A musical tribute

On a rainy Friday evening, musical notes floated down Magrath Road as a big group of children and adults sang in perfect unison. The setting was a rehearsal session for ‘Big Bang 100’, where 100 singers from the city are staging a tribute to iconic Broadway musicals. The singers are part of The Bangalore Children’s and Adult Chorus, directed by Dr Maya Mascarenhas and Judith Roby Bidapa.

They will be performing songs adapted from the best of Andrew Lloyd Webber like ‘Cats’, ‘Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, ‘Evita’ and more. They will also do adaptations of showstoppers from ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Les Miserables’, ‘Oliver Twist’, ‘Lion King’ and other well-known Broadway musicals. Costumes, choreographed dance sequences, choral numbers, duets and a live band are just some of the attractions of this show.

Says Maya Mascarenhas, “It is a tribute to iconic hits from musicals. We are teaching the cast how to perform in musical theatre language on stage. This requires not only an ability to sing but an ability to emote. I also hope that this will stimulate an interest in musical theatre in children and get them to read about it and understand it.”

Judith Roby Bidapa adds, “It is easy to sing just like that but add some emotion, passion and movement and it is not easy anymore. There is lot more drama here because it’s not singing, it’s performing. Group dynamics are very important in a choir.”

Maya Saldanha, a class nine student of Mallya Aditi International School and a part of the choir, agrees. “We are being told how it is not so much about singing as it is about team work. Becoming a part of this has helped me work on my group skills and taught me how to be with different kinds of people.”

Dev Pereira, another student of Mallya Aditi International School, says, “It’s one of the best experiences of my life. I am happy I got to meet a whole new bunch of amazing people. It has been a bit of a balancing act, managing school work with this, but it has been definitely worth it. “

Nisha Abraham, a design professional and a voice over artiste who is one of the sopranos and is also helping with the costume design, adds, “We all don’t otherwise get much of a chance to sing. Since all of us love music, it is great to come together as a group and form a camaraderie as well as learn so much. Since we are covering all these iconic tracks from different musicals, we are now getting a chance to see what goes behind it.”

Scheduled for August 19 and 20 at Guru Nanak Bhavan, the Chorus will enthrall the audiences with two shows per day. The entire proceeds from ticket sales of this annual concert will be donated to charity. This year, the charity identified is the Jeevarathni Foundation.