Chang & Eng
| Chang & Eng | |
|---|---|
| Music | Ken Low |
| Lyrics | Ken Low |
| Book | Ming Wong |
| Productions | Singapore 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, Asian Tour 2002 |
Chang & Eng is a Singaporean musical theatre production directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham based on the lives of the Siamese twins, Chang and Eng Bunker. The music and lyrics were by Ken Low, with the book by Ming Wong, costumes by Niphon Tuntiyothin, set design by Thoranisorn Pitikul, lighting by Thio Lay Hoon, orchestral arrangement by Iskandar Ismail and choral direction by Babes Condes. The musical was first performed in 1997, rerun in subsequent years until 2002 and has since travelled around Asia. Performers such as RJ Rosales, Robin Goh and Edmund Toh have been cast as Chang and Eng, and writer-composer Ken Low has a cameo as the King of Siam in some productions.
Chang and Eng also became the first English Language Musical to be performed in the People's Republic of China between 9th - 11 December 1997 at the Century Theatre, Beijing.
The musical focuses on the lives of Chang and Eng, from their troubled childhood, seen as outcasts by children in Siam but reassured by their mother Nok, to their journey to New York as exhibits managed by Captain Abel Coffin and their settling down with Adelaide and Sallie Yates in North Carolina.
Act 1
The musical begins in New York, 1829 where curious crowds gather to witness a public display of Chang and Eng, the Siamese twins joined at the chest (Eighth Wonder of the World). The twins' manager, Captain Abel Coffin, lures the crowds in as he prepares to unveil the exhibit, billed as the Eight Wonder of the World, for the first time. Backstage, before the exhibition, the twins discuss their future in America, Chang with visions of grandeur and Eng with apprehension (From Now On).
We are then transported to the twins' childhood in Siam, 1819. At the age of eight, Young Chang and Young Eng are two healthy boys who have managed to adapt to living as conjoined twins. However, they are constantly mocked by other children and not accepted by them (Stuck Together). As a severe cholera epidemic breaks out in Siam, the twins are denounced as an evil omen. The twins' mother Nok continues to love, protect and reassure Chang and Eng through their difficulties (Mai Phen Rai (Never Mind)).
Ten years later, Chang and Eng have become shrewd teenage businessmen, selling duck eggs to provide for their family. Their lives take an unexpected turn when they are summoned to appear before the King Rama III of Siam in the Royal Palace who is delighted to meet them and sends them as envoys to the Kingdom of Cochin China (Pride and Joy).
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