Young talents wanted for ChildAid’s 20th anniversary show
Organised by BT and ST, the charity show continues to raise the ante, this time with a fantasy musical set in a world where children’s dreams converge
MARKING its 20th anniversary in 2024, annual charity event ChildAid is mounting a fantasy musical about a magical world of children’s dreams.
The call is going out to Singapore-based performers aged six to 19 and who sing, act, dance or play a musical instrument, to audition for parts in the show, which will be staged on Nov 29 and 30 at Esplanade Theatre.
To submit an entry for an audition, young talents will need to record a video of their performance, upload it to YouTube, and then go to this link, or scan the QR code below. The entry must be submitted by 7 pm on Jul 14.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to the audition, conducted in person between Jul 19 and 21, and selected performers will go through a three-day workshop in September. Combined rehearsals start on Oct 28.
This year’s show will mark the 20th year of the annual charity show organised by The Business Times and The Straits Times. The show, titled The Dream Emporium, is set in the enchanting realm of the Consortium of Wishes, where children’s dreams are sorted and made real through song, dance and even artificial intelligence (AI) interactivity.
However, when the consortium workers try to rework the algorithm, the AI malfunctions – and only human love and ingenuity can restore its magic.
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The show is led by co-creative directors Joshua Quek and Amni Musfirah, with guidance from former ChildAid creative director Jeremiah Choy. Produced by NoonTalk Media, it aims to raise funds for the BT Budding Artists Fund and ST School Pocket Money Fund. The BT fund supports artistically talented youth from less-privileged households, and the ST one funds the lunch and transport costs of children from low-income families.
Wong Wei Kong, editor-in-chief of the English/Malay/Tamil Media Group of SPH Media, said: “Twenty years ago, the desire to help aspirations come alive was what propelled the two newspapers to organise the first ChildAid concert to raise funds for children from low-income families. Today, the concert has become a marquee event in SPH Media’s charity efforts, drawing performers and audiences from far and wide. May we never stop imagining what’s possible when heart and hand come together.”
Chen Huifen, editor of BT, said: “For this anniversary edition, we didn’t just want to look back to celebrate our past achievements. We also wanted to look forward, to see how the show might be shaped by future trends. For this reason, we decided to apply AI in parts of the concert, such as in music creation and costume design. This way, we expose our young talents to certain aspects of the generative technology.”
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Over the years, ChildAid has experimented with different formats such as online presentations and a dinner-theatre experience. For this edition, it will stage three shows at Esplanade Theatre, one of the country’s largest performance venues, “so that we can celebrate this significant milestone with as many Singaporeans as possible”, said Chen.
Co-creative director Amni, a full-time musician who has performed in four ChildAid concerts – starting in 2008 when she was 14 – said the 20th edition will also take the opportunity to honour the previous ChildAid creative Iskandar Ismail, the concert’s long-term creative director and her mentor. He died in 2014.
She said: “We’re creating this concert in partial honour of his incredible legacy. Iskandar was a champion of the two charities, and took a lot of time and care to nurture young talents... That’s something we carry forth in ChildAid 2024.”
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