Adrian Pang and Selena Tan go back to where it all began

Dream Academy’s staging of ‘Into The Woods’ marks a homecoming of sorts for local thespians Adrian Pang and Selena Tan. The duo tells xinmsn what the award-winning musical means to them


Once upon a time in Stephen Sondheim's highly-acclaimed musical, Adrian Pang and Selena Tan, then theatre newbies who barely knew each other, met for the first time and were cast as Jack (of the Beanstalk fame) and Little Red Riding Hood respectively - the year was 1994.

Fast forward 17 years later, both theatre veterans come together again, this time as the Baker and the Baker's wife - a childless couple who longs for a child - in the new staging of Into The Woods, which opens on July 29.

Together with a group of other fairytale characters, they will be led on a magical journey of wish fulfilment and look for true happiness through the woods.

So what does it feel like to back in the same production yet playing their more mature roles?

"It's a dream come true playing the Baker's wife! I love it coz she gets to sing some of the most beautiful songs in the show," said Selena. "...and Adrian is fabulous as the Baker cos he's very funny, he cooks up all kinds of lines to make me laugh on stage!"

"It's everything I've hoped for and more. It's one of those musicals that never leaves you," recalled Selena. "Last year I watched the production in London and I just felt like it's time to do it again in Singapore so I called Glen Goei up and we assembled our dream team of everyone. And here we are, we get to sing Stephen Sondheim again!"

"Having done this production like, years ago, none of it is familiar, strangely enough. The rehearsals have been hard work!" Adrian let on. "There's a lot of humour in the piece but that same time a lot of heart as well, the piece still really speaks to me in a lot of very profound ways.

Added Adrian, "Now that I'm playing The Baker, I've to sing a couple of these songs and it's really hard to get through these songs without bawling coz they are really powerful songs."



Text and Photos: Joyce J. Chansingh
Video: Tay Yixuan and Fiona Lin

reference link:http://entertainment.xin.msn.com/en/celebrity/buzz/asia/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5088442