Dazed but unfazed

Does Adrian Pang have extrasensory perception?

If he does, it did little to change his fate.

Last week, the local actor had a premonition that he was going to get hit in the face and end up with a slashed cheek.

On Saturday, as he was running onstage for the night's second act of The LKY Musical, he ran into the underside of a staircase.

The metal edge cut his forehead, leaving a 2½-cm gash.

Though bleeding profusely and in a slightly dazed state, Pang was unaware of it.

"At first, I thought it was sweat trickling down my face," said the 49-year-old.

It was only after the stage manager shone a torchlight on Pang's face and shrieked did he realise he was bleeding.

There was no time to tend to the wound as he was immediately due onstage to sing a love duet with his co-star Sharon Au.

The LKY Musical chronicles the story of former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (played by Pang) during pre-independence Singapore and how he met his wife Kwa Geok Choo (Au).

Pang told The New Paper: "I just went onstage, blood oozing down my face, hands covered in blood, looking like I'd endured 20 seconds with (American mixed martial artist) Ronda Rousey."

Au, shocked at Pang's appearance, tried to clean the blood.

She said: "When I saw the blood flowing non-stop from Adrian's forehead, I froze. I was freaking out."

The actress at first used her hands to wipe the blood. Then she resorted to using parts of her costume.

"While we were singing, Sharon kept trying to clean the blood off my face with her blouse," said Pang.

"I didn't feel any pain then as the adrenaline kept me going.

"I don't want to make a big deal out of this. I'm absolutely fine. I'm just a big klutz."

THANKFUL

Pang admitted that he felt lucky because it could have been a lot worse had he bumped into a lower section of the stairs and hit his eyes, instead.

While Au tried her best to stem Pang's blood flow, other actors who came onstage for the next few scenes passed tissue paper to Pang.

He stayed onstage for the remainder of the second act - around 30 minutes.

Au, 40, said that some members of the audience thought it was all part of the show.

"As the scene before that was of him giving a speech, some people thought that the blood signified that Mr Lee had been injured in a riot before he came home to Mrs Lee," she said.

"Adrian just carried on performing like nothing happened."

After the show ended at 9pm, Au accompanied Pang to Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

The doctor recommended that Pang see the aesthetics surgeon as she was worried that the wound would leave a rough scar on his forehead.

Pang ended up getting 20 stitches, and Au posted a picture of it on her Instagram account.

He joked: "I wasn't that concerned. My face is so messed up already."

It was during the one-hour wait to see the doctor that Pang let on to Au about his premonition.

Adding to the coincidence, he told TNP: "You know, on the day that I cut myself, I was also wearing a T-shirt that had a picture of an Egyptian mummy.

"It's all a bit creepy."

This is the second time an actor has been injured during the show.

Au sprained her ankle on the first night of The LKY Musical on July 21. Then, Pang had taken her to Raffles Hospital for treatment after the show, staying with her throughout.

Au returned the favour, staying with Pang at the hospital till he was discharged at 2am.

Said Au: "I knew Adrian wasn't feeling well at the hospital but he didn't complain.

"I tried to make him feel better by giving him a foot massage and my ham sandwich."

Pang was raring to go the next day, but Au was wary of further mishaps.

"On Sunday, he was giddy and I had to force him to lie down before the shows started," said Au.

"I love him to bits, he's my hero."

cchar@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on August 4, 2015.
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