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| Past
Dream Time |
By
Lavina Melwani |
| It’s showtime
for Bombay Dreams. |
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From the first opening moments as the skyscrapers and slums
of the City by the Sea float eerily into
focus, as human forms populate the space
and as A.R. Rahman's dramatic orchestral
score rises to a crescendo, you know you're
in for a big, fat Bollywood experience.
Exuberant India with its overpowering
dichotomies and colors, its rhythms
and cacophonies, its Ganesh festivals,
dancing hijras and, of course, its beloved
Bollywood film industry is finally being
showcased on Broadway!
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Bombay
Dreams, which is based on an idea by Shekhar
Kapur and Andrew Lloyd Webber, and written
by London writer/actress Meera Syal, has
been a hit in London's West End. The musical
about a young man from the slums who dreams
of becoming a Bollywood star has now sailed
into New York, remaking itself in the
process.
The New York version is scripted by Meera
Syal and Thomas Meehan, who has created
major Broadway hits like The Producers
and Hairspray. The music is by that amazing
musical phenomenon A.R.Rahman, and new
songs have been added for the New York
production. The cast of 39 is headed by
Manu Narayan as Akaash and Anisha Nagarajan
as Priya, both making their Broadway debut,
and also includes Ayesha Dharker, Sriram
Ganesan, Marvin L. Ishmael, Deep Katdare
and Madhur Jaffrey.
Bombay Dreams had a glitzy opening night
with the paparazzi going wild outside
the Broadway Theater as Andrew Lloyd Webber,
A.R.Rahman, Donald Trump, Ismail Merchant
and James Ivory, Padma Lakshmi (minus
Rushdie) and a host of other celebs smiled
and posed.
Next morning came the reviews, and they
weren't all kind, the review in The New
York Times being particularly scathing.
While the frothy parody got mixed reviews
in London's West End too, it went on to
become a success and is still playing
after two years. Syal, who wrote the London
version, worked with Meehan for over 18
months, reshaping it for the American
audience.
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| "The basic story is
actually the same, but we felt we had to
make it more accessible to American audiences
who are very different from British audiences,
who know a lot more about South Asia and
Bollywood," she said.
"We had to get rid of a lot of the
in jokes and the parody and make it a lot
clearer really, so people who don't know
anything about Bollywood could still walk
into the show and really enjoy it."
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She added, " I think
it's a very classic story, a very rags to
riches story about a young man who wanted
to be a star, the same as Saturday Night
Fever or the same as Gypsy - the same as
a lot of very classical American stories.
So I think it should work very well."
Indeed, Bollywood song and dance extravaganzas
and Broadway musicals aren't really that
different from each other. As Meehan observed:
"There are some thrilling, thrilling
moments in the show including Shakalaka
Baby where the water from the fountain spouts
up 30 feet into the air and everybody just
gets soaked and they keep on singing and
dancing and the audience just loves it!
It's one of the most thrilling numbers on
Broadway in years, I think. It's true Bollywood."
So do audiences share the critics' verdict?
The night we caught Bombay Dreams, it was
a full house and while there were some South
Asians present, the crowd was overwhelmingly
mainstream. They were a good audience. They
clapped enthusiastically after each of the
solo numbers, laughed at all the jokes and
yes, in the end, some were even dancing
in the aisles.
We eavesdropped shamelessly as the crowds
moved out after the show. "Great dancing,"
"Gorgeous clothes" and "It
was fantastic!" were some of the comments.
As we waited curbside, we struck up a conversation
with Robin Savage, a tax attorney in Manhattan,
who had just seen the show with her friend
Julie Zhang.
Her response: "Fabulous! I loved it!
I think there were times when you could
tell the actors are relatively new to Broadway,
but the dancing more than made up for that.
It was just a fun musical to see."
Savage had come to see the show despite
the reviews, and pointed out that another
show, Wicked, which also opened recently
to lukewarm reviews, had really picked up
by word of mouth. And that may certainly
happen with Bombay Dreams.
"I absolutely think word of mouth
will help this show tremendously,"
she said. "I was in the park and saw
a girl wearing a Bombay Dreams tee shirt
and asked her what she thought about it
and her response mirrored my feeling about
the show. Most of the people I have talked
to who have seen it, loved it. I am telling
everyone I know who enjoys theater to go
see it."
Indeed, the action never stops in this
high energy musical: The cast seems to be
fitted with rechargeable batteries, singing
and dancing with all their heart even at
curtain call, and the dhol musicians perched
high up on balconies flood the hall with
gorgeous music even as the audience is headed
out of the hall.
Bombay Dreams is a first introduction for
people who've never been to India - the
wedding scene with its rich ochres and magentas
and reds captures it well - and the costumes
are sumptuous. A.R.Rahman's music! It has
to stick in people's heads and come back
to haunt them at the most inopportune times.
