . . what were you gossiping about? The nice thing about being past 40, you tend to worry less about what is said because by 40 you have heard it all !! Ha Ha! With my colourful life and "heck care" - I am going to dance to my heart's content to "Superstition" if that is what I feel like doing - as Malcolm's twin brother said "That Auntie can really dance ya" shall be taken as a compliment although being called "Auntie" was hardly flattering.

Well, you won't have to miss getting together too long as our practices for the next event to be staged on 29 Dec will resume very very soon . . .

I have kicked off my fund raising activities . . so far someone has pledged to top up the balance of a $100K budget I am seeking to stage the Apr/May shows . . perhaps in Esplanade? You know I always have big dreams although big screen is not part of it.

Till we meet again . . missing you all.

Love
Angie :-)

---

Wow...

Never know Jess can be such a great editor... such Great thoughts she has penned and thanking everyone upside down, inside out...!!! Really!!! I'm impressed!!! Jess's "Opening the Door of Her Heart" in penning her feelings and experiences into words is Great... KudoS, Jess!!!! Angie's (The Choice) & ah-Quek (Huiling).. u know who to look for next time to help u in coming up with articles regardingthis Concert!! ='P I think the praises that all of us have received is overwhelmingly Great!!! Wooo... Shiok Right??!!!

But let's not forget that there are some real Polishing work to be done so that we can bring the Musical to Broadway (So commented by the US man), Channel 5 (quoted from the Chief Robber), Golden Village or Omnimax Theatre (So said by the movie fanatic, J.a.g.)

Here are some really Great feedbacks received (that can make us scale Greater Heights):

1. We should really consider having Big TV Screens by the 2 sides (Like those in Suntec), so that audiences can get a close up to see what the actors are doing or even when we walked down the stage or in areas where some audiences couldn;t see us due to being blocked [Suggested by the woman in my life, my MOM (Hey... I'm no mommy's boy huh...)] => I know it's limited by the logistics support we can get from the place of performance though..

2. The quality of Soracco [Think it's time to recruit more quality choir members, i admit i'm jialat (hence i better tender b4 i get the boot..., haha..), train ailing to be more inspirational in her conducting, to improve Soracco-ians movements as we sing etc...] => Heard comments that the Soracco-ians has a hard time following Angie's carefree movement that make the whole of Soracco look awful at times when we sway... Ha... As we get real quality Soracco-ians, we will also have greater pool of solo-ists like our Broadway singer, Sumay or Rock Band singer Sherman... Maybe we can try to recruit "The Three Tenors" or Josh Groban...

3. For the acting, some suggested that too much conversation for "Romance & Marriage" and ends off quite abruptly which audience did not know that the skit actually ended.. (Good point!). Others include the "Driver" skit being boring (At this pt, i must say, Renshang is a GREAT talent to exploit, I certainly couldn't have pull it off at all in the act or rap with dance steps...), too draggy for 2 bad bricks and our deva conversations with the audience... oops... Point taken!

Well, these are the few Main Points which I cam come up with at this juncture. Think if we concentrate on these few main points and improve in them, Soracco's dream of being in the "BIG SCREEN" is going come true reeeeaaal soon... We may even make Nick Shen (or Sim) out of job as MediaCorp may be replaced by DharmaCorp, SoracCorp or BFCorp... Ha... (Then of cos, we will employ him, exploit him... heh heh... but we will also give him hefty bonuses...)

That's all, FolkS!!! Cheers to all of u Great people out there!!!
(Jess, u forgot to thank all other beings that are present on that day too!!! ;'P)

J.a.g.
P.s. Are u all missing the FUN TIME we shared during the rehearsals already?! (I treasure the sneaking out and gossipying part (Oops, violated 4th Precept)...

---

Dear all,

You guys rock! Yup. wif regards to what jayson had typed. I would also like to pen down my thoughts before the memories fade away.

These past three months had indeed been very very liberating for me. All the late night rehearsals on weekdays, and weekends had made a difference to my life. being part of this project, i've got to know many wonderful people, people who can make a difference not only to me but to the world. through this play, i got even closer to the dharmma=)) the best gift of all.

we were still quite messy before the musical. but, that night, i'm sure we had successful propagate the dharmma through the musical!!

Everything i learn through the musical, will be in me for life. and all the memories, will always be kept close to my heart. wanna thank all of you for putting in soo much hardwork and effort.

People in the backstage: YOU GUYS ROCK! u helped us make it possible. And, hereby, i would like to honour you people coz you guys truly deserve it. You guys encourage us and helped us to get rid of our anxieties. NOT FORGETTING: the usherers! thank you for getting everyone seated and relax to watch our musical. thanks for taking the effort to dress so smart and have such sweet and thoughtful idea such as getting flowers. u guys deserve the credits. AND ALSO: hong yi for the lightings. hahax. thanks for creating such beautiful lightings at the right time, right place=))

Let's continue to follow the dharmma and embark our journey towards enlightenment, with the buddha in our head, the dharmma in our hearts and the sangha by our side to protect and guide us always=))

ps: sumay, let's just continue to ROCK!

love,
jess

---

Hi Everyone

A BIG Thank You to ALL – musicians, singers, actors/actresses, support staff (props, backstage people, ushers & volunteers helping outside) as well as admin staff – for a job well done.

