A wild night at W!ld Rice's annual gala

SINGAPORE - It was certainly a wild night at local theatre company's W!LD RICE's annual charity gala, held at the Shangri-La Hotel.

Taking Singapore's iconic and beloved attraction the Night Safari as its inspiration, the glitzy evening on Oct 3 sizzled with the thrills and wonder of the great outdoors.

Local celebrities and socialites turned up dressed to the nines in accordance with the evening's dress code - "creatures of the night". Tigers, leopards, panthers, zebras, snakes and bats were just some of the wild and exotic 'beasts' seen at the event.

The evening was presented by watchmakers Hublot, who even updated their signature Big Bang series with distinct wild animal prints, aptly christened Leopard Bang, Boa Bang and Zebra Bang.

Ivan Heng, Artistic Director of W!ld Rice, said: "As befitting Singapore's wildest theatre company, we wanted to invite our supporters to take a walk on the wild side."

He added that guests not only got the opportunity to let out their inner animal of the night, they were also helping to contribute to W!ld Rice's mission of creating excellent local theatre.

At "feeding time", guests were treated to a scrumptious feast prepared by internationally acclaimed Chef Valentino of Ristorante Da Valentino, in collaboration with Shangri-La executive chef, Nicola Coccia.

The evening's activities included a fashion show, dances, and culminated in a concert starring some of the funniest talents of Singapore theatre, including actor and comedian Hossan Leong and actress Pam Oei.

Also making a special appearance was the acclaimed West End diva Ria Jones, who is known for being the youngest actress ever to play the iconic role of Eva Peron in the musical, Evita, when she was just 19.

The gala continued well into the night, as guests continued to dance into the wee hours of the morning.

seanyap@sph.com.sg