Colin Kirton

Last updated
Colin Kirton
Colinkirton.jpg
Born
Colin Kirton

Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
Occupation Actor

Colin Kirton is a Malaysian stage and television actor. He is also known for his work as a director, trainer, musician, singer, choir director, host/emcee and voice actor. He was nominated for Best Vocal Performance (Solo) at the 2007 BOH Cameronian Arts Awards for his leading role in the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s 2006 production of Broken Bridges – The Musical [1] [2] [3] and won for Best Group Performance (Theatre) as part of the ensemble of Footstool Players' production of Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which he also created, produced and directed, at the 2009 BOH Cameronian Arts Awards.

On television, Kirton is best known for playing Edmund Soo in Season 2 of Ghost (2009), a supernatural mystery thriller series produced by Popiah Pictures, Colonel Williams in Double Vision's period drama Age of Glory 2 (2010) and Mr Smith in MediaCorp's Mining Magnate (2012/2013).

In 2001, Kirton formed Footstool Players, a Christian theatre company whose touring productions are watched by thousands each year across Malaysia. He is currently the company's artistic director. [4] Kirton also regularly teaches on issues pertaining to the arts and Christian spirituality. [5] [6]

Kirton trained in professional theatre at Rosebud School of the Arts and Rosebud Theatre in Canada.

He is of Scottish, Chinese, Nyonya and Burmese ancestry and was born in Kuantan. His father, Eric Kirton, came to Malaya during the Malayan Emergency and later married his mother, Tan Cheng Kim, whom he met at a church camp. His paternal great grandfather, William Waddell, working for his uncle Sir Robert McAlpine, oversaw the building of the renowned West Highland Railway and Glenfinnan Viaduct in Scotland, famously featured in the Harry Potter movies. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Pryce</span> Welsh actor (born 1947)

Sir Jonathan Pryce is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began his career as a stage actor in the early 1970s. His work in theatre includes an Olivier Award-winning performance in the title role of the Royal Court Theatre's Hamlet in 1980 and as The Engineer in the stage musical Miss Saigon in 1990. On the Broadway stage he earned Tony Awards—the first for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his Broadway debut role in Comedians (1977), the second for Best Actor in a Musical for the Broadway transfer of the musical Miss Saigon (1991).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jude Law</span> English actor

David Jude Heyworth Law is an English actor. He received a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2007, he received an Honorary César and was named a knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.

Puan Sri Tiara Jacquelina Eu Effendi is a Malaysian actress, film producer, musical theater producer, singer, and the founder of The Enfiniti Academy of Musical Theatre and Performing Arts. She is well-acclaimed for her role in Puteri Gunung Ledang, the biggest budget movie ever produced in Malaysia up until 2005, in which she played the lead character and sang the theme song, "Asmaradana". Aside from appearing on stage and on camera, Tiara Jacquelina also serves as the managing director of Enfiniti Vision Media, a Malaysian arts, entertainment, and television production company.

<i>Sepet</i> 2004 film by Yasmin Ahmad

Sepet is a 2005 Malaysian teen romantic comedy-drama film set in Ipoh, Malaysia. Directed by Yasmin Ahmad, it tells a tale of a love that blooms between a Chinese boy and a Malay girl. Sepet is a Malay word which, in this context, refers to the 'slit eyes' of the Chinese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire Wong</span>

Claire Wong is a Malaysian actor, director, producer, and filmmaker. She is the co-founder and Joint Artistic Director and Producer of Checkpoint Theatre. Wong writes, directs, produces, and acts for the stage and for the camera. She has received training in both Asian and Western performing arts and obtained her post-graduate degree, a Master of Fine Arts (MFA), from Columbia University. Wong's recent producing and directing credits include: Huzir Sulaiman's The Last Bull: A Life in Flamenco , Occupation (2012) and The Weight of Silk on Skin (2011); Faith Ng's Normal , For Better or for Worse (2013) and wo(men) (2010); Joel Tan's The Way We Go (2014). Her play Recalling Mother which was co-written and co-directed with Noorlinah Mohamed, recently played at Esplanade's The Studios and at the Brisbane and OzAsia Festivals.

Jeffery Kissoon is an actor with credits in British theatre, television, film and radio. He has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company at venues such as the Royal National Theatre, under directors including Peter Brook, Peter Hall, Robert Lepage, Janet Suzman, Calixto Bieito and Nicholas Hytner. He has acted in genres from Shakespeare and modern theatre to television drama and science fiction, playing a range of both leading and supporting roles, from Mark Antony in Antony and Cleopatra and Prospero and Caliban in The Tempest, to Malcolm X in The Meeting and Mr Kennedy in the children's TV series Grange Hill.

