The Phantom Returns!

Hi Huneybees,

SO EXCITING! After catching so many musicals, my dream of watching Andrew Lloyd Webber's -  THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is finally coming true coming 2019! I've seen the drama version and the many movie versions in different languages, and every time I catch this hauntingly beautiful love story, I can't stop my tears from flowing...

The world’s most popular musical, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA makes a long-awaited return to the Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands for a limited season from 24 April 2019. Tickets are now on sale through SISTIC and Marina Bay Sands ticketing. Have you gotten your tickets already?

The Andrew Lloyd Webber blockbuster has won over 70 major theatre awards, including seven Tony’s on Broadway and four Olivier Awards in the West End. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA became the longest running show in Broadway history on January 9, 2006 when it celebrated its 7,486th performance, surpassing the previous record holder “Cats”. On January 1, 2018, it celebrated its 13,000th performance and later that month on January 24, the Broadway production celebrated an amazing 30 years on Broadway.

Based on the classic novel Le Fantôme de L’Opéra by Gaston Leroux, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA tells the tale of a disfigured musical genius known only as the Phantom who haunts the depths of the Paris Opera House. Mesmerised by the talent and beauty of a young soprano, Christine, the Phantom lures her as his protégé and falls fiercely in love with her. Unaware of Christine’s love for Raoul, the Phantom’s obsession sets the scene for a dramatic turn of events where jealousy, madness and passions collide.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, which opened at Her Majesty's Theatre in London’s West End on October 9, 1986, starred Michael Crawford as the Phantom and Sarah Brightman as Christine. It is produced by Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group. THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is presented in Singapore by Base Entertainment Asia and produced by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions.

“Base Entertainment Asia is proud to be presenting the most successful musical of all time in Singapore. PHANTOM has been phenomenally well-received for its brilliant casting, classic staging and sweeping romantic score wherever it has went and we are confident that it will continue to thrill audiences here.” --- Chantal Prudhomme, the Chief Executive Officer of Base Entertainment Asia. 

With 130 cast, crew and orchestra members, jaw-dropping scenery, breathtaking special effects and more than 230 costumes by the late international designer late Maria Björnson, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA contains some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most famous and stirring music, including The Phantom of the Opera, Think of Me and Music of the Night.

TICKETING DETAILS

SEASON FROM 24 APRIL 2019
TICKET PRICE FROM $75* * EXCLUDES THE BOOKING FEE OF SGD$4 PER TICKET

PERFORMANCE TIMES 
TUESDAY TO FRIDAY 8.00PM
SATURDAY 2.00PM & 8.00PM
SUNDAY   1.00PM & 6.00PM

BOOKINGS 

INTERNET: www.MarinaBaySands.com/ticketing or www.sistic.com.sg

PHONE:  +65 6688 8826

IN PERSON AT: Marina Bay Sands Box O ces Museum, Theatre, SkyPark, Retail Mall and Hotel Tower 1 Lobby.

CORPORATE & GROUP BOOKINGS: Base Entertainment Asia has an exclusive concierge service for all Partnerships, Sponsorships, Corporate & Group Bookings. BasXclusive specialises in dedicated events including the ‘Money Can’t Buy Experiences,’ which pioneered and integrated hospitality with the best in live entertainment, focusing on personalising the needs of each individual client to curate the most memorable and one-off experiences at their theatre. For more information, please contact BaseXclusive@baseentertainment.com.sg.

For more information please log onto www.MarinaBaySands.com. 

Photo Credits: The Phantom of the Opera World Tour

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Our Disneyland Travel Companion - The LG G7+ ThinQ

Hi Huneybees,

On my recent trip to Hong Kong Disneyland, most of the photos were taken simply with the LG G7+^ThinQ phone.  It makes a pretty good traveling companion to have, that we ditched our SLDR for it, just coz it's so much lighter and we can still get equally good quality photos and videos, whilst having loads of fun within the theme park!

The phone has a nice grip with infinity screen, but the camera mode always plays the most important part when it comes for me to select a smartphone; and something special to LG's series of smartphones is that the rear camera on the phone that allows photos to be taken in the usual Standard and Super Wide Angle configurations.

Who wants a cut off castle pic right?

See! Not only is the whole castle captured, you can also even see more of my OOTD.

It gets super crowded within Disneyland and sometimes from where my hubby is standing to snap my photos, the background can get snipped off. So that's when the Super Wide Angle comes into play, letting us snap the amazing view in Disneyland and capture more of the wonderful fairytale land. It's super useful when snapping breathtaking sceneries too!

The LG G7+ ^ThinQ also features an 8MP front camera that's good for selfies and wefies, but what's new is the AI features of the cameras. 

Flicking between camera modes and filters can be such a hassle, but with the AI features, the camera can automatically detect what you are shooting and recommend the rightful modes, without overcrowding the screen, allowing us to snap our picture quickly.

