**Oam and Shang: The two great minds behind the Newton Musical (An Interview) **
By Yanitta Iewwongcharoen (Krapook)
Oam and Shang are the two lead directors and founders of the Newton Musical, an event that will occur within this school year (AY 2022/23), showcasing multiple performances of a musical inspired by Dear Evan Hansen. This will be the first musical to ever be initiated, directed, and performed by the Newton Sixth Form student body, and they have recruited a talented group of actors to portray the different characters in the musical. One of the performances is going to be held in the Siam Pic-Ganesha, the largest theater in Thailand, on December 24th, 2022.
Oam (Nagorn Tantivess) is the Musical Director of the Newton Musical. He is a certified pianist and a music composer. He has participated in many music-related events such as performing in orchestras and leading a band. Subjects that intrigue him include Broadway musicals and film scoring, in which he studies the process of composing melodies through detailed music theory. Furthermore, he has recently portrayed the character Smee from Peter Pan in last year’s creative drama showcase.
Shang (Boonruk Saenghirunwattana) is the Lead Director of the Newton Musical, from Year 12 Medical Track. He has worked on multiple Newton productions such as: Romeo and Juliet (producer and screenwriter), Peter Pan (Peter Pan), and Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Christopher - understudy). He enjoys reading and has taken on piano as a side hobby.
**Krapook: Hello, Oam and Shang. It is an honor to discuss your vision and intentions for the Newton musical with you. May I ask how this idea came about? How did you two meet? How did this relationship develop? **
Oam: It started off with me being obsessed with Broadway musicals like Hamilton. Basically, I had this idea to make a musical show in Newton. Before that, I started making custom scores for musicals, and then I met Shang, who was interested in the musical Hamilton as well. Unfortunately, we did not choose Hamilton for our showcase this year because it was too complicated. However, as we both are familiar with many musicals, we chose Dear Evan Hansen because it’s among the top-tier musicals in our opinion.
Shang: I have always wanted to create a musical performance, but never had the opportunity to do so until I started studying Creative Drama in the Newton Sixth Form, which was a great outlet for us. There were times when I noticed Oam sitting alone in the back of classes, sort of there but not present, asleep most of the time as well. I went in to talk to him after I noticed that he was writing a bunch of sheet music, conjuring notes from memory. I was pretty surprised when I found out that he has perfect pitch. Oam also said to me that he wanted to do Hamilton, and that was the beginning of how this idea snowballed into The Newton Musical. Though Hamilton would be too hard to work on in a high school setting given limited resources, we thought Dear Evan Hansen would be an appropriate and interesting musical for this environment.
**K: Can you explain in detail what this project is? What are the plans and dates for each showcase? **
O: This project is a stage play, and music is involved in the storytelling. We are simply trying to combine the two parts together harmoniously. The plan is to have the two showcases in December: one at Newton and the other at the Siam Pic Ganesha theater.
**K: Why have you chosen to make a musical? Is there anything in this medium of storytelling that shines out for you? **
S: In musicals, when emotions in a scene build up to the point where they could no longer be contained in dialogue, one bursts into song. That’s how musicals work. I’ve always liked the idea of being able to burst into song whenever what I feel is beyond normal speech. I feel like singing is one of the most effective ways to encapsulate a character’s feelings. Musicals require mastery in both acting and singing. One has to exercise and exhibit techniques from both branches to put on an exemplary musical show.
O: I wholeheartedly agree with what Shang said.
**K: Why, out of all the Broadway musicals available to choose from, did you decide to sacrifice a large part of your time to create a production inspired by Dear Evan Hansen? **
S: I don’t have a life. (laughs)
O: We are teenagers, so I think it’s a story that is very relatable to us – and people within our age range. The concept of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses might be more common than you think.
