Review: LEGENDA BALADA BALADI at GRJS Bulungan

Legenda Balada Baladi opened up in GRJS Bulungan, Jakarta from the 24th to the 26th of March 2017.

The musical tells a story about two young lovers, Jaka and Poet. Envious of the legends' stories such as Sangkuriang to Situ Bagendit, they set out to establish themselves as legends, and met the storyteller who made it happen, Anonym. After having their new stories written, they eventually met each other again in their new life. Little did they know, the legends' stories always end up in misery or sorrow, so with the help of a fellow friend, Jawara who with his mighty spells and chants made good and justice to the legends' stories, set out on a quest to find Anonym and defeat her once and for all.

Managed by Someday Project, this theatre community managed to bring three high school theatre extra-curriculars together; SEP Theatre from SMAN 78 Jakarta, Kuaterfilas, SMAN 112 Jakarta and Teater Delima from SMAN 85 Jakarta.

According to Fitria Rahmadani, the Director of Someday Project, although the actors from the many schools they managed ran through obstacles such as daily courses and parents' permission to rehearse, the cast and crew managed to do a splendid job on their 3 day run.

Legenda Balada Baladi itself is an ode reminder for the long forgotten legends' stories where there is always a moral behind every story that can be applied to everyday life. Through the vast growth of social and culture in Jakarta these days, the musical aims to give young people remembrance of the good moral embedded in the stories such as respect to parents, three magic words : sorry, please and thank you, and so on, as said by Fitria Rahmadani.

Someday Project itself doesn't only teach their students on the art aspect such as acting, dancing and singing, but it is important for them to learn soft skills such as theatre management, the art of music, design and marketing to support the whole show itself.

The community is also encouraging more and more young people to step out of their comfort zone and enjoy the life of theatre. According to one of the actors on the musical, Timothy Risto B. was excited to join theatre because he knows that getting involved in the theatre world needs process, and they all learn together to reach the same equal goal. It also helped boost his confidence in performing on stage. Fitria Rahmadani also said that being in theatre doesn't always require you to act, sing or dance. In fact, there are a lot of parts in theatre that could be explored to support the cast performing on stage.

I managed to catch Legenda Balada Baladi's 2nd show on Saturdayat 19.00PM (GMT +7.0) and the theatre was already packed with a lot of students and parents supporting their fellow friends and families on the production.

Legenda Balada Baladi made me reminiscue of my good old elementary days as a lot of the legends' stories were once told to me by a teacher a long time ago, so it is nice to recall those stories through acting, dancing and song.

It's amazing how a group of high school students managed to make meticulously detailed props, costume design, as well as pristine choreography moves and easy listening yet wonderful music. Huge props to the team behind the musical.

A great musical won't succeed with it's equally talented cast so it's best to talk about the people who stood out in Legenda Balada Baladi.

The dynamic duo Jaka and Poet stole the show immediately. Their presence truly brought the story together and as the pivotal characters of the musical, they did well in portraying two young lovers seeking for a way to be legends, and conquered all odds and met again in their second life after their stories were being retold by the author of the legends' stories, Anonym.

Jawara was a triple threat. With acting, singing and dancing on his belt, Timothy Risto B. managed to conquer the stage with his immense presence. Portraying as an individual with abilities close to the Gods, Jawara succeeded in defeating the storyteller Anonym, only by knowing that Anonym once was the love of his life, the feeling of disbelief and in denial kicked in, since Jawara was also given a new life such as Jaka and Poet. Timothy made justice to that scene I most remembered.

Anonym, the storyteller also made a graceful entrance to the show. Regina Christianto fits the role like a glove. As a poised storyteller with powerful prowess and a hidden secret in the past, she managed to take control of the musical as the individual who made all the stories happen.

The famed musical wouldn't be as is without these two running around. Buyung and Ta Liong (portrayed by Nabil Syahmil and Rizky Nurid Ananda respectively) was a fun addition to the cast. As contradicting Minangese and Chinese assistants to Jaka (or so called Malin Kundang on his next life), they both managed to make the whole theatre laugh with their comedic antics. Major props to the actors who made the musical more alive.

I have to say once again that it's amazing to see high school students pull up a production as big as Legenda Balada Baladi. Despite breath-taking performances from the cast, I do believe the script needs a little bit of improvement since I do feel it lost focus at some of the scenes. The orchestra played a great role in filling the scenes with a mix of traditional, classical and pop genres. I did hear a certain famous movie soundtrack being played amongst the array of songs performed by the orchestra, but judging from the original scores played throughoutthe musical it didn't matter that much.

Legenda Balada Baladi is on a mission to bring Indonesian legends back to life. With good morals and comedic antics embedded within the story, I can pretty much assure that the whole audience enjoyed the performance, and ended their experience with a purpose.

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