<i>Puteri Gunung Ledang</i> (musical)

Puteri Gunung Ledang is a Malaysian musical directed by Zahim Albakri, co-directed by Adlin Aman Ramlie, book by Adlin Aman Ramlie, Saw Teong Hin and Zahim Al-Bakri and music composed by Dick Lee. The musical is based on the 2004 Puteri Gunung Ledang film. The original production was staged at the Istana Budaya in February 2006, this was followed by two more productions and an upcoming third in February 2009. Tiara Jacquelina and Stephen Rahman-Hughes starred as Gusti Putri and Hang Tuah in all the productions to date. Other members of the production team are music director Roslan Aziz, choreographer Pat Ibrahim and production designer Raja Malek. The musical was staged in poetic Malay and Javanese-accented Malay, but English subtitles were provided.

Shanon Shah, is a singer-songwriter, playwright and academic from Malaysia. He released two albums Dilanda Cinta (2005) and Suara Yang Ku Dengar (2010) on the InterGlobal Music Malaysia independent label. He is noted for his emotive voice and cabaret-style piano playing.

Alvin Tan is the founder and artistic director of The Necessary Stage (TNS), and the co-artistic director of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. Under Tan's leadership, TNS has grown from a small society in 1987 to one of Singapore’s most prominent and respected theatre companies. He also initiated the Company's Theatre For Youth Branch and the Marine Parade Theatre Festival.

Indi Nadarajah is an actor and comedian based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He regularly performs on the Malaysian stage for both public and private shows. At present, he works with fellow Malaysian actor Allan Perera in a comedy duo called Comedy Court. Apart from his work on stage, he has also starred in the film Setem (2009) and features in the Channel 4 drama Indian Summers (2015).

Stanley Townsend is an Irish actor.

Warren Carlyle is a British director and choreographer who was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England. He received Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Director of a Musical for the 2009 revival of Finian's Rainbow.

Joanna Bessey is an actress and director from Malaysia. She is best known for her role as Marie Tan in the situation comedy Kopitiam which ran for 7 seasons.

The Secret Life of Nora is a Malaysian musical produced by Enfiniti (M) Sdn Bhd, with Tiara Jacquelina as Executive Producer, story by Raymond Miranda, directed by Steven Dexter and choreographed by Pat Ibrahim.

Cempaka Schools is a private school in Malaysia that offers Early Years Education, the Primary & Secondary Malaysian and International curriculum, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, and the A-Level for students aged from 18 months to 18 years old.

Natalie Hennedige is the Artistic Director of Cake Theatrical Productions, a contemporary performance company based in Singapore. She is a recipient of the National Arts Council Young Artist Award in 2007 and the JCCI Singapore Foundation Culture Award in 2010. Natalie conceptualises, writes and directs works in theatre and other media. She also constantly collaborates with artists from across disciplines such as visual arts, film and video, performance art and dance. Natalie engineers contemporary works that are artistically adventurous and that defy classification, playing at conventional performance venues, unusual spaces of creative experimentation and in public spaces to create performance-based experiences.

Sampagodu S. Vighnaraja is an Indian Carnatic music, vocalist, flutist and music composer, a popular proponent of the GNB School. He is also a carnatic flutist and carnatic slide guitarist.

Krishen Jit a/l Amar Singh was a Malaysian author, playwright and theatre director and critic remembered as a Malaysian theatre icon. He was a co-founder of Five Arts Center with his wife, Marion D’ Cruz and other artists including Chin San Sooi and Redza Piyadasa in 1984. Jit also worked as the acting coach for the 2004 film Puteri Gunung Ledang directed by Saw Teong Hin starring M. Nasir and Tiara Jacquelina. He died on 28 April 2005 at the University Malaya Medical Centre (PPUM) at the age of 65 after a long battle with stroke.

Datuk Faridah Merican, born 25 October 1939, is a Malaysian actor, director, producer and dramaturge. She is the co-founder of the Actors Studio (Malaysia), the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, and the Performing Arts Centre of Penang (Penangpac).

Al Jafree Md Yusop is a Malaysian writer and director of TV and feature films.

References

  1. Malay Mail, 12 August 2006: Performing Arts: Tall, bald and smart: Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on February 25, 2007
  2. Kakiseni, 24 August 2006, The scenic bridge of Ipoh Archived 29 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on March 12, 2007
  3. The Star, 28 August 2006, A slice of nostalgia Archived 30 September 2007 at archive.today Retrieved on March 12, 2007
  4. Who are Footstool Players? Retrieved on March 12, 2007
  5. NECF Research Commission, October 2006, Art for God’s sake Retrieved on March 12, 2007
  6. Lausanne Committee for World Evangelisation, 2005, Redeeming the arts: The restoration of the arts to God’s creational intention Archived 2008-05-12 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on March 12, 2007
  7. 100% Malaysian, The Nut Graph, 22 October 2009 Retrieved on 30 November 2010