S: We chose this also because it’s still one of the easier musicals to do for novices like us high school students. And to build on what Oam said, it’s quite relatable to some extent. Some people might feel like they’re not heard, or they don’t matter. I want to send a message to all the people who have felt like they could disappear at any moment, and nobody would notice. I feel like the song You Will Be Found from Dear Evan Hansen is the pinnacle of this message, and one of the main reasons why I chose to do this musical: to send a message to all the unheard people. I wish it would be able to shine a light on these quiet struggles and hopefully help a lot of people.
**K: What are the differences between the original Dear Evan Hansen musical and Shoam’s version? **
O: It’s more simplified.
S: It is more focused and concise. We cut out some songs like If I could tell her and _Only Us. _But we emphasized some of the lesser known songs that were not spotlighted in the movie adaptation like _Anybody Have A Map? _and _Good For You. _
**K: Oam, what do you look for musicians? Do proficiency and music grades matter, or does artistic vision matter more? **
O: I’ll say musical grades are more important in certain aspects. They are both important, actually: music grades and artistic vision. When it comes to musicals, performing individually greatly differs from performing as a band. Musicians have to communicate with the actors and the band members, and even themselves. In large-scale musicals like these, they need a lot of focus. The difficulty of the songs might be concerning to some people; but if the musicians can master communication, it doesn’t really matter whether they have passed all the grades. Good music can be played even with the least musical experience, if one does it the right way.
**K: Shang, what makes a good actor? **
S: I feel like a good actor stems from one core thing: belief. One must be able to put oneself in the character’s shoes and understand why they’re saying what they’re saying. All the emotion behind the lines, nuances, body posture, movements – they must know exactly who they are playing, and they have to express that belief through their words to make the audience feel for them. They have to be sympathetic to the character. If they’re singing something, they have to know exactly why their character is singing those words. It’s not like singing random words to a random audience. Musical shows are like a medium that has the potential to convey emotions through songs and music. It would be a waste to not utilize all the opportunities we have ready for us.
**K: Oam, can you describe your process in recording and scoring the musical? **
O: I started with listening to all the songs of the musical on loop for days. Then, I got hold of the vocal selection scores, and I started sight reading and breaking it down into separate sections, starting with the piano part. I came back to listen to the official soundtrack and tried to transcribe the other tracks such as drums and bass. Once I put these all into one big project, I sent them to professionals to do the scoring, which is turning the computer data into paper.
**K: To quote one of your messages, you said ‘I was thinking how insanely lucky I am that I got all of you guys to help make this project.’ Shang, what do you look for in a teammate and co-worker? **
S: I stand by this quote: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” All the people I chose to work with on this production have some kind of love and passion for the project. They all know exactly what they’re in for and why they're doing it. For instance, Oam and Yatch love to make music. The other directors have their own interests as well, like Krapook who enjoys writing and is interested in literature. I have recruited a variety of people and skill sets so that they can all blend in our team nicely and manage everything in the production into one united piece of art. Besides, everybody here is ultimately working towards the same goal. They are not forced to work or are in it for just their name and portfolio. If you love what you do, you don’t have to work a day in your life.
**K: What is your approach in directing this musical? Do you already have a vision in mind? Can you describe it for us? **
O: I can imagine how I want the actors to interact with the setting like using up the stage, flickering lights.
S: Our production won’t be that serious. I feel like my aim is to make it fun for everyone involved, and the energy and love for the project will spill into the audience itself. I don’t expect the final product to be absolutely perfect – Broadway-level perfect. In the end, it’s about the process and what we learn as a team and just the experience of working together and having fun making the musical. But if you’re talking about the scope that I’m thinking about, I see: singers on stage, some advanced blocking, some set production and live music from Oam.
**K: Did you have any difficulties in the process of making the musical? What were the most difficult things you had to face? **
O: The music part. As I said before, the songs are pretty difficult for many people, even me. So, you must get past the point where you can learn at a decent pace. Also, many of the musicians here used to perform solo, so some of them may find it difficult to communicate. Though, that is the most important thing; communication between actors on stage even without conductors. It can be super hard to focus. We have concerns about cueing, too. I can say that it will be very difficult to pinpoint the exact beat when each person ought to start playing. The songs in this musical are largely dependent on communication.
