In the spirit of the National Day season in August, I got the chance to watch the LKY Musical produced by the Singapore Repertory Theatre at Marina Bay Sands. Capturing the early days of Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew’s ascension to power, The LKY Musical was a welcome dramatisation of perhaps one of our only exciting chapters in modern political history (not that I am complaining).

The LKY Musical follows the main character Lee Kuan Yew, starting with his graduation from Raffles Institution, then through World War 2 and his time in Cambridge, and then finally following his time as leader of the People’s Action Party. The most dramatic elements are in his battle for electoral support with Lim Chin Siong, the eventual leader of the alleged Communist-leaning party Barisan Socialis, especially against the backdrop of wanting to secure a merger with the Federation of Malaysia. There are also some secondary stories, notably in the personal soliloquies of Mrs Lee as well as in the more down-to-earth lives of some of the residents in Singapore.

Some of my friends described The LKY Musical as a “Hamilton-wannabe” production, but I could not see that aspiration in the musical. Rather, it felt sincerely Dick Lee-esque with more forgettable ballads and patriotic numbers that served the plot rather than necessarily entertaining singles that would be stuck as earworms later. I did enjoy learning more about our history through the musical, even as someone who counts himself already slightly more aware of the nuances of our past.

However, while the musical tries to paint a more relatable image of the mythical national founder, it eventually does not concede his humanity. The musical does not do much for his relationships, even despite giving Mrs Lee more screen time than most people would expect. His children are missing from sight, and his conversations with everyone else are highly political in nature, not showing more of his heart and soul. Perhaps he was indeed so one-dimensional but I doubt that such a figure would be. Even Mrs Lee admits that she sees herself as following him from behind, which is a message that will play less well each year forward.

Despite the lacking characterisation, the actual production value of the musical is impressive. The set is a multi-storey bamboo structure-like building and is suitable for the showing of multiple activities at once. It also becomes a convenient backdrop for projections of historical moments that are perhaps too trivial to be actually acted out. It was quite entertaining to be able to follow the story through the various moving parts.

This year’s production of the musical is actually the second iteration with the first premiering seven years ago. There are not that many differences between the productions, except that Mrs Lee is now played by Kit Chan instead of Sharon Au. Having said that, I actually would like to see how different productions of this book evolve the characters and storytelling. I think there is a lot more that can be done with the story and would be excited to watch a more committed retelling.

Here are my ratings:

Script: 3/5

Performance: 4/5

Production: 4/5

Overall: 3.67/5