Though there were a few glitches and mistakes here & there, overall it was a GREAT performance. We’ll polish it up and be even better for our next “Opening the Door of Your Heart” public performance just before Vesak (which falls on May 12, 2006). It may be a 2-night performance over a weekend – so do keep yourselves available in early May as well as the whole Vesak weekend. We’ll confirm dates & venues later on.

Meanwhile, like Angie said, our NEXT performance is the Fund Raising Dinner for Ajahn Brahm’s Meditation Centre on Dec 29. Practices will commence from Oct 16 at our usual place and time – 1.30pm. So have a good break, rest and come back recharged!

We’ll be using the same choir costume for the Dinner, so if anyone cannot make it for Dec 29, please return the tops as we won’t be able to get them anymore.

For those who couldn’t join us last Saturday for one reason or another (Wai Hong, Coen, Pat, Judy, Lina, Shannen, May, Daphne & of course August), we’ll like to welcome all of you back for our next performance in Dec. So do join us for practices next month.

May we continue to have great times together – in practices, fellowship & performances.

Lots of Metta
Ai Ling

---

yeah, it was a great show. things turned out really well, considering the night before, we were all struggling with the coordination. it's unbelievable! the performance from everyone is fabulous. i have to thank all my backstage crew who did great with only 1 partial rehearsal on friday night. without you guys and girls, i just don't think things will be that smooth.

the credit goes out to you all!

John Bhaddo Lee

---

Hi All!

I'm lost for words except to say "you were awesome!"

I think we truly openned not just the doors of our hearts but the windows too! Everybody entered it on saturday night. It certainly didn't feel cramped cos there was lots and lots of room in all of our hearts! :)

Well done Soracco! You touched the heart strings of many in the audience. Two of my friends actually teared during the show! Everybody I met after had so many good things to say!

Cheers to all who have contributed, especially those behind the scenes, away from the spot lights! Without you things would have been different.

Awesome!

We shall Rock again.........sooner than you think!

Malcolm

---

Dear all,

Thanks so much for the all the energy, the great times and the great music :). never felt happier
performing with all my Dharma friends. What can I say? We ROCK!!!!

Luv,
Xueling

---

Hello Tracy & everyone

Since you are already missing practice, we shall resume it two weeks!!

Our next big event is the Fund Raising Dinner on 29 Dec for Ajahn Brahm's Meditation Centre project. I hope all of you are game for it. Can't tell you much yet as I am still putting on my thinking caps on.

Any way, it is good to ride on the wonderful performace we put up on Saturday. The praises and compliments have been pouring in from all directions. It has been energising and a real high to have been part of a great team at work!

THANK YOU to everyone, each one of us put in our 100% and from there, everything was just magical!!

This proves that if we put Mind over Matter, anything is possible!! JUST DO IT!

With Metta
Angie

---

Dear all,

I really enjoyed our performance on Saturday. Kind of miss the practice on Sunday. (ha.. ha...) I really have great fun singing with all the music lover.

I must congratulate the actors and actresses. They have really put up a very good show. It made me tears even I have watched it many times. And my friend's kids who are 7 and 9 years old, also sobbing away while watching the 4 wives.

With Metta
Tracy Tan

---

hi guys,

thanks for the performance and i am glad everything was smooth. i enjoyed myself playing with good musicians and would also like to thank the choir for bearing with the drums. good luck to u guys.

cheers!
bryan

---

Hi all, i just wanna thank you all for giving me the opportunity to perform with you guys...i had fun..i'm really glad that everything went smoothly..well i guess things will turn out right if one goes with the flow..i could see that some of us were nervous before the BIG show..but when we were onstage everything just flowed well..i guess humans tend to think to too much,hence affecting the way we feel and behave..all i can say is Don't think...feel.

Cheers to all and take care

Once again i like to thank you all and ofcos my funky brother malcolm

Sherman Aw

---

Dear All Soracco-ians (including crew members),

Before i go to sleep and my memories begin to fade away, i thought i would like to pen down my thoughts over these past months of being part of the Soracco family...

After many rehearsals, time, effort, sunday afternoons, late weekday nights, having bee hoon, pizzas, KFCs, & sharing laughters, grumbles, secret complaining about so-and-so (Ooorrr... it's Human nature...hahaha...), rehearsals, the ever changing actors/actresses, skits, singers, M/F/Solo/All part for singing... til tonight (24 Sept 05) after 3 1/2 hours when everything just whizz past us without realising it, in the first ever "Opening the Door of Your Heart" Concert held by BF and draws our rehearsals to a close. Guess what follows spontaneously in me? Reflections.

Reflecting on the moments we all spent together brings me so much more joy than what we have done tonight. Reflections on the sincerity & the friendship that we have foster & bring with us in tonight's performance way, way surpass the joy of what we have achieved tonight. I guess the memory of these whole series of events before, during & after the concert will always linger in me.

Thank you everyone!

Cheers!
='D J.a.g.