Dispelling myths on Singapore arts scene

SINGAPORE, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Singapore arts scene may not yet be as vibrant as Melbourne's, but it has come a long way over the last few years, thanks for committed efforts by the government to pump financing into the scene.

The opening of a $343 million (S $600 million) complex next month, The Esplanade -- Theaters on The Bay, has raised questions about the ability of programmers to fill the 4,270 seats (spread over its four venues) of the new theater, given the island-state's small population of 4 million. But the latest annual audience ticketed attendance figures indicate there should no difficulties with the right mix of offerings, officials said.

According to a survey published Wednesday, ticketed attendance for performing arts totaled a record 940,200 in 2001, up from 857,900 the previous year and up from 679,000 in 1991. For this year, National Arts Council Chief Executive Officer Choo Thiam Siew said he was confident the 1-million level would be broken, adding that the 1.1-1.3 million level should be reach over the next few years.

Throughout the '60s, '70s and '80s, the Singapore government gave priority to the science and the industrial sectors, and even to this day, arts is considered the poor sister in the educational system. But over the last 10 years, there has been a clear shift toward developing a more vibrant city, and Singapore has started to actively market itself as a center for Asian contemporary arts.

In 2000, the "Renaissance Report" laid down the government's vision for the arts, to become a Renaissance city, attracting global talent and aiming to reach a level of development comparable to cities like Glasgow and Melbourne within 5 to 10 years. "The longer term objective would be to join London and New York in the top rung of cultural cities," the report said.

The opening of the Esplanade on Oct. 12, locally known as "The Durians" for its architectural resemblance to the fruit, should go some way into that direction. It boost state of the arts concert hall designed by world-renowned acoustician Russell Johnson, and an intimate horseshoe-shape theatre, designed on the traditional Italian opera house.

The opening festival is attracting the New York Philharmonic with conductor Lorin Maazel, the London Philharmonic with conductor Kurt Masur, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Jesse Norman, among others. Many of those performances are already sold out, and the Esplanade is fully booked for performances until the end of the year.

Choo said that the latest audience figures should dispel public fears the Esplanade will have a tough job filling its seats. The data also dispel the myth that "Singapore is like a big supermarket, buying overseas performances, as our figures show otherwise," Choo added, pointing that foreign productions represented only one-fifth of total ticketed performances last year.

That said, they also represented around one-third of attendance, mainly because of the staging of musicals such as Miss Saigon, the most popular performing art form in Singapore.

Indeed, the Esplanade will be staging the musical "Singing in the Rain" in November, one of the first shows after the opening festival.

"Musicals are very accessible for audience, and easier to understand for new comers to the art scene," said Teo Kian Giap, deputy director for strategic development at the NAC. Teo acknowledged that a large part of last year's audience increase reflected ticketing for musicals.

Based on a 3-year average from 1999-2001, theater (which includes musicals) made up two-third of total ticketed performances, though on average theatre generated proportionally less audience as compared to dance and music. In 2001, theatre performances constituted 66 percent of the total performances, but only attracted 57 percent of total audience that year. The trend was the reverse for music, representing 24 percent of ticketed performances, but generating a higher percentage of attendance at 33 percent.

This partly reflects the fact that theaters in Singapore are often smaller in size than music venues, Teo explained. Indeed, the NAC is looking at feasibility studies for a new theater venue with 500-750 seats, Choo added.

The Singapore government is still some way away of achieving its stated goal, but the NAC is confident that the opening of new venues will bring new players to the local scene and help build audience.

Though theater is expected to generate the greatest number of performance and attendance over the coming years, Choo also saw rooms for other art forms which are becoming increasingly popular, like stand-up comedy, jazz and world music such as Latin and Cuban music.