S: Like Oam said, the music in this musical is quite advanced both in the sense of music and the singers on stage. I’d say one of the most difficult things so far is finding the right people for our production. There are some insanely high notes that we can’t expect our actors to hit unless they were able to hit them beforehand, so we have to find people who have potential to reach those high notes. It’s also a tradeoff – good singers are sometimes bad actors. Good actors are sometimes bad singers. We cannot expect high school students to be able to excel in both parts. It’s a challenge to get people to be well rounded in both.
O: On the topic regarding singers and actors, some of them have to sing chorus lines. If they’re not trained, it will be really confusing for them because it’s not the melody they’re accustomed to. They have to perform on stage as well. It’s going to be quite challenging indeed.
S: Furthermore, Dear Evan Hansen, is quite a character-driven story with extremely complex and emotionally mature characters. Our actors are expected to sing and convey character nuances at the same time – sometimes without using dialogue – which is extremely challenging.
**K: Which character do you relate to the most in the musical and why? **
O: I feel like I relate to Connor. I’m a barely in the background kind of guy. I used to be, though. I think maybe sometimes I do have anger issues like him. (laughs) I can’t really control myself sometimes. I’m also quite socially awkward. Even so, coming up to do all these things like the Newton Musical really helped me build my confidence.
T (cameo): You still matter.
S: For me, I’d say Evan because his waves don’t get returned. (laughs) If you’re marked as a nobody, then no one will hear you, no matter how hard you shout.
**K: Shang, after listening to your analysis of the musical, what are your interpretations of Evan’s motivations? What do you think drives his need to fit in with the Murphys? **
S: Like I said, a lot of the time, Evan is a very passive character. He has always been used to taking the backseat in his own life, like the very first lyric he sings: “I’ve learnt to slam on the brake / Before I even turn the key.” This story is about him finally learning to trust himself and taking control of his own life. A big part of that comes from the Murphys: when they are willing to listen to say. This contributes greatly to his character growth. This musical is like a coming-of-age story for Evan.
**K: Which adaptation of the story is your favorite? The novel? The Broadway musical? The movie? Why? **
S: The Broadway musical hands down. The set, the music, the original cast, the newer cast…they’re all phenomenal. It was also designed to be a Broadway musical initially. There is no other way to do the story justice other than making it a stage play. I recommend people to check it out.
O: I agree with Shang. The aesthetics of getting to feel the vibe and grandiosity of the theater. I think hearing the music coming out of the pit is very enjoyable. I think it’s a lot more different than sitting in normal theaters where music comes out from the sides or speakers. I think the way Broadway musicals project music is much more natural.
K: Yeah, every time I listen to the Original Soundtrack, I get goosebumps. Imagine what hearing it live can do… I’m looking forward to hearing what you come up with, Oam.
K: How is this project different from the other Creative Drama projects The Newton Sixth form has done in the past?
S: We’re the first musical to be performed by Newton students.
O: It really started off from our ideas.
S: It all came from us.
**K: Shang, You once said that you were ‘so proud that somehow an idea between two people managed to become this.’ How does it feel to see your work develop to such a large scale? **
S: I’m definitely proud. It’s not at all what I envisioned myself doing in Year 12. I have dedicated a lot of my time and effort into making this musical happen, and it feels very refreshing to see that a lot of people are helping us achieve that very same dream we had half a year ago.
**K: Lastly, for those who are interested in coming to witness this grand spectacle, when will tickets be available, and how do you plan to promote the musical? **
S: You can come to see us at Siam Pic-Ganesha theater. We will perform a section of the musical with Newton’s Christmas Carol show.
O: Also, come to our showcase at Newton. It is in June.
_Performance dates are subject to change. This information will be updated regularly. _
**K: Thank you very much, Oam and Shang, for participating in our interview. You can look forward to seeing your musical mentioned in our newspaper from time to time. I am eager to see the finished product. I wish you good luck! **