Presents

DECEMBER RAINS 6 to 15 August 2010,

at The Esplanade Theatre

The highlight of Toy Factory’s TOY 20 Anniversary Celebration- a theatre festival, taking place this August at the Esplanade Theatres on The Bay, will be the world premier of their latest original blockbuster production; December Rains, which will run from 6 to 15 August 2010 at the Esplanade Theatre. Written by noted Mandarin playwright and songwriter; Liang Wern Fook, who will also collaborate with acclaimed singer-songwriter; Jimmy Ye to create the accompanying music, and directed by award- winning director; Goh Boon Teck, December Rains is a love story about the kind of love that invites endless joy and perpetual pain. It is 1950s Singapore, the innocent relationship of a pair of young lovers is convoluted by strikes organized by Chinese students, riots by blue collar workers, a marriage of convenience and strong parental disapproval; prompting an excruciating separation which cuts an eternal scar on their naïve souls. The symphony of pain resonates to a third party who is waiting desperately in vain for his unrequited love. As the malicious rain season continues pouring in 1980s, past sacrifice and the surfacing of an undelivered love letter would resolve all these entanglements. However, no one knows when the rain will depart in December. December Rains, an elegiac and melancholic magnum opus composed to titillate the near forgotten lover in you. The production will transport audiences back in time, to 1950s Singapore; a turbulent time in history where society and filial piety determine the fate of two young lovers, Li Qing and Xiong who are brought together through a series of love letters exchanged between the two through a friend, Ming Li. Driven by his calling to go to China to help build a new country, Li Qing and Xiong prepare to leave Singapore when they are separated by Li Qing’s disapproving parents who confine her to the house, leaving Xiong to depart alone without Li Qing’s final letter. Fast-forward 30 years, it’s the 1980s and Li Qing finds herself in a similar situation with her daughter; Meng Yu who has fallen in love with a boy from China, Yang Guang. After an intervention by Ming Li, she finally agrees to meet the boy’s father who turns out to be none other than her lost love; Xiong who has returned to Singapore. What follows is a series of

unexpected events that will definitely keep audiences captivated and leave them feeling the heartbreak and melancholy that is December Rains. Boasting a stellar line-up that sees renowned actress Kit Chan (Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress, East Meets West) in her first production in four years, along with other noted names such as Jeffery Low, George Chan (Ladies or Gentlemen, Bugis Street the Musical), and Love 97.2’s very own LeeLian Chua, December Rains is set to sweep audiences off their feet, and into world of Singapore’s past.

FAST FACTS

Title : DECEMBER RAINS Playwright : Liang Wern Fook Directed by : Goh Boon Teck Music by : Jimmy Ye & Liang Wern Fook Musical Director : Elaine Chan Choreographer : Magdalene Koh Set Design : Eucien Chia Lighting Design : Dorothy Png Costume Design : Lai Chan Hair Design : Ashley Lim Sound Design : Darren Ng Executive Producers : James Toh & Justin Wong Cast : Kit Chan

George Chan Jeffrey Low Josephine Tan LeeLian Chua Chin Chung Kang Eleanor Tan Judee Tan Zachary Goh Gordon Choy Edward Choy Han Qian Chou Jae Leung Fion Quek Shannon Su Esther Yap

Venue : The Esplanade Theatre Dates : 6 – 15 August 2010 Performance Times : 3pm (Sat & Sun)

8pm (Tues – Sun) Ticketing Agent : SISTIC.com Pte Ltd Tickets Are Available Through : SISTIC Website www.sistic.com.sg

SISTIC Hotline (65) 6348 5555 SISTIC Authorised Agents islandwide

Prices : $69, $89, $109, $129 Discounts : Refer to SISTIC Press Contact : Sirius Art

Cassie-Anne Low Tel: 6324 8722 Email: cassie@siriusart.com.sg Aryanti Kamar Clarke Tel: 6324 8721 Email: aryanti@siriusart.com.sg

PRODUCTION BROGRAPHIES Creative Team

Liang Wern Fook Playwright / Lyricist

Dr. Liang Wern Fook obtained his PhD (Chinese Literature) from the Nanyang Technological

University (NTU), and a Master Degree for Arts (Chinese Literature) from the National University

of Singapore (NUS). He has been awarded the top Gold Medal from the NUS Arts and Social

Science faculty as well as from the NUS Chinese Studies Department(1988).He has also

received the prestigious Alumni Achievement Award from the NTU(2008).