As the night falls, we were preparing for the special night event at Disneyland and thanks to the new Super Bright Camera, we managed can take photos even in low light situations. See how V from BTS demonstrates it above and my photo comparison below.

Taken with X brand phone

Taken with the LG G7+ ThinQ

Images can be brightened up to four times more than typical photos shot in dim light. Through the combination of pixel binning and software processing, the AI algorithm adjusts the camera settings automatically when shooting in low light, so that we can still capture our wefies even when the area around us was dark.

Something else you can play with is also the Live Photo mode that records one second before and after the shutter is pressed for snippets of unexpected moments or expressions that would normally be missed, or beautify your photos with the Stickers mode. 

It uses face recognition to generate fun 2D and 3D overlays such as sunglasses and headbands that can be viewed directly on the display. We are at Disneyland after all, how can we not make all our pictures all cute and cartoony right?!

Though in Disneyland, everyone can very much converse in English and Mandarin but something to note about this smartphone is the Google Lens feature offering a new way to search for information using the latest in AI and computer vision.

I was able to retrieve information on objects such as landmarks, plants, animals, books as well as identifying text, just by pointing. You can also visit websites, add a business card to contacts, add events to the calendar or look up an item on a restaurant menu.

Located just below the volume is a button that launches the LG G7+^ThinQ ’s AI functions. A single tap of this button will launch the Google Assistant while two quick taps will launch Google Lens, a first on any phone. You can also hold down the button to start talking to the Google Assistant and even when in Disneyland, a place that's crowded and noisy, I can still get Google Assistant's attention.

All thanks to the Super Far Field Voice Recognition (SFFVR) and the smartphone’s highly sensitive microphone, Google Assistant is able to recognize voice commands up to five meters away. The smartphone’s sophisticated Voice AI technology utilizes two integrated microphones to filter out ambient noise to recognize the user’s voice and when paired with the smartphone’s Boombox Speaker feature, SFFVR turns the smartphone into a home AI speaker and can respond to voice commands from across the living or kitchen.

Another thing I liked about the smartphone is that I can easily view my screen under bright sunlight. LG’s new LCD technology, Super Bright Display, allows me to use the phone comfortably easily under direct sunlight with a brightness up to an industry-leading 1,000 nit, displaying 100 percent DCI-P3 color gamut. I didn't have to "shelter" my phone or go under the shade just to access my phone apps.

And depending on the type of content, the display can be set to six different viewing modes: Auto, Eco, Cinema, Sports, Game and Expert. For instance in Auto mode, the phone automatically analyzes the content of games or photos and optimizes the display and power consumption. The user can finetune the image even further by adjusting the screen temperature and RGB levels individually.

All in all, I think the LG G7+^ThinQ makes a decent smartphone to get by with its amazing camera functions and modes, expandable storage, an excellent mono speaker, a vivid and crisp display and also lasting battery power. We were snapping pictures and videos, connected to Wi-Fi throughout the day and I still had a good whole 20% of battery life left when I got back into the hotel room! I didn't even get to recharge it for the whole day! 

The LG G7+^ThinQ is retailing at S$1,198 at all LG authorized retailers, coming in New Platinum Gray, New Aurora Black and New Moroccan Blue. For more information about the LG G7+^ThinQ: http://www.lg.com/sg/mobiles. I shall leave you here with more specifics of the phone and a video of the special water parade we have taken with the phone! 

Key Specifications:

·     Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 845 Mobile Platform

·     Display: 6.1-inch QHD+ 19.5:9 FullVision Super Bright Display (3120 x 1440 / 564ppi)

·     Memory:

    - LG G7+ ^ThinQ: 6GB LPDDR4x RAM / 128GB UFS 2.1 ROM / MicroSD (up to 2TB)

·     Camera:
- Rear Dual:16MP Super Wide Angle (F1.9 / 107°) / 16MP Standard Angle (F1.6 / 71°)

    - Front: 8MP (F1.9)

·     Battery: 3000mAh

·     OS: Android 8.0 Oreo

·     Size: 153.2 x 71.9 x 7.9mm

·     Weight: 162g

·     Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 5.0 BLE / NFC / USB Type-C 2.0 (3.1 compatible)

·     Colors: New Platinum Gray / New Aurora Black / New Moroccan Blue

·     Others: Super Bright Display / New Second Screen / AI CAM / Super Bright Camera / Super Far Field Voice Recognition / Boombox Speaker / Google Lens / AI Haptic / Hi-Fi Quad DAC / DTS:X 3D Surround Sound / IP68 Water and Dust Resistance / HDR10 / Google Assistant Key / Face Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / Qualcomm^® Quick Charge™ 3.0 Technology / Wireless Charging / FM Radio

Don’t forget to stay tuned to my blog / like my blog’s Facebook page / follow me @huney_84 on Twitter & Instagram  for the latest updates!

