Foundation celebrates 25th year with grand musical

The Cause Foundation will present a new musical for its 25 years celebration, over the weekend.

The group has bought the royalty for ‘Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, a structured musical by Andrew Llyod Webber and Tim Rice. “This musical was performed by the foundation 25 years ago and we thought it would be perfect for our celebration. We have been given the license to interpret the work in our own way,” says foundation director Leila Alvares.

The musical director goes on to say that the play has been updated now. “Details like costume and sets have changed. Also, the choreography has improved tremendously, as in the past we just followed the script as it is. I didn’t have much experience then. Now, whether it’s the choreography or the direction of actors, everything is a lot more entertaining and interesting,” she says.

How relevant is the musical to today’s time? “Like most musicals, it’s a very relatable story. It’s about a family, the usual jealousies in families, and how it deals with such stuff. The story is always relevant. What is nice about this work is its diverse music,” says Leila.

The musical includes various genres of music like rock n’ roll, disco, reggae, French ballads, and even hip hop. “It has music for diverse generations,” she adds.

The Foundation’s past plays include classics like ‘Grease’, ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Sound of Music’, ‘Hello Dolly’, ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘Young Frankenstein’, ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’, ‘The Addams Family’ and ‘Lucky Stiff’.

Every year Leila and her foundation work on a musical for two months and tour with it. “Every production is different from the one before it because its music and the choreography will be different,” she says.

Leila always “chooses musicals that are humorous”. “However, this whole work is entirely in song and dance,” she adds.

*The play will be staged at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, on September 3 and 4, 7.15 pm. Tickets are available online. For details, call 98441 69903.