His achievements in the musical field include 5 song albums, Singapore very first Chinese

musical “December Rains” in 1996, and “If There're Seasons” in 2007. Apart from these, Dr.

Liang's song compositions are sung by top singers in the contemporary Chinese music world.

Other achievements include: Sing Music Highest Honour Award (1987), Xin Yao Festival Best

Lyrics and Music Award (1989), Singapore Hits Highest Honour Award (1994) , Singapore Hits

Best Local Lyrics Award (1995,2001,2003 and 2005) ,COMPASS Meritorious Award(1999),

Best Original TV Series Theme Song, Asia TV Award (2002), Singapore Street Festival Best

Chinese Songs Composer and Lyricist Award (2004),Top Local Sound Track ,COMPASS

Awards(2006).He was voted "Person Who best Represents the Xinyao Spirit" in a 2003 public

poll conducted by COMPASS.

As a singer-songwriter, his first commercial song, "A Song for You" (写一首歌给你 ) was

released in 1984 on the Ocean Butterflies (海蝶音乐) label. During his xinyao phase from 1986

to 1992, he released five albums, some of which sold as many as 20,000 copies. Among these, Door (门) was the first Singaporean Mandarin album to be completely composed and written by

the same artiste. The song "One Step At A Time" (一步一步来) sat for six weeks at the top of

the charts in 1987, while "Love's Refuge" (恋之憩) was at the top for 29 weeks in 1986, an unbroken record for a local pop song. To date, Liang has over 200 musical compositions and songs to his name.

Liang's particularly iconic composition is the song "Negotiations And Love" (情商). He penned this in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Incident on June 4, 1989, and Taiwanese singer Wen Zhang recorded it. The song became popular in Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China. Since the 1990s, Liang has also written hits for Cantonese and Mandarin pop stars such as Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Leon Lai, Tony Leung, Alex To, Eric Moo, Kit Chan, Joi Chua and Stephanie Sun. In the following year, Liang wrote the theme song "Are You Still There" (你是不是还在) for Singapore film Track (轨道).

Apart from these, Liang's other achievements include: Sing Music Highest Honour Award (1997), Xinyao Festival Best Lyrics and Music Award (1989), Singapore Hits Highest Honour Award (1994), Singapore Hits Best Local Lyrics Award (1995; 2001; 2003; 2005) and the Meritorious Award from Compass (1999), and Best Original TV Series Theme Song at the Asian Television Awards (2002).

Goh Boon Teck Director

Goh Boon Teck, reckoned as a prominent creative force of Asian theatre, his works are crossing

country borders and enthralling audiences of different cultures. Boon Tech`s works are

showcases of humanity dealt with post-modern sensitivity, focusing on profound human issues

and morality. With a purposeful direction, he has delivered beautiful visions weaved into socially

conscious messages from our loves. This young director oozes unapologetic courage and a

distinctive sense of aesthetics.

A professional theatre director, playwright and production designer for near to two decades,

Goh Boon Teck is the first recipient of the VISA International Arts Scholarship to study Theatre

Directing in London, United Kingdom.

Having graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore with a string of merit

awards, he has a strong creative sense for the aesthetics, words, sound and visuals. Goh Boon

Teck is effectively bilingual in English and Mandarin. Presently, he is leading one of Singapore’s

most vibrant and productive theatre companies, Toy Factory Productions Ltd.

TITOUDAO, a play written and directed by Goh Boon Teck, won five out of nine awards at the

inaugural LIFE! Theatre Awards 2001. Goh Boon Teck received the prestigious National Arts

Council Young Artist Award for his contribution to the development of Singaporean theatre in

2001. He was also awarded Best Set Design for FIREFACE in LIFE! Theatre Award 2003.

In year 2003, he was commissioned by Japan’s Kageboushi Theatre Company to write and

direct a 6 countries collaboration PRISM, funded by The Japan Foundation. This touring

production premiered in Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space Theatre and toured to Singapore,

Bangkok, Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

Elaine Chan

Musical Director

Honoured as the 1st Singaporean female composer invited to write and direct original music for National Day Parade@Padang 2005, this composition major has not only garnered songwriting awards in her teens, wrote and directed her 1st full length musical score at 18 and toured south of New Zealand with it, she is also the recipient of the Wong Yee Hua Memorial Award for music excellence.

