29 February 2008
Afrika-Afrika
As a kid I loved going to the circus…I really enjoy theatre… so what were the chances that I would miss a show described as circus-style theatre. Called Afrika Afrika, it has been described as a “kingdom of the traveling entertainers and a paradise for the zest of life”.
There are no animals or clowns in this circus but there are fantastic scenes of mythical creatures and African beasts, evoked through costume. Ostriches bound across the stage and tortoises open out into giant flowers. Though there are a few acts similar to those seen in a traditional circus.
Unbelievable acrobatics, intoxicating rhythms and costumes of exceptional beauty...left me at a loss of words. Fortunately, though photography was prohibited, we were advised that we can download some pictures from their website…
He walked onto the stage like a spider…Feet turned into hands; hands became feet – a rare spectacle only possible within the African tradition of perfect, absolute body control. Huit Huit, the contortionist from Congo, was amazing as he slipped through a tennis racket.
Jean-Claude Belmat, a tissue aerialist with perfect synthesis of strength and body control. He seemed to just float in the air as he slowly spiraled his way up to the dome of the tent and then balanced his body in a horizontal position.
It is not without reason that she has earned the nickname of “snake girl”. She wraps her leg around her head, until her toes are resting under her chin. She then twists her body in a way that her head appears to be resting next to her body leaving one staring in disbelief.
The pole artistes make the audience catch their breath as they effortlessly and elegantly swing back and forth on the poles at top speed or slide up and down, head first while performing dangerous stunts.
Dancers build dizzyingly high human pyramids.
The so-called water man makes 8 bowls dance at the same time and spouts out water like a huge fountain, several meters high. He has the ability to hold five litres of water in his stomach!!! Using pressure, he is able to bring it up, spraying it like a rainstorm.
First six, then eight, then ten balls are simultaneously juggled by the juggler from Addis Ababa. The way he tosses the balls is hardly noticeable until they pick up such a speed that they appear to stand in the air. The human eye simply cannot follow what’s going on.
Lying on their backs, the female artistes swirl tables, vases and furniture around in circles at breakneck speed. Simultaneously and seemingly effortlessly, they juggle heavy furniture with their feet.
There was an 11-member group of basketball players, who darted around on unicycles, blowing whistles, moving to pulsating hip-hop beats. They play a surreal game of basketball on wheels, combining physical prowess and comedy.
While 2 players turn 2 ropes, one of the unicyclist skips in between those 2 ropes…Amazing…
From South Africa comes the loud, forceful rubber boot dancing. This dance originated from the horrific conditions within South Africa’s gold mines during apartheid. With no drainage, the miners were given rubber boots to wear, chained up and forbidden to speak. They developed a language of feet-stamping to communicate and these moves have now blossomed into a dance.
The finale sums up the joie de vivre that is Africa - the energy given off as all the dancers come together is unsurpassable.
There are no animals or clowns in this circus but there are fantastic scenes of mythical creatures and African beasts, evoked through costume. Ostriches bound across the stage and tortoises open out into giant flowers. Though there are a few acts similar to those seen in a traditional circus.
Unbelievable acrobatics, intoxicating rhythms and costumes of exceptional beauty...left me at a loss of words. Fortunately, though photography was prohibited, we were advised that we can download some pictures from their website…
He walked onto the stage like a spider…Feet turned into hands; hands became feet – a rare spectacle only possible within the African tradition of perfect, absolute body control. Huit Huit, the contortionist from Congo, was amazing as he slipped through a tennis racket.
Jean-Claude Belmat, a tissue aerialist with perfect synthesis of strength and body control. He seemed to just float in the air as he slowly spiraled his way up to the dome of the tent and then balanced his body in a horizontal position.
It is not without reason that she has earned the nickname of “snake girl”. She wraps her leg around her head, until her toes are resting under her chin. She then twists her body in a way that her head appears to be resting next to her body leaving one staring in disbelief.
The pole artistes make the audience catch their breath as they effortlessly and elegantly swing back and forth on the poles at top speed or slide up and down, head first while performing dangerous stunts.
Dancers build dizzyingly high human pyramids.
The so-called water man makes 8 bowls dance at the same time and spouts out water like a huge fountain, several meters high. He has the ability to hold five litres of water in his stomach!!! Using pressure, he is able to bring it up, spraying it like a rainstorm.
First six, then eight, then ten balls are simultaneously juggled by the juggler from Addis Ababa. The way he tosses the balls is hardly noticeable until they pick up such a speed that they appear to stand in the air. The human eye simply cannot follow what’s going on.
Lying on their backs, the female artistes swirl tables, vases and furniture around in circles at breakneck speed. Simultaneously and seemingly effortlessly, they juggle heavy furniture with their feet.
