In spite of an unknown cast and demonetisation, the January run sold out, a month in advance. The one with huge chorus numbers, large sets and massive orchestral scores. Therefore the New Year can look forward to quite a few new musicals: some based on mythologies, some on classic plays and some Three-color jacquard leopard print faux fur fabric re-stagings of Broadway hits.. In quick succession, she staged three musicals, all in limited and intense runs: The Sound of Music, Grease and Jesus Christ Superstar. have all been created thanks to the phenomenal singing and acting talent that was unearthed. Our folk forms have music and singing intrinsically woven into their fabric, therefore over the last few years, there have seen numerous productions with live singing. Producers struggled to find the capital to mount the spectacles required, and bit by bit they trailed off.
Commercial audiences have finally begun to appreciate the specialness live singing, and also the unique experience that the large scale creates, which is un-creatable in any other medium.Musical theatre has the power to elevate, exaggerate, heighten every emotion and yet be intimate at the same time. Hopefully Musicals will act as a ‘gateway drug’ to live theatre, bringing in audiences who have never seen a live play, and introducing them to the magic of theatre. However, these kinds of productions were in existence even before, albeit not in Hindi or English.Over the weekend, La La Land, the musical film swept the Golden Globes. Evita and Cabaret are still fondly remembered. The Man of La Mancha was another favourite, and of course My Fair Lady and a version of The Sound of Music.
However as different mediums of entertainment began to take hold, the lavish musical was soon on the wane.This is why musicals are so popular internationally and why they are becoming a staple part of the Bombay theatre calendar. In his acceptance speech, winner for Best Song, Justin Paul, dedicated the award to “musical theatre nerds everywhere”.Yet when we use the term “musical” it often refers to the Western musical. That’s my theatre-wish for 2017. The formula is simple: Lavish productions, limited runs, and expensive tickets. Stories in a song, Aaj Rang Hai, Piya Behrupiya, Maro Piyo Gayen Rangoon, etc.A decade ago the Prithvi Theatre Festival hosted a festival of musical plays.
There were even original musicals like Jaya and Roshni, which kept all the fanfare of the Western musical, but were Indian in content. New boys Silly Point Productions premiered their Gandhi The Musical in August and audiences flocked to the large proscenium, and finally, the year rounded out (and 2017 began with), Mughal-e-Azam. This all changed about four years ago when Raell Padamsee’s ACE Productions decided to take the bull by the horns. Maybe they’ll stick around and sample other types of theatre and add to the audience base. The large scale musical seems like the latest entertainment trend after Stand Up Comedy.
Disney jumped in with Beauty and the Beast, and forever changed the paradigm of what a stage musical can be for the city.Quasar Thakore Padamsee is a Bombay-based theatre-holic. And just as in Hollywood, it appears that there is a resurgence of the musical, in our very own Maximum City. He works primarily as a theatre-director for arts management company QTP. And while these threw up an entire generation of musical theatre actors, they were still limited to the small scale. Each one was sold out well in advance, and suddenly grand-scale musicals made sense again. In the Eighties and early Nineties, the city was full of them. Although in Hindi, and a recreation of the motion picture, the live singing and scale of it, truly places it in the great pantheon of musical theatre
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