This popular musical theatre composer-arranger-music director has composed all 5 installments of Dream Academy Productions’ hit theatre production series Dim Sum Dollies including the recent sellout History of Singapore 2007, music directed all 3 Broadway Beng Shows, A Crazy Christmas 07, Wild Rice’s year-end pantomimes Jack and the Beansprout, Oi Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, CinderellaH! Hossan Leong’s Concert In The Park, Pam Oei’s sold-out 2 night hit Pamdemonium, the highly profiled annual Wild Rice Ball fundraisers and recording a children’s album for City Harvest Church amidst other corporate and professional projects.

This year, she’s excited to music direct and work with Beatrice and the talented team at Toy Factory in this fantastical superherosized musical. She is also slated to work with theatre veterans such as Selena Tan, Hossan Leong, Robin Goh & RJ Rosales in their solo concerts and will compose and direct Wild Rice’s year-end pantomime Snow White.

Her other credits include a talk at the Esplanade : Bitesize 101 on musicals, theatre workshop on musical theatre songwriting organized by the Musical Theatre Academy, orchestrations for Wild Rice’s ‘Beauty World’, National University of Singapore’s production of ‘Man of Letters’, Toy Factory’s 2005’s offering of ‘Spring Singing’, Selena Tan’s Wedding Concert, Singapore Management University’s ‘Anything Goes’, the glamorous annual ‘Wild Rice Ball’, and Wild Rice’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ in December. Other noteworthy commissioned ‘Temasek Medley’, premiered in the June 1998 Singapore Arts Festival by the illustrious Singapore Youth Choir. This piece is currently solicited by the prestigious Boosey and Hawkes New York Publishing Company for publication. More theatre credits includes recording and performance of school and church musical productions, Singapore International Airlines’ ‘Flight Fever’ & ‘Hearts over Heels’, Dream Academy Productions’ ‘Island Magic’, iTheatre’s ‘Three Men & A Boot (2003), Toy Factory’s ‘Morning People’ (2001), Action Theatre’s ‘Chang and Eng’ (2000), Rainbow Theatre’s ‘Sayang’ (2001), ‘Temptations’ (2000), Drama Box’s ‘Mr Ben’g & Singapore Lyric Opera’s ‘Grand Opera Gala’ (1999/2000), ‘I have a Date with Spring’ (1999), Singapore Repertory Theatre’s ‘They’re Playing Our Song’ (1999), ‘Into the Woods’ (1994) and ‘Godspell’ (1993).

James Toh

Executive Producer

In 1996, James produced Singapore’s first Broadway-style Mandarin musical play, “December

Rains,” written and composed by Liang Wern Fook and Jimmy Ye. The play, which was set in

Singapore during the tumultuous ‘50s, broke new ground for Chinese theatre in Singapore and

played to full houses in July 1996. This was followed by another Chinese musical, “Miss To Sup

Neung” in April 1997, a play by acclaimed Hong Kong writer Raymond To.

In 1997 he started collaboration with director Eric Khoo on the screenplay of “12 Storeys,” which

he also executive produced. The film won numerous awards and was the first Singapore film

ever to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival.

Subsequently, as a partner in Zhao Wei Films, James has produced numerous winning films

with Eric Khoo, such as "One Leg Kicking" (2001), "Be With Me " (2005) and ”My Magic",

which was in the main competition at Cannes in 2008. He also produced Royston Tan's first

film "15" (2003) and "4:30", a Japanese co-production which premiered at the prestigious Berlin

Film Festival 2006, and "881," Singapore's highest grossing Asian film in 2007.

In 2010, James will be re-staging a revised, improved version of December Rains at the

Esplanade, in collaboration with Toy Factory Productions Ltd.

_________________________________________________________________________

Justin Wong

Executive Producer

Trained and majored in marketing, Justin has brought with him more than 15 years of event

management experience in exhibition, conference and convention industries. Over the years, he

has been groomed to be a multi-tasking manager, undertaking projects in China, Hong Kong,

Taiwan, Vietnam, India, Indonesia and Korea. His recent theatre productions include 251,

Beautiful Thing, Land of Joy, 24 Pieties, Ten Brothers, Spirits (National Arts Council, Singapore

Arts Festival) and Longhouse (Esplanade Hua Yi Festival), Shanghai Blue (Esplanade Hua Yi

Festival) and The Crab Flower Club (Singapore Arts Festival 2009)

Justin is currently the General Manager of Toy Factory Productions Ltd.

