Jacintha Abisheganaden

Last updated

Jacintha Abisheganaden
Also known as
  • Jacintha
Born (1957-10-03) 3 October 1957 (age 66)
Singapore
Genres Jazz, bossa nova
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, actress
Years active1976–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1992;div. 1997)​

Jacintha Abisheganaden (born 3 October 1957), known professionally as Jacintha, is a Singaporean singer, actress, and theater practitioner who studied at the National University of Singapore and received a degree in arts, majoring in English literature. She is a founding member of the performance company TheatreWorks.

Contents

Early life

Abisheganaden was born in 1957 to mixed-race musician parents, namely a Ceylonese-origin ethnic Indian classical guitarist cum music teacher, Alex Abisheganaden (1926–2023), a recipient of the Cultural Medallion and a Chinese mother of Cantonese descent, Eileen Wong (born 1928) who was a pianist and also an arts teacher. She studied piano and voice from her early teens and also sang in the Singapore Youth Choir where she met her future collaborator, Dick Lee. Growing up, Abisheganaden listened to a wide variety of music, not only vocal jazz and traditional pop but also artists who ranged from Stevie Wonder to Joni Mitchell to South African singer Miriam Makeba. Abisheganaden was a big fan of Brazilian bandleader Sergio Mendes during her upbringing and she has been quoted as saying that she was "obsessed" with Barbra Streisand. [1]

Abisheganaden was educated at Marymount Convent School, Raffles Institution and the National University of Singapore, where she graduated with an honours degree in English. She then went to America where she studied creative writing at Harvard University.

Career

Abisheganaden first came to prominence in 1976 when she won a local television talent contest, Talentime, singing jazz. She continued this winning streak in 1981, when she nabbed the Best Female Performer award for her role as Nurse Angamuthu in General Hospital at the Drama Festival. [2]

In 1982, she worked as an arts reporter for The Straits Times , interviewing figures like Neil Sedaka, Cliff Richards and Sophia Loren. In 1982, she acted as Pala in Samseng and the Chettiar's Daughter, a Singapore Arts Festival production directed by John Tasker. [3] She also acted in the Experimental Theatre Club's Terry Rex for the 1982 Singapore Drama Festival. [4] In 1983, Abisheganaden released her debut album Silence on WEA, on which Dick Lee wrote nine out of the ten songs. [5] The new wave album, containing a cover of the Bee Gees' "Run to Me", was reviewed positively, with The Straits Times calling it "probably the most impressive debut album...from a local singer." [6] In the same year, Abisheganaden acted in the Experimental Theatre Club's production of Susan's Party, directed by Lim Siauw Chong, for the Drama Festival. [7] In 1984, Abisheganaden starred in Dick Lee's play Bumboat—the title song, featuring the cast, was released as a record, with "Unsaid", a duet between Lee and Abisheganaden on the flipside. [8] In 1985, Abisheganaden returned from the States temporarily (where she moved with her husband) to act in TheatreWorks' Love and Belacan, three playlets co-starring Lim Kay Tong. [9] In 1986, Abisheganaden returned from the States permanently to record her second album, and played a series of live jazz shows at The Saxophone. [10] In the same year, she sang and acted in Singapore Broadcasting Corporation's hour-long programme Destination Mauritius. [11] In 1987, Abisheganaden was voted Best Performer at the fourth ASEAN Song Festival and released her second album Tropicana. She also acted as Zemphira in The Gypsies—The Tragedy of Zemphira, directed by William Teo. [12] In 1988, she performed in TheatreWorks' musical Beauty World and acted as singer Josephine in Pam Gems' Piaf . In the same year, she was Singapore's representative at the Pax Musica cultural entertainment show in Singapore. [13] In 1989, Abisheganaden and Dick Lee represented Singapore at the Asia Song Festival in Japan. She performed "Come Back to Me Tonight", which Lee composed for the event. [14] In the same year, she acted in TheatreWorks' Mixed Signals, a three-act comedy written by Michael Chiang, and Jackson on a Jaunt by Eleanor Wong, staged as part of the double bill Safe Sex. [15] [16] She also performed with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta. [17]

In 1990, Abisheganaden acted as Sheila Rani in TheatreWorks' revival of Lim Chor Pee's play, Mimi Fan. [18] In 1991, Abisheganaden acted in Eric Khoo's short film August as an adulterous wife and released her third album Dramamama on Japan's Wave Records. In the same year, she starred in TheatreWorks' Fried Rice Paradise and Theatre Games. In 1992, Abisheganaden starred in Dick Lee's first Asian operetta, Nagaland, which performed to full houses in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. In 1993, Abisheganaden sang the lead role of Grizabella in Cats when the hit musical opened in Singapore. In the same year, she hosted the cooking show, Mum's Not Cooking. In 1997, Abisheganaden starred in Dick Lee's musical Hotpants, which was restaged in 2014.