There was an 11-member group of basketball players, who darted around on unicycles, blowing whistles, moving to pulsating hip-hop beats. They play a surreal game of basketball on wheels, combining physical prowess and comedy.
While 2 players turn 2 ropes, one of the unicyclist skips in between those 2 ropes…Amazing…
From South Africa comes the loud, forceful rubber boot dancing. This dance originated from the horrific conditions within South Africa’s gold mines during apartheid. With no drainage, the miners were given rubber boots to wear, chained up and forbidden to speak. They developed a language of feet-stamping to communicate and these moves have now blossomed into a dance.
The finale sums up the joie de vivre that is Africa - the energy given off as all the dancers come together is unsurpassable.
27 February 2008
Calvin...again!
Even on the worst of days...this guy brings a smile to my face...
The first mail i read everyday is the Daily Calvin Strip...
The first mail i read everyday is the Daily Calvin Strip...
21 February 2008
Romanza – Act 2
(contd from Romanza - Act 1)
The opening of Act 2 is a scene from a cemetery. Vampires skate past as a huge American-style black coffin slowly moves towards the middle of the rink…a creaking sound as it opens slowly…
The body of Dracula, lying horizontally in the air, is slowly lowered into the coffin and the lid closes. Several vampire creatures take off and show a spooky flying ballet…
The scene changes…a group of elegantly dressed ladies with long white dresses and hats seem to be taking a walk... London police men are on patrol, when Mina appears.
Dracula seduces her against the backdrop of heavy metal music. She falls for his charms to a beautiful rendition of “I will always love you” which climaxes with her getting bitten by him.
Forever unforgotten is the secret and tragic relationship of Italian nobleman Romeo and the beautiful Juliet. Against the backdrop of ancient Italian newspapers informing us about the tragic happenings in Verona, where the families of Montague and Capulet live, there is a feast going on in the house of the Capulets. Romeo, dressed up so he would not be recognized catches sight of Juliet and they fall in love and meet secretly after the feast.
A lovely decorated balcony is placed on the ice in front of the stage on which Juliet appears in a red dress to see her secret love, Romeo. But unfortunately their love was ill-fated.
Romeo kills Tybalt, nephew of Countess Capulet, and gets banned. More newspaper headlines tell about the tragic events. Juliet is being forced to marry Count Paris…she swallows a drink which makes her unconscious in order to avoid the marriage. Romeo does not get the information that Juliet is only unconscious and decides to kill himself. After their last kiss he poisons himself and dies. Juliet awakes and realizes what has happened. She takes a dagger and kills herself.
The entire Romeo & Juliet number is staged most romantically and with lovely Italian love songs.
Warnings to resist temptations of the seven deadly sins echo as skaters in Spanish costumes painted with neon colors skate in with things that look like trees and transform them into small bistro tables. The femme fatale appears and starts to make fun of an ugly toreador who has got huge ears and a horrible nose. She pretends to seduce him by stripping for him. With “You can leave your hat on” she takes off one piece of clothes after the other. This scene is fantastic as we can see only the neon colored clothes and tables but no faces. It looks really funny as the clothes that she still wears seem to hover in the darkness.
Next is my other favorite of the show…it revolves around the sins of laziness and gluttony…its about the Passion for chocolate. 8 chorus girls lay down on huge cushions to give in to their addiction to chocolate. Gula, the gluttony, brings in a huge inflated chocolate cake with cream and cherries on the top. The girls start to bite into the pieces of the cake that start to move around on the ice. This number really funny one and the song “Everybody wants a chocolate!” is thrilling! At the end of the number the girls disappear into the huge chocolate cake. And come out again- fat as marshmallow men and hardly able to move any more. The only thing they’re still able to do is to fall down on their cushions, raise their fat legs like a beetle on his back and moan!
The other sins like Avaritia, the greed follow…The girl skaters enter the casino, dressed as illuminated slot machines. The boys are eager to win and try their best when suddenly the projection pictures on the screen indicate that the jackpot has been hit. Everybody starts chasing Greed and his huge bag full of money while the golden coins are falling down like stars.
Next it’s the turn for a card game. Some chorus girls mingle with the players, dressed as playing cards and of course roulette can’t be far behind.
The entire chorus performs like a life-size roulette game in a precision wheel-routine, also doing fast movements and tricky splices. They are dressed either in tight shimmering red or black suits with numbers on their backs and the two center skaters dressed in green as “zero. As soon as the croupier demands the 4-spoked chorus wheel that quickly was formed starts spinning with a principal skating around it in opposite direction as roulette ball. One by one the skaters form a wheel with “Owner of a lonely heart” and the speedy “Round and around and around we go”. Everybody joining the wheel switches on a little spotlight. The way the wheel is completed is most impressive.
