The Stage Is Set

Independent producer Tan Kheng Hua brings back the sexy, sixties Singapore with Tropicana the Musical 

- Hashirin Nurin Hashimi

Whether it’s written down or etched in our minds, we all have a bucket list of all the things we want to achieve at some point in our lives. Tan Kheng Hua has hers stored on her computer in a folder labelled “Dreams” that she started well over 25 years ago. The actress and independent producer explains, “I’ve put in all sorts of ideas, in varying degrees of completion. Some are just one or two liners, others full treatments; a lot have made it to the theatre stage or been made into television programmes.”

Some ideas, however, languish in said folder for an indefinite length of time. Tropicana was one of them. “Many people don’t know that Tropicana actually existed in Singapore from 1968 to 1989. It was Southeast Asia’s first entertainment complex to feature a Las Vegas-style cabaret theatre, restaurants and nightclubs. Big stars such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and even Frank Sinatra walked through its doors. Tropicana embodied the creative spirit of the 1960s and I’ve always thought that it would make for a very good musical,” enthuses Tan.