In the mid-nineties, actor Lim Kay Tong introduced Abisheganaden to Ying Tan, who signed her to his Groove Note label. Her first jazz album was released in 1998: Here's To Ben – A Vocal Tribute To Ben Webster . Abisheganaden's second album for the Groove Note label, Autumn Leaves: The Songs of Johnny Mercer (1999) has seen the title track being used for the TV series Alias , while the bonus track "Here's to Life" was used as the title track for the Hollywood movie Play It to the Bone , as well as being used during Michael J. Fox's narration of ABC Sports' coverage Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals. She has since recorded several jazz albums under the Groove Note label, including "Lush Life" (2002), "Jacintha is Her Name" (2003), "The Girl from Bossa Nova" (2004), and "Jacintha Goes to Hollywood" (2007). The retrospective collection "Best of Jacintha" was released in 2008.

In 2004, Abisheganaden performed her own cabaret jazz show, The Angina Monologues at the Old Parliament House, Singapore. [19] In 2006, Abisheganaden served as a judge on the second season of Singapore Idol . In 2012, Abisheganaden returned to the stage after 13 years, playing herself in Ong Keng Sen's National Broadway Company, a musical commissioned for the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay's 10th anniversary. [20]

Personal life

In 1983, Abisheganaden married an American lawyer, David Scheffer. They separated after three years.

In June 1992, Abisheganaden married her close collaborator, the singer-songwriter Dick Lee. The couple divorced in 1997. [21]

In May 1998, Abisheganaden married former The Straits Times journalist Koh Boon Pin in Bali. The couple, who have a son Alexander together, divorced in 2008. [22]

Discography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fann Wong</span> Singaporean actress (born 1971)

Fann Woon Fong, known professionally as Fann Wong, is a Singaporean actress, singer, businesswoman and model. She has been referred to as one of MediaCorp's Ah Jie for being one of the most successful actresses from Singapore.

Singapore Idol was a Singaporean reality television singing competition produced by MediaCorp Studios and FremantleMedia Operations BV. It began airing on MediaCorp Channel 5 on 9 August 2004 until 27 December 2009, as an addition to the Idol franchise based on the British show Pop Idol, and became one of the most popular shows in the history of Singaporean television.

Singapore has a diverse music culture that ranges from rock and pop to folk and classical. Its various communities have their own distinct musical traditions: the Chinese form the largest ethnic group in Singapore, with Malays, Indians as well as a lesser number of other peoples of different ethnicities including Eurasians. The different people with their traditional forms of music, the various modern musical styles, and the fusion of different forms account for the musical diversity in the country.

Catherine Lim Poh Imm is a Singaporean fiction author known for writing about Singapore society and of themes of traditional Chinese culture. Hailed as the "doyenne of Singapore writers", Lim has published nine collections of short stories, five novels, two poetry collections, and numerous political commentaries to date. Her social commentary in 1994, titled The PAP and the people - A Great Affective Divide and published in The Straits Times, criticised the ruling political party's agendas.

Beauty World is a Singaporean musical written by Michael Chiang and composed by Dick Lee. Drawing on the tradition of 1950s black-and-white Cantonese movies, it tells the story of a young Malaysian girl who comes from Batu Pahat to 1960s Singapore in search of her father and winds up in the eponymous sleazy night club. It premiered at the 1988 Singapore Arts Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Lee</span> Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright, film director (born 1956)

Richard Lee Peng Boon is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director. Lee was awarded the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's pinnacle arts award, for music in 2005.

Tan Tarn How ) is a Singaporean playwright and senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies (Singapore). His plays have been staged in Singapore and Hong Kong, and have won numerous awards. In 2011, Epigram Books published a collection of six of his plays.

Michael Chiang is a prolific playwright and screenwriter in Singapore. He is known as "Singapore's most famous and successful playwright".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Majulah Singapura</span> National anthem of Singapore

"Majulah Singapura" is the national anthem of Singapore. Composed by Zubir Said in 1958 as a theme song for official functions of the City Council of Singapore, the song was selected in 1959 as the nation's anthem when it attained self-government. Upon full independence in 1965, "Majulah Singapura" was formally adopted as Singapore's national anthem. By law, the anthem must be sung with Malay lyrics, but there are authorised translations of the lyrics of the anthem in Singapore's three other official languages: English, Mandarin and Tamil.

<i>The Price of Peace</i> Singaporean television series

The Price of Peace is a Singaporean television drama set in Japanese-occupied Singapore during World War II. It starred Rayson Tan, Xiang Yun, Chen Shucheng, Jacintha Abisheganaden, James Lye, Lina Ng, Christopher Lee, Ivy Lee, Carole Lin and Ryan Choo. The series is based on a 1995 book of the same title, which contains numerous first-hand accounts of war veterans and eyewitnesses.

