Enfiniti Productions OlaBola The Musical On Merdeka Tour Nationwide
Music Press Asia: OlaBola The Musical is set to Merdeka-tour Malaysia to celebrate Merdeka (Indepedence) Day on August 31.
Can the power of sports movies stand a chance on the music and entertainment scene in Malaysia, and further?
Drama revolving sports — whether one is physically (a sportsman) or mentally (an onlooker) associated to it — with the advent of television, is undeniably a worldwide phenomena.
Football, perhaps the most televised sports in our generation, arouses in the human capacity to side with a skilled team they’ve never met. And through detailed commentary begin to conceptualize the narration and if time is spent in persistence, would be able to side and even support a team and player in its penultimate goal to reach victory — even if that calls for a reschedule of daily routine just so one could watch the game ‘live’ at three in the morning.
Just as Malaysia is approaching its Merdeka (Independence) week, Enfiniti Productions gets a national role call to set its award winning musical productions on a nationwide Merdeka Tour. Directed by Tiara Jacquelina, the musical originally staged in Istana Budaya, is set to Merdeka-tour the state of Penang [Majestic Theatre, Aug 31]; Sarawak [Stadium Perpaduan, Sept 6-8]; Sabah [Kompleks JKKN, Sept 11] and Pahang [Auditorium RTM, Sept 21].
Free tickets can be obtained at www.OlaBolaMusical.com, is made possible through sponsorship by the state governments, corporate partners and government-linked companies.
In April 2019, the musical bagged eight of twelve awards at the 16th Boh Cameronian Arts Awards 2019 for the Ola Bola the Musical. Under the Musical Theatre category, they won [Best Direction — Tiara Jacquelina]; [Best Performer in a Leading Role — Brian Chan & Iedil Putra]; [Best Musical Direction — Duan Sharafuddin]; [Best Performance by an Ensemble — the cast of Ola Bola The Musical] and [Best Set Design — Raja Malek].
Based on the movie released in 2016, which earned RM16.67 million at the box office, the narrative is centered around the Malaysian football team — Harimau Malaya — and its securing position at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Russia.
The film — directed by Malaysian director Chiu Keng Guan (The Journey, 一路有你) — went on to win four out of the fifteen nominations received at the Malaysia Film Festival. Its theme song written by Zee Avi and Rendra Zawawi, bagged the Best Original Theme Song at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival that very same year.
Other Malaysia acclaimed works that similarly tell gripping sports narratives made into films include:
- “Lee Chong Wei: Rise Of The Legend”. Directed by Teng Bee. Theme song sung by Priscilla Abby & Nabila Razali
- “Adiwiraku 2 – The Gemencheh Boys” won Best Film, Best Actress and Best Originaal Screen Play at Malaysia Film Festival 2017. Directed by Eric Wong & Jason Chong.
- “Gol & Gincu”. Directed by Bernard Chauly, OST “Teruja” is performed by Ella.
- “Jejak Warriors”. Directed by Saw Teong Hin. The 6-track album performed by Dikir Warriors and Aina Abdul is published by Sony Music Entertainment Malaysia.
- “Sangkar” (now showing) starring Zul Ariffin and Remy Ishak, directed by Kabir Bhatia. Aman RA performs the OST “Fighter” released by Monkey Bone.
- “Suatu Ketika” . Directed by Prakash Murugiah, releasing this September 12. The OST “Ayuhlah” is written and sung by Zainal Abidin.
