Picking up the iconic character of Roger in Singapore’s first performance of Rent, Cameron MacDonald tells us what to expect from the longstanding musical about New York’s East Village in the early ‘90s.

So you’ve just finished working on the Georgie Girl musical in Sydney?
Georgie Girl was in Sydney. I finished that season, and without a day off started rehearsals for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown in Melbourne, then Georgie Girl went to Perth, which I did. I had a day off, went to Sydney and did a season for Songs for a New World, and then without a day off, we’re here.

Rent has such a strongrepertoire of music. Playing the character of Roger the musician is quite a challenge. Are you a musician?
Growing up in a folk music household, there’s always been instruments around. Mum and dad both play guitar. I’ve dabbled with it over the years without ever making it my number one focus or anything, but this last couple of months I’ve had to step it up and put a lot of time into it. What’s probably the most daunting thing about the role is you have to have real control of that particular craft, so that you don’t think about it.

The story of Rent happens at a time when there were a lot of unknowns about AIDs. Telling Rent now would be a whole different story.
That’s right, absolutely. You watch these characters take their AZT or whatever and you’re like ‘Damn, is that even the right thing to do?’ We’re watching this period of time where people really didn’t know about it. It was a death sentence back then, and it was really scary. I think it’s a really important show, and an exciting time to be doing it in Singapore – particularly for the young people who come to see it. There’s a lot in it for people who are finding themselves, and it’s amazing how it takes a group of truly ill people – who don’t know if they’ve got a day to look forward to – to live in the moment. And they still make mistakes, and they don’t live in the moment, but the message is clear. The heroes of the story are amazing because they live right in the moment. That’s really important for this generation who are so deeply into their phones and miss that personal connection.

Roger is quite an emotionally deep character to play.
I take a massive interest in what happens to Roger before Rent begins. You get little titbits about the character, like his girlfriend found out that they had AIDs, and she killed herself in the bathroom, so what would that do to a person? When we pick up the story, Roger’s friend Mark says he’s just coming back from half a year of withdrawal. It’s like something, whatever it was, made him get rehab. So that’s amazing too, that shows some strength, but you’re right, he’s in a real dark place.

Is Roger one of the darkest characters you’ve played so far?
I’ve played Charlie Brown and he’s a dark little soul too – and he’s five years old. They just say how they’re feeling. Some of his little lines were so tragic as well. He broke my heart as well. There’s been some big characters for sure.

Rent is running until 23 October at the Drama Centre Theatre.

Covering 3,370 kilometres in eight weeks, Tatyana Kildisheva shares her top moments from her epic bike ride through both islands of New Zealand.

From 21 January to 14 March, my husband and I rode from Christchurch to Auckland. We would occasionally meet a few cyclists along the way who would want to join us or to hang out for a couple of days – but otherwise we were alone.

New Zealand is a very beautiful country with breathtaking landscapes and ever changing scenery ranging from vast farmland, fjords, valleys and mountains to geothermal areas with active geysers.

My bike is a regular road bike. The key to cover long distances and hills is to have very minimal possessions. For this New Zealand trip I only had two bags. The handlebar bag carried my camera and three lenses, and the second contained all my clothes for two months – two pairs of cycling shorts, some trousers and a jacket, two cycling tops and two t-shirts.

Roads in New Zealand are not so great for road cycling conditions – the chip seal is quite rough and bumpy, and roads are generally narrow. We were very lucky with the weather – sunny and cool about 17-25°C – with the exception of the West Coast of the South Island, where we rode three days in 10°C and neverending rain. We were riding up and down the hills in the rain there for three days, completely soaked – sometimes with fog and low visibility. It was very windy – especially in South Island – and not just ‘windy’, but wind so strong that at times it was almost impossible to ride our bikes.

We mostly stayed at camping sites in cabins, hostels and places on Airbnb. We also stayed with hosts through warmshowers.org – a community supporting touring cyclists all over the world when hosts invite cyclists to stay in their houses or apartments for free – we are hosts as well when we are in Singapore.

Every day was a different landscape, and seeing this gorgeous scenery from the seat of my bike made me appreciate the most beautiful skies even more.

One particular moment that stood out for me was when we arrived to a small town Waikawa – almost at the southern end of the South Island. We were having dinner at Niagara Falls Cafe and the owner, Sue, was phoning places from all around to help find us a place to stay – because of an upcoming music festival, every kind of accommodation was booked up within a 40km radius.

Everything was booked, so she let us and a third cyclist with us – a Polish-Australian guy we met on the road – sleep in her son’s room in her house. She was super nice and did not accept any payment other than what we ordered for dinner – and even fed us breakfast in the morning. This was such exceptional kindness that was very much appreciated after a long day of cycling. A true display of New Zealand hospitality that we will never forget.

Road Highlights

The Doubtful Sound cruise takes you to the second largest fiord in Fiordland National Park, with utterly breath-taking views of the twisting arms from the boat.

We’ve read online that just a couple of years ago Fox Glacier was a lot bigger, but it’s been getting smaller and smaller in the last 20 years. Fox Glacier was spectacular, and the weather improved, so we could walk to it.

We came across a fence full of colourful bras near the Cardrona Distillery – I later learned ‘Bradrona’ is there to raise breast cancer awareness. There’s been a mixed reaction to the fence over the years, with a series of takedowns and then re-dressings. It seems it now has some good support.

