THE Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (APA) will celebrate its 10th anniversary in Broadway-style - staging its biggest musical ever, one that will sweep the audience into the world of gamblers, jolly tap-dancers and dandy songs of a colourful era.
Guys and Dolls , the fifth longest-running Broadway musical of the '50s and also a hit film starring Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando, will involve over 100 APA students from four faculties (School of Drama, Dance, Music and Technical Arts) performing in Cantonese.
The musical is a major undertaking for the students, as it requires more rehearsal time, 300 hours in total, and demands over 70 characters.
'Not many academies can produce such a big musical,' said Lam Lap-sam, APA's senior drama lecturer. 'We want to give more students the learning experience through such a professional work.' Mr Lam is co-directing Dolls with Chung King-fai, APA Dean of Drama.
'It is quite a challenge for those who have not had musical training before,' Mr Lam added.
Dolls comes to the Hong Kong stage at a time when it is enjoying a successful revival in New York. Set in 1948 Broadway, it is a gambling story with the search for money a prevailing theme.
There is also unexpected romance. Nathan Detroit, the organiser of the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York, bets diehard gambler Sky Masterson that he cannot make the next girl he sees fall in love with him.