MUD was the first thing that greeted the first paddlers up the Sungai Klang in 1857 after Raja Abdullah, a chieftain in Klang, opened the land upstream for tin mining.

The muddy confluence of the Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombak, where the capital city Kuala Lumpur first took root and sprouted, also inspired the matter-of-fact, unromantic first settlers to name the settlement for what it was – Kuala Lumpur, or muddy confluence in Bahasa Melayu. (Footnote: Sungai Klang was originally called Sungai Lumpur.)

And it was this same mud that also inspired KL City Hall to enlist Enfiniti and producer Tiara Jacquelina to create a musical history of the city – Mud.

The musical has created history of its own. When the curtain came down for the last time last night at Panggung Bandaraya, the musical ran for three years, making it the longest-running stage show in Malaysia.

Not even close to Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap with its 66 years, but by far the most successful in Malaysia.

The secret? No secret. It’s just a familiar recipe of a mix of cultures, an award-winning cast and set and catchy music.

The set and lighting design was handled by Boh Cameronian Award-winners Loh Kok Man and Ee Chee Wei, and music was by Mia Palencia, who based many of the songs on the percussive rhythms of the different races.

Mud is a show that has entertained Malaysians of all ages and races as well as hordes of tourists nearly 2,000 times – 1,854 under contract with City Hall, and quite a few shows outside the theatre at tourism functions.

Farhad Alkaff, project manager for Mud, understandably stopped tallying after a while. Well more than 1,900, close to 2,000 is his estimate.

Farhad says the cast is 18 strong, but only 15 are required for a performance. With cast members capable of understudying other roles, this arrangement allowed for breaks for the cast.

Add in pre-production, and Farhad has been mired in Mud for more than three years.

“It becomes routine, the things that must be done for a smooth running, but it’s not routine because every day the audience is different, particularly when there are tourists from all over,” he told The Malaysian Insight recently.

Farhad said Enfiniti is already working on a stripped down version of Mud for corporate events, and he was amenable to the idea of even staging Mud again at the Panggung Bandaraya in the future.

There is the resonance of the musical being staged right next to that first spot where KL’s founders first landed.

But until then, the cast of “Mud” will now find themselves freed up after the musical’s long run.

Prem Sagar Krishnan, the assistant director who also plays a lead Muthiah, laughs at the question of what he thought his Monday would be like, with suddenly empty nights waiting to be filled.

“I will probably get into my car and start driving to the theatre and then realise, alamak, no show today,” he said. – May 1, 2017.