Advertise on podcast: Front Row

What happens when the memories you're trying to make sense of begin to blur with someone else's? That's the question at the heart of Thrown, a new theatrical production written by Jodi Gray about childhood, memory, and the experiences that shape who we become. It's also a rather special production for renowned actress Sofia Jane, who takes on her first-ever one-woman show, directed by Gavin Yap. We speak to Sofia and Gavin about bringing this intriguing story to the stage, and what audiences can expect from this intimate, multisensory experience. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rock music and orchestral music might seem like an unlikely pairing, but when you bring them together, you can get some pretty interesting results. That's what TUTAN Entertainment is doing with Symphonic Rock 3, which returns for its third edition this November. Expect some familiar rock anthems from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Prince, Linkin Park, AC/DC and many more, all reimagined with a full orchestra. Joining us to share more are Kevin Field, Conductor Laureate of the TUTAN Festival Orchestra, appearing courtesy of the Bentley Music Academy, and vocalist Joy Victor. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The SeaShorts Film Festival returns for a special 10th anniversary edition, bringing together short films and filmmakers from across Southeast Asia. Over four days, audiences can look forward to a diverse programme featuring films from all 11 ASEAN countries, with stories exploring identity, culture, migration and community, alongside a showcase of emerging filmmakers from Timor-Leste, films centred on Filipino-Chinese experiences, and programmes highlighting women filmmakers and Indigenous perspectives. To tell us more about this year's programme and what audiences can look forward to, we speak to Eddy Tan, Program Director of SeaShorts Film Festival 2026. Image Credit: SeaShorts Film Festival Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Love, heartbreak, and the stories we tell ourselves about romance. These are some of the things explored in The Failed Romances, a hybrid cabaret that brings together theatre, live music and storytelling, drawing inspiration from Tamil cinema and real-life relationships. To find out more about the show and how it came together, we're joined by Govin Ruben, the show's co-creator, performer and director from TerryandTheCuz, and also Sharmilla Ganesan, who worked on the production as dramaturg. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you've ever turned to a sad song after a heartbreak, you'll know that sometimes, music just gets you. 400 years ago, there was John Dowland, a composer who became famous for doing just that. His songs of love and longing remain some of the best-known music of the Renaissance, but there's more to the music of his time than melancholy. A new concert, Silly Bees & Sweet Woods, explores Dowland's soulful music alongside the more playful works of his contemporaries Thomas Morley, Thomas Campion and John Farmer, presented by the KL Madrigal Singers and Players. We speak to Scott Woo, tenor and director of the ensemble, and musician and recorder player Eunice Loh, to find out more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it mean for something to be missing from the scene, and what can its absence tell us about the world we live in? In Missing From The Scene, artist Sharon Chin brings together shadow puppet-inspired animal figures, prints of their habitats without the animals, and a live feed of an oil refinery near her home in Port Dickson. Her first solo exhibition in Kuala Lumpur since 2017 reflects on everything from the changing Malaysian art scene to biodiversity loss and the environmental impact of industry. We speak to Sharon about absence, place, and the role art can play in helping us pay attention to what is disappearing around us. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Philharmonic Winds of Malaysia is celebrating a decade of music with Curtain Up! Celebrating 10 Years, a concert featuring everything from the sweeping drama of The Phantom of the Opera to the vibrant sounds of West Side Story. What does it take to bring these iconic musical theatre works to life through a wind orchestra, and what does this milestone mean for the ensemble? We speak with resident conductor Eric Lee and guest vocalist Izen Kong about the music, the performances, and ten years of making music with Philharmonic Winds of Malaysia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A princess, a series of impossible riddles, a mysterious prince, murder, romance and some of the most spectacular music ever written for the stage. That's Turandot, Puccini's epic final opera, which is returning to Malaysia after more than two decades. It's big, dramatic, emotional and visually spectacular, and you don't necessarily need to be an opera expert to enjoy it. This new production by KL City Opera brings together a 50-piece orchestra, a 70-member chorus and an international cast, under the baton of Italian conductor Alessandro Mazzocchetti, with Eleanor Greenwood, starring as Princess Turandot. They join us to share more of what to look forward to at this staging. