One cross-dresser speaking in a falsetto may arguably be funny, but three such characters are grating on the ears and eyes. That’s what the RWS family comedy musical “Super Mommy” features, which is a strange decision considering drag characters aren’t always appropriate for family-friendly fare.
Localised for audiences in Singapore, the Taiwan musical “Super Mommy (我的妈妈是ENY?)” sees an upper middle-class family’s struggle when they hire a domestic helper to assist with bringing up their child. While this may have been relatable one or two decades ago, the fact that the family is wealthy enough to hire a domestic helper (cost is never an issue with them) means that their grouses never truly feel important, especially in this day and age. Their biggest issue seems to be accepting an outsider into their home — but then, perhaps a more serious problem would have dampened the light-hearted tone of the comedy.
Chriz Tong, who plays the Mother in the musical, puts everyone to shame with her magnificent voice. In fact, her performances outshine everyone else’s, to the point where you wonder why she wasn’t given the lion’s share of the musical numbers. To top it off, even her dramatic moments are authentic, relatable and measured, making her the outstanding performer of the musical. It’s a joy to see her wow audiences every time she’s in the spotlight.
It’s a good thing she’s there, because Jaspers Lai’s Grandma is an irritating, over the top drag queen who’s constantly screaming and flapping around the stage. To be fair, any cross-dressing character is already inherently flamboyant. But the Grandma takes it to a whole new level by being as loud and obnoxious as possible, as if he were trying to mimic a famous Chinese cross-dressing “auntie” whom he’s acted with before. There’s nothing wrong with cross-dressing, but all things in moderation. There’s no self-control of any sort with Jaspers Lai’s performance, which is a big and blustery thing on stage.
Later in the musical, another two cross-dressing grandmothers in even more exaggerated falsettos appear. These are really polarising scenes in the performance — you’ll be thrilled if you like drag queens, but you’ll be terribly irritated if you don’t.
It feels that every other character is there just to rein in the overblown Grandma, because you can’t have two overreacting, screaming characters on stage at the same time (the triple threat of cross-dressing aunties illustrate this problem beautifully).
Xiao Jie/Jeremy, played by Estovan Reizo Cheah, is the son of the Father and Mother and serves as the emotional core of the show. His performance is hampered by some audio issues (perhaps his mike was not put on properly) before the intermission, and a distinct drop in energy after the intermission. The poor boy looks exhausted by the end, but the amount of effort he still puts in is testament to the tremendous maturity and discipline that he possesses for his age.
Plot-wise, the story suffers from some serious structural issues. There’s a jarring tonal shift between intermissions, making you wonder if two different writers were at work writing each half of the musical (which is a strange way to approach it, to say the least). While the first half meanders through some comedy and predictable plot points, the second half loses all tension and becomes a pseudo-commentary on the nature of families in this day and age. Unfortunately, the musical drags on for a few more scenes after it should have ended, causing it to lose steam by the time the final musical number is performed.
“Super Mommy” suffers some localisation issues and an out-of-control actor. Fortunately, the rest of the cast provides a balance for the ludicrousness of Lai’s performance, leading one to wonder how much better the musical would have been if it did not have to rely on cross-dressers to drum up the comedy.
This article was first written for and published on Yahoo Singapore.
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I’m a television scriptwriter who’s written for popular shows like Lion Mums, Crimewatch, Police & Thief, and Incredible Tales. I’m also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find me on social media as Optimarcus and on my site.
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