Synopsis
Resemblances entirely fictional.
The Projection is set in a titular underground cinema and a sanctuary for the lost; a place where its luminous, expressive members find purpose, applause, and a deity to worship in the enigmatic owner, Mr Claude.
Into this world stumbles the protagonist Demi: a failed painter, abandoned by an industry calling her work obsolete. Drawn in by the cinema's warmth and by Michael, a tender performer fighting to dethrone the studio's reigning champion, she begins to build a new life among its glow.
But as Demi rises from trainee to initiate to regular, the comfort of The Projection starts to curdle. There is a secret in the static the members are made to perform, night after night, for an audience that never stops watching. And when Demi finally tries to step outside, she learns the true cost of belonging.
The Projection is a 2-hour long musical with a 15 minute intermission, featuring an originally-written script and a mix of original songs and supplemented by popular, rustic songs from pop and musical theatre. It draws inspiration from the love-grief dynamic in Yorkley's Next to Normal; the cabaret-like immersive setting in Masteroff's Cabaret; and the deeply human questioning in Ashman's Little Shop of Horrors.
The show moves from dazzling, high-energy jazz in Act 1 to something quieter and more personal in Act 2, where the line between refuge and entrapment powerfully blurs on the stage.
The book is written by resident scriptwriter Jovan Ang, who previously received mentorship in The Necessary Stage with local playwright Haresh Sharma; and the score is composed by Limelight Musicals' wonderful team (credits below).
Limelight Musicals' 2026 iteration was graciously supported by the National Youth Council's Young ChangeMakers Fund, Stephen Riady Group of Foundations and the NUS Office of Student Affairs.