Try preparing a business report while Shakalaka
Baby drums incessantly in your brain! Little
surprise then that Bombay Dreams has been
nominated for three Tonys - best costume
design, best orchestrations and best choreography.
Margery Singer, whose company has handled
the marketing of over 50 Broadway shows,
has used multiple strategies to reach both
the traditional theatergoers and South Asian
audiences. "Most certainly we tapped
into the South Asian market whereas we never
or very infrequently would do that,"
says Singer. "We've got great support
from the community, but for us to succeed
on Broadway we needed to tap into the traditional
theatergoer; we could not depend on just
the South Asian audience. So in many cases
we marketed and promoted it in the same
manner that we traditionally do, and expanded
it a bit."
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| Bombay Dreams has been advertised
in ethnic media as well as mainstream newspapers
to reach suburban audiences - the bridge
and tunnel crowd - which frequents Broadway
shows. Special promotions have been organized
with American Express; a coloring contest
with Wendy's to reach the family audience,
and Macy's featured Bombay Dreams in its
windows. Mac Cosmetics, which designed the
look of the show, introduced a Bombay Dreams
cosmetic line at the Bloomingdale stores.
Everything with "Bombay" in
its name seems to be a good connection:
Bombay Palace Restaurant introduced a
pre-fixe Bombay Dreams menu and a special
dessert and Bombay Sapphire introduced
a Bombay Dreams cocktail. The restaurant
will be holding a sweepstake every week
for as long as the musical is on Broadway.
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| Sudhir Vaishnav, associate
producer of Bombay Dreams, is probably
the first Indian to have a finger in the
Broadway pie. He had produced A.R. Rahman's
New York show in 2000 and got introduced
through him to Andrew Lloyd Webber and
Waxman-Williams Entertainment, the local
producers of Bombay Dreams.
Ask him about the response and he says,
"There's been excellent word of mouth
and in spite of mixed reviews, we haven't
had any negative results. We are practically
full every night and we are booked solid
through July end."
He points out that the audience for Bombay
Dreams is about 70 percent mainstream
and 30 percent South Asian, bringing in
a whole new audience to Broadway. The
advance sales have been strong, he says,
and he plans to reach various South Asian
organizations. Non-profit organizations
like American India Foundation and Children's
Hope India have already held Bombay Dreams
fundraisers, drawing South Asian audiences.
Summer will also bring Bombay Dreams
into the open, perhaps with advertising
on hoardings and buses, and come September
thousands of Republicans in town for their
national convention will see Bombay Dreams,
one of the ten plays selected for them.
Then there is New York's huge, constantly
changing tourist population - people who
are surely going to be moved by the magic
of the Andrew Lloyd Weber name and the
fact that Bombay Dreams comes after a
successful run of over two years in London's
West End. Webber reportedly liked the
U.S. changes in the production so much
that he's closing the London show in June,
taking it on tour and then opening up
around December with the U.S. version.
"The music, the choreography, the
costumes, the sets, people love it,"
says Vaishnav. "So far every night
we've been having standing ovations, so
it proves it's a crowd-pleaser. We are
amazed at the mix of the audience - that
is typical Rahman - from children to grandparents,
which is not just the usual Broadway crowd."
He adds, "Basically the critics
have to change with the times. They have
to accept something new, a combination
of something young and energetic and foreign.
They have to keep an open mind. "
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| It will be interesting to
see if word of mouth will allow Bombay Dreams
to have the last laugh. Meanwhile, Singer
says, "We've been profitable every
single week since the show started on Broadway
and during previews, which is a very unusual
situation. We are planning on touring in
2005 all the major markets in the United
States and are also developing long term
engagements internationally." If
that comes to pass, it will be a major
break for South Asian performers. Rahman
said, "There's still a lot more to
be done, but this is a beginning, a humble
beginning. This is a platform for other
things. If it's a hit here, it goes to
Japan, Russia, Europe and Asia.
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| It's high time, isn't
it, that something like this happens.
I mean we're always left behind!"
For the first time young South Asian
performers have got their place in the
Broadway sun and as Meehan, a veteran
of award-wining Broadway productions,
says, "They've given hundred percent.
It was thrilling for me as an older American
who's worked in a lot of shows to see
the energy and the excitement and the
glow in their eyes - the terrific talent
that they all have."
Madhur Jaffrey perhaps summed it up best
after the heady applause of opening night:
"As South Asians, we're not used
to seeing ourselves on Broadway at all,
and it makes me weep really to see all
of us up there and everyone enjoying one
aspect of our culture. It's never been
there before and so many of us are working.
I love that. This thrills me. I've been
around so long and for me to see this,
I thank the Lord it's happened in my time.
This is a first. We needed a first to
take place."
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Of Article..... |
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