At last

Have I whinged about the state of the Cambodian post system recently? Because I've just had a delivery to my office from the main post office in Phnom Penh of three large envelopes which contained books and stuff sent to me in early February. It's now close to the end of April and frankly, the service is crap. Though at least this time the envelopes hadn't been opened. So what did the postie bring you might ask? Two books from Demaz Baker, namely her A Taste of Cambodian Cuisine, a Khmer cookbook of ingredients and recipes, which she uses in the cooking classes she teaches; and Khmer Legends, seventeen folk tales from her homeland including the story of Wat Nokor and Phnom Pros Phnom Srey (Man and Woman Mountain). From James Rosin came his look back at the classic cult sci-fi television series in the late 60s called The Invaders, which was a big favourite of mine with David Vincent doing his best to warn the world of the invasion of aliens. Okay, you had to suspend belief and the invaders were recognisable by their distorted pinky finger but that was part of the fun. The final envelope contained a DVD of excerpts from Sarah O'Brien's new musical, Winds of Angkor, which she hopes to premiere in Cambodia in the not too distant future. She also sent me a book of images from the musical. My grateful thanks to all three. I also need to get out to Monument Books sometime soon, as I have a list of books that are missing from my library of Cambodia publications and that needs to be addressed.

Sarah's dream stays alive

Amara Chhin-Lawrence and Jean-Baptiste Phou star in the video excerpts of Winds of Angkor

Last year I made mention of a new musical based on Cambodia. It's called Winds of Angkor and has been written by British composer Sarah O'Brien who visited Cambodia in 1999 and 2006. She says; "The piece evolved musically from the initial concept of an intimate love duet to a full-scale theatrical production involving soloists, orchestra, Cambodian musicians and dancers, rhythm section and a state-of-the-art set that features spectacular 3D projections and video content. The challenge was to balance the tenderness of the original letters with the enormity of one of the worst human catastrophes of the 20th Century. Angkor Wat and the surviving temples that rise from the jungle stand witness to the resilience of the Cambodian people and their culture, which ultimately prevailed. Although the story is inspired by tragedy, the musical celebrates the unique, exotic beauty of Cambodia and carries a message of hope to those affected by genocide today." The composer is a classically-trained cellist who has worked with artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Russell Watson, Celine Dion and is a regular member of Yanni's touring company as well as recording a host of TV and movie soundtracks.
The composer's dream is to stage the world premiere in Cambodia. She's already completed extensive pre-production work, which you can see here on video and for which she employed two of the cast, Amara Chhin-Lawrence and Jean-Baptiste Phou, of the incredibly successful Where Elephants Weep, another musical-opera that took Phnom Penh by storm at the end of 2008. It would be another massive leap forwards for Cambodia's artistic development if Sarah O'Brien's vision can come to life here in Cambodia, I'm keeping my fingers firmly crossed. Visit the musical's website.

Winds of Angkor

Western-style musicals based on Cambodia are few and far between as far as I can make out. They are a bit like double-decker buses, none for ages then two come along at once. Phnom Penh recently revelled in the glory of Where Elephants Weep and now it looks as though another musical maybe about to steal the headlines. Winds of Angkor has been written by British composer Sarah O'Brien who visited Cambodia in 1999 and 2006 and says; "The piece evolved musically from the initial concept of an intimate love duet to a full-scale theatrical production involving soloists, orchestra, Cambodian musicians and dancers, rhythm section and a state-of-the-art set that features spectacular 3D projections and video content. The challenge was to balance the tenderness of the original letters with the enormity of one of the worst human catastrophes of the 20th Century. Angkor Wat and the surviving temples that rise from the jungle stand witness to the resilience of the Cambodian people and their culture, which ultimately prevailed. Although the story is inspired by tragedy, the musical celebrates the unique, exotic beauty of Cambodia and carries a message of hope to those affected by genocide today." The composer is a classically-trained cellist who has worked with artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Russell Watson, Celine Dion and is a regular member of Yanni's touring company as well as recording a host of TV and movie soundtracks. I'm not sure of the current status of the project as a world premiere was slated to take place in California sometime this year. When I hear more, you'll be the first to know. Visit the website.