Rahimah Rahim is a retired singer from Singapore. She has released 12 albums. On 24 November 2021, she was awarded the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's pinnacle arts award, by the National Arts Council of Singapore.

Vanessa Mary Fernandez is a singer and radio presenter from Singapore. She released several albums with the now defunct hip hop groups, Urban Xchange and Parking Lot Pimp and is now more popularly known by her moniker, Vandetta, on Mediacorp Radio’s 987fm.

Tay Kewei is a Singaporean singer-songwriter. She has released songs in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

Zircon Lounge was a Singaporean band formed in the early 1980s that achieved popularity with the release of their influential debut album, Regal Vigor (1983). The pioneering new wave band broke up in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lim Kay Tong</span> Singaporean actor (born 1954)

Lim Kay Tong is a Singaporean film, television and stage actor. Notably, he starred opposite Sean Penn in Shanghai Surprise (1986), Pierce Brosnan in Noble House (1988), and Claire Danes in Brokedown Palace (1999), and was the lead actor in Growing Up (1996–2001) and Perth (2004). Lim has been called "Singapore's finest actor", "Singapore's best-known actor", and Singapore's answer to thespians Ian McKellen and Alec Guinness.

<i>Wonder Boy</i> (2017 film) 2017 Singaporean film

Wonder Boy is a 2017 Singaporean coming-of-age musical film directed by Dick Lee in his directorial debut, and co-directed by Daniel Yam. An autobiographical film, it stars Benjamin Kheng as a younger version of Lee.

Matthew and the Mandarins are a country music band from Singapore, active since the 1960s. Among their singles were "Singapore Cowboy" (1978) and "Let's Put the Sing in Singapore" (1979).

My Grandson, the Doctor was a Singaporean English-language sitcom. It starred Nicholas Lee, Jacintha Abisheganaden, Michelle Goh, Susan Quah, Neo Swee Lin, Jasmin Samat Simon and Koh Chieng Mun.

Alexander S. Abisheganaden was a Singaporean classical guitarist and double bassist. Regarded as "the most important guitarist in Singapore history", Abisheganaden was also an educator and was the Inspector of Schools from 1964 to 1981 for the Ministry of Education (MOE). In 1988, he received the Cultural Medallion award for Music.

Irene Lim Kay Han is a Singaporean radiologist and amateur actress.

References

  1. ↑ Henderson, Alex. "Jacintha Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Le Blond, Max (10 January 1982). "1981 – A Fairly Good Year for Local Theatre". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Abisheganaden, Jacintha (3 September 1982). "A musical of our very own". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Jacintha, Abisheganaden (12 April 1984). "Remember, discover, believe". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  5. ↑ Lim, Sek (20 September 1983). "Jacintha's 'Silence' is surely golden". Singapore Monitor. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  6. ↑ KC (14 August 1983). "High hopes and 'heavy' music". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  7. ↑ Tharoor, Minu (23 September 1983). "Tensions break". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Kuo, Pao Kun (8 June 1984). "A dream, a spark". Singapore Monitor. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  9. ↑ Ngui, Caroline (3 September 1985). "Hot stuff at the dinner table". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  10. ↑ Morais, Walton (20 January 1986). "Lady sings the blues at the Saxophone". Singapore Press Holdings. The Business Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  11. ↑ Ang, Lay Wah (25 May 1986). "Long, dazed journey into Mauritius". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  12. ↑ Ngui, Caroline (7 March 1987). "Great visuals but no drama". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  13. ↑ Chong, Vivien (12 October 1988). "Jacintha for S'pore at Pax Musica". Singapore Press Holdings. The New Paper. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  14. ↑ "Jacintha in song festival". Singapore Press Holdings. The New Paper. 24 July 1989. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  15. ↑ Wong, Sing Yeong (25 April 1989). "Ja's the one for playwright Michael". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  16. ↑ Ting, Mei See (25 November 1989). "Safe Sex: appetiser and main course". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  17. ↑ Ee, Samuel (21 August 1989). "The NY Phil – live at the Padang". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  18. ↑ Tan, Corrie (26 June 2014). "Looking back on English-language theatre classics: Mimi Fan". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  19. ↑ Chew, David (13 August 2004). "Jacintha's crooning back". MediaCorp. TODAY. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  20. ↑ Chia, Adeline (19 October 2012). "National Broadway Company a fitting tribute to those in Singapore's theatre scene". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  21. ↑ Oorjitham, Santha (31 January 1997). "Final Curtain for Dick and Ja". Asiaweek. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  22. ↑ "Singer Jacintha divorces". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. 2 December 2008. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.