REVIEW: Legendary

Legendary ©️Kevin O'Sullivan

“What would you say to your inner child?” Carrying this question with them, audience members enter the theatre holding a piece of paper on which they have written something for their inner children. Created and performed by Cheeyang Ng and directed by Emilio Ramos, Legendary is a musical exploring queer identity, cultural heritage, and the search for belonging.

A foldable fan stands on one side of the stage, while a statue of Guanyin occupies the other. A white cloth stretches across the centre showing messages to us. From the moment Cheeyang makes their entrance, humour is used to establish an intimate relationship with the audience. They first bow to Guanyin before beginning the performance, immediately introducing one of the central ideas of the work: the relationship between ritual, identity and heritage.

As a Singaporean Chinese person living abroad in the United States, Cheeyang explores the question of where identity comes from when a person exists between different cultures and ways of understanding the world. If society so often presents identity in black and white, what happens to those who exist somewhere in between? Chinese mythology becomes a framework through which these questions are explored. Stories of Pan Gu and Nü Wa, Hou Yi and Chang’E, Guanyin and Jingwei (*AKA Chinese Moana) are woven together with Cheeyang’s own experiences. Each myth carries its own story, but here these stories become a way of examining identity, family and belonging.

One of the strengths of Legendary is the way these cultural references are made accessible without requiring the audience to share the same cultural background. Cheeyang describes them not as being about religion, but about ritual. This distinction allows the mythology to function less as something that needs to be understood academically and more as a shared language through which personal experiences can be expressed.

Audience participation is central to the performance. As members of the audience become part of individual songs and stories, the distance between performer and spectator gradually disappears. The songs explore not only the mythology itself, but also Cheeyang’s personal journey: learning Mandarin as a child, experiences of education and moving abroad, the loss of their aunt, and coming out. The live piano accompaniment by Eric Fegan is equally important to the performance, providing a consistent musical foundation for Cheeyang’s storytelling. Their performance carries a strong emotional quality, allowing the songs to communicate beyond their literal narratives.

Throughout the show, Legendary repeatedly questions the idea that identity must exist within fixed opposites. Must everything be black or white? Must there always be only yin and yang? Must everyone have children? These questions are not presented as simple arguments, but emerge through mythology, music and Cheeyang’s personal experiences. The audience members’ pieces of paper eventually return to the centre of the performance. They are collected and placed into water while a song once sung to Cheeyang by their aunt plays in the background. The gesture creates a quiet connection between childhood, memory and letting go. In the final song, I was luckily invited onto the stage. Cheeyang holds my hand, looks directly into my eyes and sings. “We are legendary” becomes the final assertion: a reminder that identity does not have to be inherited in its entirety. It can also be created.

Although the work speaks directly to queer experiences and the experience of living between cultures, its themes extend beyond these identities. Questions about family, displacement, childhood, inheritance and belonging can resonate with audiences regardless of their background. By combining Chinese mythology with contemporary musical theatre and direct audience engagement, Legendary creates a space in which cultural heritage becomes something that can be questioned, reinterpreted and shared.

Beautiful songs, amazing voice, and heat touching stories. Legendary is more than a musical about Cheeyang’s story. It is an invitation for the audience to consider their own. As the lights come up, the emotional response across the room is unmistakable: Legendary leaves its audience not simply with a story, a beautiful song, but a warm message that we are legendary.

★★★★★

This show is running until 31 Aug. For more information, please visit: https://us.list-manage.com/11Hxinn2SUI?e=025d613e10&c2id=6e0ef2a3fae9838021b6dbd725ed935f

Credits

Lead artist (Book, Music, Lyrics and performer): Cheeyang Ng
Director: Emilio Ramos
Music Director: Eric Fegan
Photography and Artwork Design by Jayden Tan
Illustrations by Asher Yeo Xinyi
Produced by Everything is Maya, Qinggui Theatrical and Communal Practice
In association with Jennifer Leigh Productions

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