IT is not often that comedienne Shamaine Othman thinks of writing a musical, but she is set to have one staged later this year.
Shamaine, 39, is writing the script and dialogue for her maiden musical, which will be produced by PAN Productions.
PAN Productions is a well-known theatre company co-founded by Shamaine's old friends, Peter Ong, Tunku Alizakri Alias and Nell Ng.
LOVES MUSICALS
"It's not something that I normally do, but I love musicals, having enjoyed watching them as a kid," said Shamaine in a recent interview to promote her coming show, 'The Wow Show Live'.
The interview, conducted at Else Hotel in Jalan Tun HS Lee, Kuala Lumpur, was also attended by Shamaine's co-stars, Joanne Kam, Ning Baizura and Shazmin Shamsuddin.
"That's all I can say about my musical for now, but it will be the first original play for PAN. I promise it will be something that's out of the ordinary," she said.
CHILDREN'S THEATRE
Shamaine was active in children's theatre during her school days and furthered her studies in performing arts at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, in 2004.
After completing her studies, Shamaine came up with plays such as 'Projek Disko Baldi' in the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC), Sentul Park, Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, in the 2000s.
FOREMOST SIFUS
"My most recent play in KLPAC was 'Transitions' in 2019 where I starred with KLPAC founder Datuk Faridah Merican," said Shamaine.
Shamaine considers Faridah and her husband, KLPAC co-founder Joe Hasham, to be her foremost sifus in theatre.
"I'm still working closely with them, they are among my best friends," said Shamaine, who manages her own comedy room called Test Is Best every two weeks in KLPAC.
"It's my initiative to help discover the country's new comedic talent, part of my main theatrical genre."
PJPAC
As for her more immediate project, 'The Wow Show Live' will be staged at the Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre (PJPAC) in One Utama Shopping Centre, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, on Aug 9 and 10.
"It marks 10 years of collaborations with my close friend and fellow comedienne, Joanne.
"She is the director, and I am the screenwriter," said Shamaine, who has written many stage productions over the years.
"There will be lots and lots of our favourite jokes, even though we tackle pretty serious issues affecting Malaysian women," said Shamaine.
WOMEN CENTRIC
All of the skits Shamaine has come up with are women centric.
"The issues are meant to be seriously entertaining, for comedy is serious business.
"It is good that more and more women are becoming comedians, and I have always loved being one."
CRAZY GIRL
Shamaine regards Kam as her "mentor" of sorts, and whenever they are together on stage, Shamaine is the "straight girl" and Kam is the "crazy girl".
As one who has written the scripts for television programmes over the years, Shamaine listens to Kam's, Shazmin's and Ning's The Wow Show podcast regularly.
"'The Wow Show Live' is a live version of this famous podcast. It is a viewer-friendly, relaxed and funny show that tackles women's empowerment, which is close to our hearts," said Shamaine.
Shamaine admits that she is a "girl power" person and has always been so.
"Joanne and I came up with the 'Perempuan Show' in Ken TTDI, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, back in 2019.
"It was very well received by men and women alike."
LIFE EXPERIENCES
Shamaine, who started doing comedy in 2011, gets ideas for her shows from her life experiences, and sometimes from friends and family.
She believes that female comedians need to work harder due to stigma.
"There is a stigma that women are not funny, so female comedians have to work doubly hard when they are on stage."
INSPIRE WOMEN
Shamaine wants to inspire more women to try out stand-up comedy, especially in this region, and put the country on the global comedy map.
She counts Ronny Chieng and Ali Wong among her favourites.
Shamaine takes after her father, veteran filmmaker Othman Hafsham, and her elder brother Shamyl Othman, who is a film director.
Othman is the man behind the sitcom 'Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu' and the horror film 'Rahsia', and Shamyl is the man behind 'Kami Histeria' and the remake of 'Rahsia' last year.
"I've directed films, too, in their footsteps, most notably 'KL24 Zombies', which came out in 2017."