Eucien Chia

Set Designer

Trained in Architecture, Eucien’s first collaboration with director Goh Boon Teck was as Set

Designer for the National Day Parade 2007 at Marina Bay. His design for Toy Factory’s

Shanghai Blues earned a nomination for '“Best Set Design” at the 2009 Life! Theatre Awards.

Most recently, Eucien designed the sets for Universal Studios Singapore’s Monster Rock

musical revue. Other productions he has designed for include H is for Hantu (STAGES),

Sleepless Town (Toy Factory), Snow White (Wild Rice), Wizard of Oz (I-Theatre), and

‘disSPACEments’ (Singapore Arts Festival 2008). Eucien thanks God for L, his family and

friends, and for being the source of all creativity.

Darren Ng

Sound Artist

Chance, conversation, improvisation… "sonicbrat" is the ambisonic brainchild of Darren Ng. As

a believer in poetic imperfection, most of his music are performed and recorded on the fly

without multi-tracking.

Ng is a Singapore-based sound artist and music composer whose electro-acoustic sound-bites

have established him as one of the most sought after sound designer and music

composer/arranger in the local theatre and art scene, whose works have been compared to Erik

Satie, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Martin Denny by international music reviewers from U.K. (WIRE:

Ken Hollings), U.S.A. (Bluesbunny) and Hong Kong (Hompy). Trained in classical piano, he has

ventured into the digital realm of sampling, Musique Concrete, acousmatic music, digital and

analogue synthesis; bringing a new sonic experience for his listeners.

He graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre

Studies and Philosophy. He has been active in the theatre and sound art scene for the last

seven years. To date, he has had 8 nominations in total for his works and had won the coveted

award of Best Sound Designer at the 6th and 8th Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards 2006 and

2008 respectively; and had an Honourable Mention for Special Achievement, for Best Sound in

the 5th Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards 2005. Darren Ng is currently an Associate Sound

Designer for The Finger Players.

____________________________________________________________________________

Shah Tahir

Sound Designer

Shah has been in the audio/recording business for more that 15 years and is currently a

freelance sound engineer/consultant for the local and regional market.

He has worked on/engineered projects with top names in the local and international

entertainment industry including Sheryl Crow, Mr Big, A*Mei, Jacky Cheung, Eric Moo, Sandy

Lam, Dick Lee, Jacintha, Zainal Abidin and Sheila Majid.

As an arranger/producer and musician, Shah has worked with many local talents like Humpback

Oak, the Oddfellows and Heritage, and has arranged and composed for Mediacorp Channel 8

serials such as Beautiful Connection, which was nominated “Best Drama Serial” in 2002.

Shah has also designed sound for numerous theatre productions, concerts, shows and events

including Little Shop of Horrors,Dim Sum Dollies,Titodau,Hossan Leong, Margaret Leng Tan

with the SSO, the 117th IOC Convention, The Blues Festival, Singapore Idol, WOMAD (2000-

2007), the National Day Parade (2004 - 2006), the Singapore Arts Festival (2002 - 2007), the

COMPASS Awards (2005 – 2007), and many others.

ASHLEY LIM

Hair Designer

In 1986, Ashley started his hairstyling career in order to pursue his dedication towards the art of

hairdressing and theatrical work. Many of the productions were participants of drama festivals,

some of which became nominees and/or winners of art awards. Ashley has gained a wide range

and depth of experience working with all the leading professional theatrical companies of

Singapore.

He is privileged to be widely recognized by our local theatre community as a veteran in his artistry. Ashley is particularly thrilled to have participated in the recent shows of Broadway Beng! Jiak Liu Lian, Beauty & the Beast, Victor Victoria and The Monster Show, just to name a few. ____________________________________________________________________________

Foo Mei Ling

Production Manager

Mei Ling has been a theatre practitioner since 1999. She has played one or more of these roles: producer, assistant director, production manager, stage manager, lighting designer, light operator and sound operator in over 20 productions. They include Lovepuke, I have a Date with Spring, Titoudao, A Tinted Edge, ChessMaster, Beautiful Thing, Shanghai Blues, Spirits and The Crab Flower Club. She was in the ensemble that participated in the 5th Asian Arts Festival. They performed Titoudao in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing. She was the production stage manager of Spirits, which performed at the International Theatre Festival in Veliky Novgorod, Russia 2009.

