SINGAPORE - Actor Adrian Pang will play former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew in The LKY Musical that will open in July.
The LKY Musical follows the life of Mr Lee from his early days at Raffles College to the founding of independent Singapore. A passion project by Metropolitan Productions, the mega multi-million-dollar musical has been in the making for close to three years.
"We are delighted that Adrian Pang will play Mr Lee. Not only is he a brilliant actor, he has the gravitas required for the role," said Mr Tan Choon Hiong, director of Metropolitan Productions.
"We considered many actors for the role but the name we always came back to was that of Adrian," he added.
Mr Tan also said that once people found out about Pang's role, they said that he had a surprising resemblance to the young Mr Lee.
Said 49-year-old Pang: "It is a daunting prospect to play Singapore's founding father. What convinced me to accept the challenge was the creative team - I've worked with most of them before on 'Forbidden City' and know they will create a high quality musical."
The project is the work of an international team of artists. The team includes Singapore musician Dick Lee, veteran director Steven Dexter from London and internationally renowned Singaporean writer Meira Chand, who wrote the story.
The musical is slated to begin at the end of July and will play over National Day. More details of the musical, including who will play the coveted role of Mrs Lee, will be announced in a few weeks.
