You've signed up for our FREE performing arts classes at Urbanscapes, now get to know who the instructors will be. Stay tuned, we'll have the schedules up soon!
Phoon Chi Ho: Stand Up Comedy
Phoon Chi Ho has NO talent, but he is VERY hardworking.
Thanks to his hardworking-ness, Chi Ho is a comedy promoter, an actor, and a freelance scriptwriter. But, he works the hardest as a stand-up comedian.
A well-known name in the Malaysia’s comedy circuit, Chi Ho is part of the Malaysian Association of Chinese Comedians. His hardwork had allowed him to create comedy nights like Comedy @ ChinaHouse, Penang and Rush Hour Comedy @ KL Live; helped establish Time Out KL Comedy Thursday; co-wrote a 13-episode English sitcom and performed comedy at countless club and corporate events.
Charity Lee: Singing
Charity was nominated for the Best Solo Performance (Vocal) for her performance of The Girl in 14G in The Canticle Singers’ 2011 Odds & Ends production at the recent 9 th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards, where she had the privilege of performing alongside veteran jazz singer, Junji Delfino.
Classically trained under Malaysian baritone, Cha Seng Tiang, she enjoys performing a wide repertoire including opera, musical theatre, jazz, folk, pop and bossa nova. A relative newcomer to the performing arts scene, she divides her time between her doctorate studies in linguistics, performing and teaching voice (private and group classes).
She has performed with The Canticle Singers as both chorale member and soloist for several seasons and recently started her own vocal group called Tapestry. She also performs as a soloist. While studying in the UK, she was also involved in both oratorio and musical theatre productions.
Tony Leo Selvaraj: Music
Tony Leo Selvaraj has been playing the guitar since he was 14 and had to learn it the "hard-knock" style by learning on his own coz he just can't afford to go for guitar classes.
Years later, he performs as a guitarist for artists, events, musicals and theatre play and he was also recently selected to be one of the artists for the inaugural Kakiseni Art Exchange in that happened this year.
Alfian Sa’at: Writing
Born in 1977, Alfian Bin Sa’at is currently a Resident Playwright with W!LD RICE. His plays with the company include Cooling Off Day, Homesick, Landmarks: Asian Boys Vol. 2, Happy Endings: Asian Boys Vol. 3, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs and Beauty & The Beast.
His published works include three collections of poetry: One Fierce Hour, A History of Amnesia and The Invisible Manuscript, two collection of short stories, Corridor and Malay Sketches, and three collections of plays, Collected Plays 1 & 2 and Cooling Off Day. He has been nominated for the Kirayama Asia-Pacific Book Prize and the Singapore Literature Prize for A History of Amnesia.
Alfian has been nominated seven times for Best Script at the Life! Theatre Awards, eventually winning in 2005 for his play, Landmarks, and later in 2010 for his play, Nadirah. He was also the winner of the BOH Cameronian Best Original Book and/or Lyrics Award for The Secret Life Of Nora in Malaysia in 2012.
In 2001, Alfian won the Golden Point Award for Poetry as well as the National Arts Council Young Artist Award for Literature. His plays have been translated into German, Swedish and Danish and have been read and performed in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, London, Zürich, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Melbourne and Sydney.
Jo Kukathas: Acting
Jo Kukathas, actor, writer, director, The Instant Café Theatre Company.
Acting credits include one person shows (Atomic Jaya, Election Day, Table Mountain to Teluk Intan, Occupation); multiple character roles (Cuckoo Birds, The Girlie Show); classics (Mercutio, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare), Winnie, Happy Days (Sameul Beckett), Helen, Road to Mecca (Fugard.)
Directing credits include: Midsummer Night’s Dream, Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare); M! The Opera (Saidah Rastam); Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Fo); Flies and Foreigners (Ridzwan Othman); Air Con (Shanon Shah); Hero (Arun Subramaniam), Nadirah; Cooling off Day, Parah (Alfian Sa’at).
Intercultural collaborations: The Island In Between (Tokyo, KL); Hotel Grand Asia (Tokyo); Break-ing (KL, Tokyo, Singapore).
Michael Xavier Voon: Dance
MXV (Michael Xavier Voon) advocates the celebration of life in all aspects of the arts - empowering individuals as well as communities.
Graduated with degrees in Fine, Graphic and Performing Arts from the US, MXV continues to lecture, facilitate, design, direct and choreograph. For the past 33 years, he has created works for stage, print, tv, film, media and fine art. He had directed and choreographed a Broadway Musical Shout! and recently choreographed Dreamgirls at Istana Budaya in which he won the BOH Cameronian Kakiseni Arts Awards 2012 for Best Choreographer.
Michael's classes and workshops are very popular and are much sought after nationally as well as internationally with recent invitations to Brunei, Sydney, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Texas, Georgia and Colorado. MXV's recent dance work Diaries 09 (Diaries in Black) won an award and was chosen to perform in Sydney.
MXV's past credits include performance coaching on Malaysian TV: Malaysian Idol I & II, One in a Million and So You Think You Can Dance with guest jury duties on Sehati Berdansa, Audition and various talent competitions. Performance/choreography credits include HipHopera, Storyteller, The Merchant of Venice, Snoopy, A Chorus Line, Destry Rides Again, Amadeus, Cinderella, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Michael is currently the longest serving judge on Kakiseni. He is also a qualified counsellor, volunteer, world traveler and a 'creactivist'.