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Music has a way of keeping memories alive, and The klpac Orchestra is celebrating 20 years of making music with a special tribute to the man who started it all, the late Maestro Brian Tan. Brian founded the orchestra in 2006, bringing together musicians and music lovers to build a community around their shared love of music. Two decades on, that community is coming together to celebrate his legacy under the baton of the orchestra’s current Resident Conductor and Music Director, Maestro Lee Kok Leong. The concert features a wonderful mix of music, from Chopin’s Romance and excerpts from the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto to Defying Gravity from Wicked, Cinema Paradiso and so much more. We find out what's in store from Kok Leong, and also Phinn Tan, a trumpeter with the orchestra.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some of musical theatre’s biggest hits, an all-star cast, eight dancers and a 73-piece orchestra. Brand New Day: A Symphonic Broadway Celebration brings the magic of Broadway to KL in a spectacular concert featuring songs from Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Dreamgirls and more. We speak to Sean Ghazi, director of the show and director of SWG Symphonic Concerts; Aaron Teoh, performer; and Melissa Teoh, producer of the show and Director of the Jeffrey Cheah Performing Arts Centre, about bringing this musical celebration to life.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Falcons, Sons of Adam, Freedom, The Strollers, Alleycats and Heavy Machine are just some of the names that feature in the history of Malaysian music. This October, their music and contribution to the local scene will be celebrated at a special night bringing together musicians from different generations. Rocking for a Cause is the fourth annual benefit concert organised by Musicians for Musicians Malaysia, supporting the wellbeing of working musicians while celebrating the people who have shaped our music history. Edwin Nathaniel, Deputy President of the Musicians for Musicians Malaysia Association, joins us to share more.  Image Credit: Musicians for Musicians Malaysia See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ghosting, situationships, terrible first dates and the things we do for love. They’re all fair game in The Relationsh*t Chronicles, a comedy made up of nine stories inspired by real relationships. After it’s Penang run, the show is coming to KL for four performances, and we're joined by director and co-writer Karam Tabba, and cast member Andi Zephyr, to talk about turning relationship chaos into comedy. Image Credit: © The Relationsh*t Chronicles by Big Nose Productions See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Contemporary Thai artist Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook has spent more than four decades exploring some very big questions through very ordinary things: flowers, beds, words, the human body, and everyday encounters. Her work can be playful, strange, intimate, and sometimes quite confronting, as she considers subjects like desire, mortality and what it means to be human. Now, for the first time, a solo exhibition of her work is being presented in Malaysia. The Bouquet and the Wreath (Rebirth) brings together works from across Araya’s 45-year practice, including early pieces alongside more recent works, in an intimate exhibition at ILHAM Gallery. To tell us more about the artist, the exhibition, and his own long collaboration with Araya, we speak to the exhibition's curator, Roger Nelson, who is also an art historian and an Assistant Professor of Art History at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Image Credit: Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Has Girl Lost Her Memory? (1994/2025), courtesy of Ilham Gallery See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisa Macuja-Elizalde has spent decades on stage and behind the scenes, from an internationally celebrated ballet career to founding and leading Ballet Manila. We last spoke in 2024, when the company brought Greatest Hits to Malaysia. Now, Lisa, the Founder and Artistic Director of Ballet Manila, joins us to talk about her adaptation of Snow White, and how she is bringing the familiar fairy tale to life through dance, and also to share about the romance, comedy and magic of the production. Image Credit: Ballet Manila See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do the Big Bang, evolution, alien life, death and the possibility of nothingness have to do with the human experience? Presented by EJKLS Seni, Socrates in D# Minor explores these questions through four experimental theatre pieces, using science as a way into some very human questions about existence, identity and meaning. We speak to writer-director Asyraf Syahir Mohd Najib and actor Nandagopall Mohan about bringing this unusual work to the stage. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.