KUALA LUMPUR: In its efforts to raise funds for children with spinal muscular atrophy, musical group Vox Inspira is staging a concert inspired by the late composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim's Sunday In The Park With George.
Titled Sondheim: Putting It Together, the show is scheduled to run from Nov 25 to 27 at Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC) in Petaling Jaya.
The show, inspired by one of America's most influential musical theatre figures' work which revolves around painting, aims to raise funds for FriendenArts, a platform where children with rare diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) create art as a form of therapy and a means of securing funds for treatment.
SMA is a neuromuscular disease that removes the ability to move, walk, eat or breathe without assistance, and also the No.1 genetic killer of the little ones.
An estimated 500,000 babies are born in Malaysia each year. According to world statistics, 1 in 10,000 babies is born with SMA and 95 per cent of babies will not make it past their second birthday.
Producer and director, Cheryl Ong in a statement today said: "Vox Inspira was formed during the pandemic among a group of friends who combined their love for music with giving back to society. We are proud to collaborate with FriendenArts for this project."
"We are so excited to have Vox Inspira support FriendenArts and we look forward to the staging of this show and see how it can inspire us in what we do with visual arts and discover new creative ways to raise awareness for issues in an engaging, meaningful, and impactful way.
"Together we can help empower vulnerable and underserved children to have their voices heard," said Yap Sook Yee and Edmund Lim, founders of FriendenArts and WeCareJourney.
Vox Inspira will also be performing with The Vochale Project and Incidentals, singing popular Sondheim songs such as I Feel Pretty, and No One Is Alone.
The musical will be held at DPAC's Black Box, at 8.30pm Friday and Saturday, and 3pm on Sunday.
Tickets are priced at RM65.
For more information, call 03-40650001/40650002 or visit www.dpac.com.my