Cast

Kit Chan as Li Qing

Kit Chan is a member of the pioneer generation of Singaporean singers to successfully break into the international market, marked in particular by her breakthrough into the competitive and highly critical Taiwanese market with her hit Mandarin album Heartache (心痛) in 1994.

Fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, she is the first Singaporean singer to break into the Hong Kong Cantopop market and the Taiwanese Mandopop markets. A revered star in Singapore, she has also managed to display her versatility not only in musical expression, but also linguistic and theatrical prowess.

She held lead roles in the Hong Kong musical “Snow.Wolf.Lake” with Jacky Cheung – both the Cantonese version in 1997 and the Mandarin production in 2005 – followed by The Legend (playing late Teresa Teng), and "Forbidden City: Portrait of An Empress" (playing the young Empress Dowager Cixi)– first performed in 2002 as part of the Esplanade's opening programme, and again in 2003. Kit has also played the lead in the Dutch-Hong Kong production of "East Meets West", and the Taiwanese musical "What's Love Got to Do with It?". In Sep 2006, she reprised her role again in "Forbidden City: Portrait of an Empress", as part of the grand plan to make this musical internationally recognised, in the hope of going on a world tour.

Besides singing, Kit has also been involved in television dramas. She was in the cast of the sequel to TVB's hit medical drama “Healing Hands II”. Kit has also dabbled in writing, having published a collection of her own poems “Cork out of my Head/I write a Page”, as well as a semi-autobiography (together with friend Siew Fern Yong) called “Cathy and Jodie: The Princess and the Flea”.

Kit has also served as a National Youth Ambassador for Singapore's National Youth Council, promoting moral values and a spirit of volunteerism among youths. She was honoured in 2002 by the Commonwealth Youth Program Asia Centre with an Award for Excellence in Youth Work. She is also the ambassador to the Christian relief organization, "World Vision".

Kit was the first local pop singer to sing the National Day theme song. In 1998 and 2004, she sang 'Home' during the National Day Parade of Singapore. In 2007, Kit sang the theme song 'There's No Place I'd Rather Be' during Singapore's 42nd birthday. This makes Kit the first and only singer to have the honour of performing the NDP theme song three times. On 30 June 2007, Kit performed "Live Our Dreams" at the closing ceremony of the 34-year-old National Stadium, Singapore, making her the last singer to perform at the stadium.

George Chan as Ying Xiong

George has developed his career in both the Singapore and European Arts scene and his talents extend beyond vocals and acting to dance, choreography and hosting. George is perhaps most recognized for his role as a celebrity judge in the popular reality dance show, “The Dance Floor”. George moved to The Netherlands in 1996. He was working extensively in the musical theatre circle and was the original cast for all the shows he played in. Chalking up to 2,156 shows during his 7 years stay. His musical theatre highlights in Europe include the Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg production of “Miss Saigon”, the original cast of Bob Fosse's “Chicago”, Robert Stigwood's production of Bee Gees, hit musical “Saturday Night Fever”, “There's No Business like Show Business” (touring as a vocal soloist) and the award winning European premiere of Tim Rice and Elton John's “AIDA”. George also recorded the cast album for the above shows and has had the honor of working and learning from great talents such as Cameron Mackintosh, Ann Reinking, Donald Johnston and Wayne Cilento. His musical theatre credits in Singapore include: “Bugis Street the Musical” as Siong Wei, “Land of A Thousand Dreams” as Hock Seng, “Little Shop of Horrors” as Orin the dentist, “Admiral's Odyssey” as Colin, “Man of Letters” as Gan Seng, “Magic Of Love” as Charlie, “Sing Me A Story” and “Ladies or Gentlemen” (both a two man show held in Esplanade), “Forbidden City's Portrait of An Empress” as Prince Tun, “Godspell” as Judas, “M!Opera” as Kerabat, “12 to 12” as Brian, “If There're Seasons” as Ah Le. As a choreographer, George has worked on productions both locally and abroad. From The Holland Musical Theatre Awards to regional music events such as the 93.3FM Asia Radio Awards and Singapore Tourism Awards. He also staged and choreographed theatre pieces such as “Forbidden City's Portrait of an Empress”, “Godspell”, “Jack Brel Is Alive And Well In Paris” and fund raising functions for Singapore Repertory Theater and WILDRICE.

George recently received outstanding reviews acting, singing and dancing as the principle role Kerabat in Malaysia’s first opera M!Opera. As a singer, George also held his own solo concerts in Concert In The Park organized by the National Parks Board, Esplanade outdoor theatre’s “Sing A Different Tune” and Happy’s weekly piano night. He has sang and hosted on many occasions including corporate events, product launches and high profile affairs before the president and government officials.