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Matilda The Musical Is Coming To Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands

Hi Huneybees,

Acclaimed as ‘the standout musical of the decade’ by the UK’s Sunday Times, the multi award-winning Matilda The Musical will make its debut in Singapore from 21 February 2019 at the Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands. Inspired by the beloved book by the incomparable Roald Dahl, Matilda The Musical has taken both London’s West End and Broadway by storm, garnering five-star reviews across the board. Winner of over 85 international awards, including 16 for Best Musical, Matilda is now in its seventh year in London where it continues to delight audiences of all ages, and has been seen by more than 8 million people. The Singapore season marks the first time the hit musical has ventured to Asia, having toured to Australia and New Zealand from 2015-2017. 

Armed with vivid sets and castings, the musical will be bringing the magic of Roald Dahl’s fictional world to Marina Bay Sands from 21 February 2019.

Matilda The Musical was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and played to sold-out audiences at the RSC’s The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in England for 12 weeks from November 2010 to January 2011. It transferred to the West End later that year and swept the board at the 2012 Olivier Awards, winning a record-breaking seven awards. As well as winning the award for Best New Musical, the four young actresses who originated and shared the title role made history by taking home the collective award for Best Actress in a Musical. The New York production of Matilda opened in 2013 at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre to rapturous reviews, was awarded the accolade ‘#1 Show of the Year’ from TIME Magazine, and won five Tony Awards®. 

The musical follows the tale of young prodigy Matilda Wormwood as she navigates the ups and downs of her childhood. Namely, being bullied by her TV-addicted parents and her formidable school headmistress Miss Trunchbull for being too smart. 

As she grows up, she begins to resist the challenges and obstacles presented to her, learning that sometimes you have to be a "little bit naughty" in order to get through life. 

Seeking solace in the library in a world of her imagination and creation, Matilda forms strong bonds with adults such as Librarian Mrs Phelps and her class teacher Miss Honey. Together they give her the confidence to embrace her special gift and individuality which is needed to reclaim her life.

Featuring a smart and witty original score by Olivier Award winner Tim Minchin, alongside an exciting book by Tony Award®-winning playwright Dennis Kelly, and ingenious staging by Tony Award® winning director Matthew Warchus and Tony Award® winning choreographer Peter Darling, the musical adaptation is one of the most successful British musicals of modern times. The production has sets and costumes by Tony Award® winner Rob Howell, with orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Tony Award® winner Hugh Vanstone, and sound by Simon Baker.

 With an incredible cast of young performers, Matilda inspires and delights audiences both young and old. The timeless story of a small girl's determination to challenge those above her for the greater good, combined with Roald Dahl's signature wit and naughtiness, makes this an unforgettable West End musical.

Tickets are already on sale at marinabaysands.com and all SISTIC channels. These are on a first come, first served basis, so better grab them quick to experience the magic first-hand! For detailed background information on the show and the characters please visit: www.matildathemusical.com.

Matilda The Musical
Venue: Sands Theatre @ Marina Bay Sands 
From: 21 February 2019
Showtimes: Tue - Fri: 7.30pm | Sat: 2pm & 7.30pm | Sun: 1pm & 6pm
Prices: Tue - Thur: $68 - $178 | Fri - Sun: $68 - $198 (excluding $4 ticketing fee)

Book your tickets for Matilda The Musical today!

Don’t forget to stay tuned to my blog / like my blog’s Facebook page / follow me @huney_84 on Twitter & Instagram  for the latest updates!

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They Are The True Heroes Of Comic Con Singapore STGCC 2018!

Hi Huneybees,

Even though the first day of Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention (STGCC) ended a few hours ago, yours truly Queen Bee and I were already looking forward to the second/final day of Singapore's very own Comic Con while we reminisced about the great things that had happened today, as well as the things we had yet to experience and buy!

With so many famous international illustrators, creators, and voice actors making appearance in Singapore to spread their love for arts with like-minded fans, coupled with tons of activities happening both on and off stage, including many exclusive merchandises for sales, STGCC has once again reaffirmed my belief as the best anime, comics and art convention here.

While the charms of Simone Legno, Agnes Garbowska, Frank Cho, and David Finch (just to name a few) attracted crowds to STGCC 2018, I truly believe common folk like you and me who came dressed - aka cosplay - for such occasion are the true heroes that really spice up the atmosphere to make STGCC so awesome!

Whether you came meticulously dressed as your favourite comics/anime/gaming characters, or simply wore a character hat or mask, I truly applauds you for the amount of effects and a good degree of courage (from scrutinizing eyes of the public) to do such that!

While the percentage of cosplayers may be relative small locally, they are certainly growing with emergence of online shopping and Gen Z.  Together with Queen Bee, we took this opportunity to dedicate this article to "all levels" of cosplayers that appeared at STGCC on day 1.

Thank you for making our day!

Don’t forget to stay tuned to my blog / like my blog’s Facebook page / follow me @huney_84 on Twitter & Instagram  for the latest updates!

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