Meet Happy and Bee Rogers – a pair of sisters who were inspired by a W!LD RICE pantomime to become actors themselves. Happy, 11, and Bee, 6, joined our FIRST STAGE programme last year with Jack & The Bean-Sprout!, and are thrilled to be returning for Monkey Goes West. We chat with Happy and Bee about auditioning, rehearsing, and getting onstage.
How did you decide you wanted to be part of a W!LD RICE pantomime?
Happy: We watched Hansel & Gretel, and we had so much fun. Our parents are friends with Uncle Ivan and they asked him how we could take part in future pantomimes. And so we auditioned for Jack & The Bean-Sprout! last year.
Bee: It was fun! Very fun! Awesome fun! And the best part is, when I grow up, I’m going to be an actor too!
Happy: We both want to be actresses when we grow up.
What’s your favourite thing about being in a pantomime?
Happy: I like that the actors get to interact with the audience.
Bee: Me too! Meeting the actors was exciting!
Happy: Last year, they were very nice. But this year, they are really, really really nice! They’re extra nice. They interact with us, they joke with us. We both really love the actors this year. They’re really nice to us.
What’s it like working backstage with all these other kids?
Bee: Cool!
Happy: Because we’re kids, we do make noise and we do get scolded a lot. But, pretty much everybody who’s here auditioned because they love performing: acting, singing and dancing. When all of us are onstage, we have so much fun.
Is it nice for you to come back and see some familiar faces again?
Bee: Yes! I’m so glad I get to see Chloe again; she’s one of my best friends!
What do you like about Monkey Goes West?
Happy: One of the songs is called Master Of Disguise, and it’s a rock-and-roll song sung by the Monkey King.
Bee: That’s my favourite song, because it’s so cool! I’m in the scene and I get to nod my head and clap along! I also love Boy On Fire. Kimberly is my favourite actress in the show!
Happy: I love the whole show, but I especially love the plot. It’s like when I watched Hansel & Gretel, which is a very classic story. But they shaped it into such a local tale. They changed it to make it just right for Singaporeans and the people watching the show. I thought that was so cool because I’d never seen anything like it! It’s amazing.
How do you guys learn your choreography and steps?
Bee: The man who teaches us dance moves is very strict!
Happy: But we’re kids, like I said, and if he’s not strict, we’ll be monkeys and jump around!
Bee: Not me!
Happy: At home, we’ll practise our steps. Or we’ll be at dinner and one of us will just start humming a song from the show.
Bee: And then that starts it all!
Happy: Sometimes, when I’m at school with my friends, I just break out singing!
What’s it like working with Uncle Sebastian?
Happy: Last year, it was Uncle Ivan and this year it’s Uncle Sebastian. It’s just as fun this year! They’re both very, very good directors. They both put so much effort into the show and they really have fun while doing the job.
You remember seeing Uncle Sebastian in Hansel & Gretel, right? He was the witch in Hansel & Gretel, the one with the big oven he shoved kids into!
Happy: We didn’t know that!
Bee: I thought that was a girl!
Happy: I knew it was a man, but I didn’t know it was him. Oh my goodness!
Do your friends come and see you perform in the show?
Happy: Last year, one of my friends did come and she really liked it.
Bee: Last year, my friend came and she thought it was amazing! And she’s coming again this year!
What have you learnt from being in the pantomime?
Happy: This opportunity given to us by W!LD RICE is, as my mother says, “a stepping stone to Broadway”! We both want to be actresses so this is really a very good experience for us to start our careers. It’s very professional – everyone treats us like professionals; they don’t treat us like children.
Bee: I’ve learned that I love being onstage – and stealing the spotlight!
What was it like performing for a live audience for the first time?
Happy: I was very nervous because I had to do a Chinese poem onstage last year. Before my scene, I was so nervous. I had stage fright and I was backstage practising again and again and again. But, as soon as I got on and started the poem, I thought, ‘This is so fun and I just love it so much!’
Finally, is there anything you’d like to say about being in the W!LD RICE pantomime?
Happy: Thank you, W!LD RICE, for giving us this chance!
Bee: W!LD RICE is the best inspiration for me to become an actor… and stay in the spotlight!