Jeffrey Low as Ming Li

Jeffrey Low is a versatile bilingual actor who is actively involved in cross-cultural, cross-

language, cross-media performances. In his formative years, he had the privilege of receiving

Kuo Pao Kun’s mentorship in understudying him that enables him to incorporate rich cross-

cultural elements into his future works. Trained in Practice Performing Arts School (TTRP) from

January 2001 to January 2002, his extensive exposure through multilingual, multi-cultural

theatrical studies and approach sees him in crossing over to various performance arts formats

like musicals, short plays, dramas and even producing successfully.

In recent years, his involvement in cross-country performance trips in countries such as USA,

Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Taiwan and Korea adds cultural insights and rich

sources of inspirations which further developed his strengths in showmanship.

A founding member of the Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble, Jeffrey’s accolades include a

nomination for Best Actor in Life! DBS Theatre Awards 2002 and winning the Straits Times

Theatre Award 2003 in the “Best Ensemble Performance” category.

Josephine Tan as Wang Mei

Josephine’s schizo stage credits include being a Japanese Prostitute for Drama Box (David The

Best), a Posh Brit for W!ld Rice (The Last Temptation of Sir Stamford Raffles), different

delusional women for The Necessary Stage (Emily Gan in Off Centre, Above Us Only Sky), a

Pontianak etc for Stages (H is for Hantu and Chestnuts), and a gamut of neurotic women in

Manhood (Action Theatre).

In her third project with the boundary-blasting Toy Factory, she’s grateful for the rare chance to

play a relatively normal Singaporean.

Other 2010 projects keeping Jo jolly are Cravings (Action Theatre) The Full Monty

(Pangdemonium), Wee Li Lin’s feature film Forever, and being an emcee and a vocalist who

sometimes tries to dance.

________________________________________________________________________

LeeLian Chua as Ah Ling

Leelian found a stage for herself with her music compositions and singing during the Xin Yao period. Her duet with Chen Hanwei, which made the theme song for tele-movie 'Cupid Love' was much loved. In Dec 2002, Leelian released her debut Mandarin album < A Piece of My Dream> to good reviews. Her mini concert at Esplanade Recital Studio was sold out and prompted another show the following year. Leelian ventured into multiple performance platforms， which a key role in local Mandarin movie <A Road Less Travelled>, hosting for radio and television. She was nominated for Star Awards 2009 under the category of Best Info-tainment Program Host.

She took up the challenge of drama performance with various companies, including The Etceteras, Drama Box and Toy Factory. Her last production was Toy Factory’s Big Fool Lee. She is currently hosting the 10am radio program on LOVE 97.2FM.

Chin Chung Kang as Li Qing’s father

December Rains will be the first production for this theatre newcomer with a passion for singing, who has always been an avid supporter of Singapore’s arts scene. Chung Kang is proud to be participating in December Rains and will definitely give his best. ____________________________________________________________________________

Eleanor Tan as Li Qing’s mother

Eleanor’s stage experience runs the gamut of musical theatre, drama and children’s theatre. Theatre credits include young & W!LD’s The Hypochondriac and Mad Forest (Life! Theatre Best Ensemble Award), Top Girls (Wessex Theatre), Homesick (W!LD Rice), SRT’s A Twist of Fate Forbidden City, and I Theatre’s Aesop’s Fabulous Fables, The Wizard of Oz, Rainbow Fish, and Dancing With Dragons. She trained last summer with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company in New York in the Suzuki Method and Viewpoints. December Rains is Eleanor’s first Mandarin production and collaboration with Toy Factory. She is thrilled and honoured to be part of this exciting production.

