A.R.Rahman (Fan Club) - Page 88

Houston, June 06: Bombay Dreams - the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Rehman Musical - is touring America these days and both the natives and South Asians here are shaking a leg to Shakalaka, Baby! and Chaiyya Chaiyya.

The play combines the glamour of tinseltown and the heart-aching romance with a lush score, glittering costumes and exotic dance numbers. It has all the Bollywood Theratrics and even a rain-dance sequence --a common feature with Indian movies. So enamoured were the audience that the play received a standing ovation of 15 minutes.

Produced by the independent producers network, which combines a dozen regional musical theaters and co produced and presented here by Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS), the musical opened on May 24 and continued till June 4.

A dazzling spectacle set amid India's bustling film industry, "Bombay Dreams" was a super hit in London where it opened at the Apollo Victoria theatre in 2002 and closed in 2004. It later opened at the Broadway theatre on April 29th, 2004 and ran for 30 previews and 284 regular performances.

Panned by the critics but lapped up by the audience, the show downed the shutters due to high investment, 15 months after it was staged at Broadway. However it is being brought back to a new audience in various American states. It has the music by legendary A R Rahman and Don Black.

Based on a book by Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan, the play was conceptualised by renown Director Shekhar Kapur - of 'Elizabeth', 'Masoom' and 'Bandit Queen' fame and Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, its original producer.

Bombay Dreams takes its audience on a rhythmic ride as it follows young, witty Indian street-dweller Akaash on his rise to fame in Bollywood, the Tinseltown of the East.

On his way to stardom, Aakash falls in love with aspiring filmmaker Priya and learns that the price of fame and fortune means rejecting his roots and values.

This Tony-nominated epic has been slightly modified for American masses. "Diversity is part of our mission," Nick Manos, the Atlanta company's Managing Director said. "As this is the first musical about Indian culture and music, we thought it was a natural. It's also a fun, energetic dance show.

"The other key factor is Rahman's music, which is exceptionally moving at points. He's the John Williams of India, who's sold 150 million albums and has millions of fans. Yet to Americans, he's hardly known at all," he said.

"The London production was in some ways a loving tribute to Bollywood," Manos said. "But it also was a spoof. It had the over-the-top quality and the melodramatic multiple plotlines, like a soap opera. It was a snapshot of Indian culture as depicted in Bollywood films. The New York production simplified it, made compromises that made the show more accessible, but al so took the uniqueness and the culture out of it."

Before the show begins, excerpts of Bollywood films were shown on large screens, giving first-time audiences a sampling of the genre.

Bombay Dreams score includes "Salaam Bombay," "Bollywood," "I Could Live Here," "Is This Love?," "Famous," "Chaiyya Chaiyya," "How Many Stars?," and "Shakalaka Baby," which was danced around a spectacular onstage fountain on Broadway. The fountain is featured in the tour, which concluded in Houston on Sunday.

People enjoyed watching it as it was the first Indian musical set in Bombay, a rare visual treat indeed, not an everyday fare for Americans and has definitely aroused their interest once again.

Bureau Report
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=300373&ssi d=1&sid=ENT