How Malaysia-born entrepreneur Cecilia Leong-Faulkner’s passion for London’s West End has revitalised Kuala Lumpur’s own theatre scene.
Young Cecilia Leong-Faulkner always knew she was different from her peers.
Ambitious, broad-minded and quietly resilient beneath her calm-and-collected exterior, Cecilia’s instant connection to the world of theatre was first realised when she chanced upon the stage musical La Cage aux Folles in London.
“The lyrics of one of the songs they sang in that musical sticks with me till today,” Cecilia says.
“I am what I am…I am my own creation…” she sings gently, and segues back into conversation naturally. “That’s just a small example of how a song can impact you. At the time, I embraced it. From a young age, I’ve always felt I was different, very independent-minded.”
Together with her thespian ex-husband John Faulkner, she founded the British Theatre Playhouse in Singapore in 2004, a theatre company that specialises in staging West End productions from London in Singapore, Malaysia and other countries in this region.
In her role as the British Theatre Playhouse’s managing director, she’s had the opportunity to work with the most accomplished stage actors from West End, from Robin Kermode who starred alongside Meryl Streep in ‘The Iron Lady’ to Hollywood actress Jane Seymour.
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