Judee Tan as Meng Yu

Judee Tan theatre credits include “Broadway Beng” (Dream Academy Productions), “Titoudao” (Toy Factory Productions Ltd),“Beauty World” (W!ld Rice Productions) and “Shanghai Blues” (Toy Factory Productions Ltd). In 2009, Judee performed “Moonbird” with I Theatre and their sell-out run of “Little Green Frog”. She was seen in Stages’ production of “Broadway 4 Suakus: Lust But Not Least”, performed in Arts House, and moved on to being a ‘Chio Bu’ in “Broadway Beng Jiak Liu Lian” (Dream Academy Productions) at the Esplanade Theatres. She was last seen in “Chestnuts Does Christmas: Like a Hard Candy Virgin” (Stages) at Jubilee Hall. ____________________________________________________________________________

Zachary Goh as Yang Guang Zachary made his stage debut at the age of 19 in Guys & Dolls, the very

first musical by Toy Factory Productions Ltd in 1999. The following year, he played the role of “Bobby” in the Mandarin musical, I Have a Date with Spring. In the 20th Anniversary revival production of Beauty World in 2008, Zachary played his oldest and most lecherous role ever, “Towkay Tan”. Zachary completed his national service with the SAF Music and Drama Company and was trained in singing, dancing and acting under artistic manager, Mr Zaini Mohd Tahir. Zachary has since performed in Spring Singing, Army Daze, Cabaret – The Musical, The Nutcracker, Dim Sum Dollies® in The History of Singapore, Kumar The Queen, Beauty World - The Musical, Shanghai Blues - The Musical, Sleepless Town - The Musical, The Peranakan Ball and was last seen in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Zachary is a freelance art director when he is not performing. December Rains marks his tenth successful production with Toy Factory.

Gordon Choy as Ensemble

An all rounded performing artiste & establish choreographer, ex- National Wushu team sportsman & presently a Production / Events Supervisor of SAF Music & Drama Company, not only sing, dance, act & choreograph, also teaches & perform wushu, acrobatic stunts, lion & dragon dance, stilt-walking, Chinese Opera & drumming. Other theatre companies he had worked with : Action Theatre, Cake Theatrical Productions, Drama Box, Dream Academy, Singapore Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, Toy Factory & Wild Rice, either as an actor / dance captain or choreographer. Choreography credits :- - NDP 2003, 2006, 2008 & 2009. - 117th International Olympic Conference Session, - Nanyang Girls High School in SYF 2007 Dance Competition Item and awarded Gold With Honors. - Youth Olympic Games this year.

Edward Choy as Ensemble

Edward graduated with a Master of Arts degree from the National University of Singapore Theatre Studies programme in early 2008. Since 1996, some of the roles he has played include Mowgli in SRT's production of “The Jungle Book”, and the Ming Dynasty emperor “Wan Li” in the Discovery Channel documentary “Great Wall”, shot on location in Hengdian, China. He also had a successful career as a voice artist from 2005-2008, voicing characters in 16 different Japanese animation/live action titles, mainly for the U.S. Market. He currently splits his time between working as an actor, model, teacher and corporate trainer. ______________________________________________________________________

Han Qian Chou as Ensemble

This is Qian Chou’s first production with Toy Factory. He graduated from NUS Theatre Studies and is a founding member of COLLAB Theatre Ensemble. He was also in the pioneer cohort of young & W!LD, with whom he won Best Ensemble 2008 for Mad Forest. He also garnered another two Best Ensemble nominations in 2009 for Own Time Own Target and The Hypochondriac. He has also acted in Liao Zhai Rocks!, Chestnuts Does Christmas, Duck and Dive, Who Cares About Me?, The Gingerbread Man, If There’re Seasons…, Sunshine Girl, The Wizard of Oz, Beauty World and On North Diversion Road.

Jae Leung as Ensemble

Jae discovered his passion for entertainment at the age of 17, when he won Warner Music’s Super Idol Competition in Singapore in 2002 and represented Singapore in Taiwan, competing with other contenders all over Asia, finishing in the Top 13. This is the first time he appeared on national television. Since then, Jae has actively been seeking training grounds to improve his vocal performing skills such as volunteering himself to be one of the Street Performing Artiste (Singapore) in the Singapore Street Festival for three consecutive years (2007-2009). During his three years Artiste Development training with local music veteran Roy Li Fei Hui,he also picked up film producing and studio producing techniques. In 2007, Jae started gaining more recognition in the local entertainment industry when he entered Singapore’s first Song Writing competition on national television ‘S-Pop Hurray!’ and qualified among the Top 12 Finalists with his catchy and unique composition Mosquito Bite. He was invited in 2008 to participate in the ‘Love Infinity’ charity song for Szechuan Earthquake. Not limiting himself to just vocals, Jae for his break on television in 2007, guest appearing on MediaCorp Channel 8 Drama ‘Rhythm Of Life’. After his first foray into acting, he was cast to act in various TV dramas on MediaCorp’s Channel 8 and Channel 5 and quickly became a regular face in many short films, projects by up and coming directors such as Li Fei Hui, Alvin Sow and Tzang Merwyn Tong. His most recent accomplishment is being selected to play the lead role for award-winning director Royston Tan’s new short film. _____________________________________________________________________

Fion Quek as Ensemble

Fion Quek starts her dance career with the SAF Music and Drama Company as a performing artiste, under the artistic directions of Mr. Zaini Tahir, Mr. George Chan and Mr. Jeffrey Tan.