The longest place name in New Zealand resides in the North Island. ‘Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maunga horo nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu’ translates to ‘the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as ‘landeater’, played his flute to his loved one’.

Steampunk HQ in Oamaru is a celebration of the subgenre that blends 19th-century industrial steam-powered machines with modern technology and design.

Going up Crown Range road pass on bikes was tough, but worth it. It’s the highest sealed road in New Zealand at 1,076 metres, and the views were amazing. Going down was quite an interesting experience, as the wind was so strong that we had to pedal to go downhill.

Cycling through Wairau Valley, passing the wineries from Saint Arnaud pass to Renwick – with very beautiful scenery and a mostly downhill path.

Howick Historic Village near Auckland, where people can see what a 19th Century village would feel like – with colonial buildings and costumed guides.

The Hobbiton visit on the North Island – the movie site for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings – was a must-do for us.

Singapore’s latest microbreweries are brewing all sorts of suds under the radar of the bigger labels, Gerard Ward says.

The 1925 Microbrewery & Restaurant

369 Jalan Besar, 208997
6294 9215
the1925.com.sg

Jalan Besar is fast becoming the chic area for cafes and eateries, though it’s the microbrewery at the edge of Jalan Besar that’s got the perfect microbrewery atmosphere – with fermenter tanks out in the open, bare concrete walls, yellow hue from the handmade lightbulbs and a big bar.

The BLK 6.22 dark ale has a delicious caramel malt taste, and surprisingly easy to drink for a dark beer. Ordering the medley of fries – a wooden cutting board of seaweed-seasoned, paprika-seasoned and other spice-seasoned fries, with a curry sauce and a truffle aïoli sauce on the side – brought out some interesting flavours from the dark beer.

The General ginger beer is fiery, sweet, refreshing and light. The teriyaki chicken burger – minus the skin that we peeled off because the medley of fries is guilt enough – is delicious with the ginger ale, with a juicy breast, tomato slice, lettuce and homemade teriyaki sauce.

Not only do they brew their own beers, but they also import the likes of Deschutes, Modern Times and Brewdog beers on tap.

Blue Bali

House 1D Cluny Road, 259600
6733 0185
bluebali.sg

Who would’ve thought there’d be beer brewing right in the middle of the Singapore Botanic Gardens? The Balinese garden-slash-restaurant, which with its incense and collection of statues and furniture feels like Bali, brews its own beer for diners and those renting the space out for events. ‘We are actually a nano brewery,’ owner and managing director of Blue Bali Robin Greatbatch says.

With 100-litre fermenters on site, the restaurant brews its beers on site. Because the choice of craft beer in Singapore was very limited, when a brewmaster approached Robin, it seemed like the perfect reason to start brewing their own.

Since 2012, the nano brewery has created almost 30 different beers for clients and parties – with variations ranging from a honey, basil and ginger ale to a porter refined with Indonesian luwak coffee.

The four beers on the menu currently are all aimed to refresh. The Pink Mamba, a German wheat beer infused with red dragon fruit, is sweet, light, and most likely the choice for those who aren’t sure about which beer to start with.

The Bali Gold, a pumpkin golden ale, is the restaurant’s winner as a refreshing, smooth and not too carbonated beer.

The Doshi India Pale Ale, made with Zeus hops, is not too strong, going great with some of the golden-crusted vegetable samosas and tangy lemon sauce on the tapas menu.

The honey, basil and ginger-flavoured Bali Dreaming ale is also soft, slightly sweet and lightly carbonated.

The wine list is quite big as well, with plenty of New Zealand white wines to sip on while hiding from the sun.

The RawR Kitchen

31 Bukit Batok Crescent, #02-01 The Splendour, 658070
9026 0249
facebook.com/therawrkitchen
It’s in no way an obvious entrance to the Bukit Batok bistro – heading down a car ramp and up an elevator beside the Kotoshi Ryori restaurant – The RawR Kitchen is quite a find for beer lovers.

Home of the drinks that you’d find in the OnTap Fresh Brew Craft Beer outlets out in Chinatown Complex and Newton Circus, the eatery’s Western grub can be paired with, or has been made with, OnTap beers.

Serving 11 beers is no easy task for a microbrewery – including a pilsner, English bitter, stout, dunkel, sweet ciders, and a hoppy IPA. The seasonal beer, a sweet and alcoholic root beer, became so popular that it’s become a mainstay. ‘I think if we took it off the taps our customers would kill us,’ Kelvin Yeo, founder of The RawR Kitchen, laughs.

Having only been around for just over a year, OnTap Brewery’s wheat beer – a refreshing weizen with a citrus twist – won silver at this year’s Asia Beer Awards. Like any recipe however, it’s already evolved to more vanilla-centric notes.

The food menu, as with the drinks, is made with no preservatives, MSG or additives. The beer’s lack of stabilisers – the stuff that keeps bottled beer tasting the same over time – avoids that awful hangover one feels in the morning. The 2-hour beer buffet ($35 nett) on Friday night and during the weekend lets patrons sample as many of the 11 beers on tap – with reservations recommended during peak hours – so the lack of hangover and incredibly low price is tantalising.

The portable 2L keg is the neat addition. While not bottled, the beer can be taken home in 2L pre-gassed kegs. It’s not cheap, with the parts to build the takeaway beer pricey as heck at around $250, but Kelvin keeps the pricing reasonable. If you buy the canister part, he’ll knock $35 off the price. The kegs can then be reused.