Performed by Margaret Leng Tan
Composed by Phyllis Chen
Commissioned by the Singapore International Festival of Arts 2015
First performed on 27 August 2015
Co-produced by CutureLink Singapore
CURIOS, by Chinese-American composer Phyllis Chen, is a multimedia work that draws the audience into a musical and theatrical Cabinet of Curiosities (a Wünderkammer) revolving around the bizarre, bewitching world of the carnival. Chen was inspired to create the piece for toy pianos, toy instruments and other oddities by a haunting, rather grotesque 1920s photograph Tan gave her of three Kassino clowns. Whether it be a roomful of carousels or a magic lantern, “Curios” invites us into a novel visual-and-sound world with Tan as our guide.
Concept & music: Phyllis Chen
Video: Rob Dietz
Masks and theatrical direction: Stanley Allan Sherman/Mask Arts Company
Pipe organ: Ranjit Bhatnagar
Clown cadenzas: Margaret Leng Tan
Sound & technical direction: Levy I. Lorenzo, Caley Monahon-Ward
Lighting: Nicholas Houfek
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