Fion’s major work involvement thus far includes, Asian Aerospace 2005, National Day Parades 2005 - 2009, performance tours in Rockhampton, Australia in 2006 and 2008, Chingay 2007, Celebrating 40 years of National Service Launch and Gala Show 2007 and Roystan Tan’s movie, 881. In 2008, she was chosen to represent Singapore with the SAF Central Band to participate in a Military Band Tattoo in Quebec City, Canada. In 2009, driven by her passion in dance, she went to New York City to improve her skills under renowned NYC dance instructors such as, Ms Sheila Barker and Mr. Slam. This is Fion’s second collaboration with Toy Factory since Shanghai Blues. ___________________________________________________________________________________

Shannon Su as Ensemble

Since her teenage years, Shannon loved watching musicals and fantasized herself performing

on stage. However, it was until August 09, when she quit her job to pursue her dream of being a

performer.

God is good, and within a few months, Shannon had been casted in short films, corporate

videos, school assembly shows, and a stage play.

Shannon also loves singing and had sung for church and friends’ wedding. She is currently

training to sing professionally.

Shannon is thankful to God and Toy Factory for the opportunity to be part of December Rains. It

has been an amazing journey and she wants to encourage everyone to hold on and pursue

his/her dream!

Esther Yap as Ensemble

Esther's professional debut onstage was with Ah Kong's Birthday Party (Singapore Repertory

Theatre) in 1998, after receiving her BA in Drama from Queensland University of Technology.

In 2001, Esther joined the Singapore Arm Forces Music and Drama Company where she

trained and performed in events like SAF Day and National Day Parade as host, singer and

dancer.

She has since appeared in numerous productions such as Ikan Cantik (Teater Kami), The

Crucible (DramaPlus Arts), Club Tempest (3.14), A Beautiful Companion (TheatreWorks),

Beauty World (WildRice) ShangHai Blues(Toy Factory), Catching Adam Cheng (Action Theatre)

and Stop Kiss (Livid Room), which earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination during the

2nd DBS Life! Theatre Awards. She was most recently seen on stage as a Chio Buu in the

latest installment of Broadway Beng: Jiak Liu Lian.

Esther is extremely excited to work with Toy Factory once again on this exhilarating restaging of

Singapore’s inaugural mandarin musical December Rain.

Singapore, 5th March 2010 - OM is honoured to be the main sponsor of “December

Rains” musical by Toy Factory. This partnership is almost at its finest as OM constantly

makes it a priority to refine its design boundaries to raise the standards of creative arts in

Singapore, but more importantly to play a definitive role in nurturing the industry. OM

& Toy Factory are two brands that are governed by art while each has their own unique

way of interpreting art in its myriad forms. We hope that this pledge from OM can help

to support the arts and culture community as we know that both are important social

and economic drivers for sustainability and quality of life.

Unveiled in 1999 and ever since then, OM has been delivering furniture that centres the

company’s promise to trendy designs, quality consciousness and meticulous

craftsmanship. There is no mistaking in combining cutting edge design and

accessible value that set the uniqueness of OM in this ever-changing furniture market.

We also believe that fashion and design should be available beyond the wearable’s

just as the fashionista home owners should not be deprived from good designs for their

homes. OM understands that they take pride in their living space as much as their

outlooks, homes are another clone of their elegance. Well-received by the Interior

Designers and Stylists too for their immense range of collections from sofas, dining sets,

coffee tables, rugs, TV consoles, side-tables, outdoor furniture as well as bedroom

essentials.

***

For more information, please contact the Marketing Communications Department at.

Janet Ow at email: janet.ow@nobel.com.sg Tel: +65 6380 8583

Yak Shu Jun at email: shujun.yak@nobel.com.sg Tel: +65 380 8541

www.extremelyfashionablefurniture.com

OM showroom are located at:

Flagship Store 145 Joo Seng Road, Nobel Design House, Level: 2

Downtown Showroom Liang Court, #02-24

IMM Building, #03-25

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