Romanza’s last principle number is a beautiful one with everybody dressed elegantly in pure white….
As the show ends one is just left awestruck and wanting more…
The opening of Act 2 is a scene from a cemetery. Vampires skate past as a huge American-style black coffin slowly moves towards the middle of the rink…a creaking sound as it opens slowly…
The body of Dracula, lying horizontally in the air, is slowly lowered into the coffin and the lid closes. Several vampire creatures take off and show a spooky flying ballet…
The scene changes…a group of elegantly dressed ladies with long white dresses and hats seem to be taking a walk... London police men are on patrol, when Mina appears.
Dracula seduces her against the backdrop of heavy metal music. She falls for his charms to a beautiful rendition of “I will always love you” which climaxes with her getting bitten by him.
Forever unforgotten is the secret and tragic relationship of Italian nobleman Romeo and the beautiful Juliet. Against the backdrop of ancient Italian newspapers informing us about the tragic happenings in Verona, where the families of Montague and Capulet live, there is a feast going on in the house of the Capulets. Romeo, dressed up so he would not be recognized catches sight of Juliet and they fall in love and meet secretly after the feast.
A lovely decorated balcony is placed on the ice in front of the stage on which Juliet appears in a red dress to see her secret love, Romeo. But unfortunately their love was ill-fated.
Romeo kills Tybalt, nephew of Countess Capulet, and gets banned. More newspaper headlines tell about the tragic events. Juliet is being forced to marry Count Paris…she swallows a drink which makes her unconscious in order to avoid the marriage. Romeo does not get the information that Juliet is only unconscious and decides to kill himself. After their last kiss he poisons himself and dies. Juliet awakes and realizes what has happened. She takes a dagger and kills herself.
The entire Romeo & Juliet number is staged most romantically and with lovely Italian love songs.
Warnings to resist temptations of the seven deadly sins echo as skaters in Spanish costumes painted with neon colors skate in with things that look like trees and transform them into small bistro tables. The femme fatale appears and starts to make fun of an ugly toreador who has got huge ears and a horrible nose. She pretends to seduce him by stripping for him. With “You can leave your hat on” she takes off one piece of clothes after the other. This scene is fantastic as we can see only the neon colored clothes and tables but no faces. It looks really funny as the clothes that she still wears seem to hover in the darkness.
Next is my other favorite of the show…it revolves around the sins of laziness and gluttony…its about the Passion for chocolate. 8 chorus girls lay down on huge cushions to give in to their addiction to chocolate. Gula, the gluttony, brings in a huge inflated chocolate cake with cream and cherries on the top. The girls start to bite into the pieces of the cake that start to move around on the ice. This number really funny one and the song “Everybody wants a chocolate!” is thrilling! At the end of the number the girls disappear into the huge chocolate cake. And come out again- fat as marshmallow men and hardly able to move any more. The only thing they’re still able to do is to fall down on their cushions, raise their fat legs like a beetle on his back and moan!
The other sins like Avaritia, the greed follow…The girl skaters enter the casino, dressed as illuminated slot machines. The boys are eager to win and try their best when suddenly the projection pictures on the screen indicate that the jackpot has been hit. Everybody starts chasing Greed and his huge bag full of money while the golden coins are falling down like stars.
Next it’s the turn for a card game. Some chorus girls mingle with the players, dressed as playing cards and of course roulette can’t be far behind.
The entire chorus performs like a life-size roulette game in a precision wheel-routine, also doing fast movements and tricky splices. They are dressed either in tight shimmering red or black suits with numbers on their backs and the two center skaters dressed in green as “zero. As soon as the croupier demands the 4-spoked chorus wheel that quickly was formed starts spinning with a principal skating around it in opposite direction as roulette ball. One by one the skaters form a wheel with “Owner of a lonely heart” and the speedy “Round and around and around we go”. Everybody joining the wheel switches on a little spotlight. The way the wheel is completed is most impressive.
Romanza’s last principle number is a beautiful one with everybody dressed elegantly in pure white….
As the show ends one is just left awestruck and wanting more…
15 February 2008
Romanza – Act 1
Last weekend I went to watch an ice skating show…called Romanza from the world famous Holiday on Ice group.
It is a romantic trip through history, telling both happy and tragic tales of passion, emotion and love from through the ages. Amazingly skilful skating from 46 world-class skaters, artistic choreography, exquisite & colorful costumes and lighting and what a use of props! And if that is not enough…there is flying, fire and magic! A truly breathtaking performance
I realized during the show that there was no break in between the various numbers and what I learnt later was that during this show NOT A SINGLE costume change is made in the dressing room! All the changes have to be done right backstage! There’s no time for the skaters to make their way to the dressing room, not because of the distance but because of the required quick changes during the entire show.
The show begins with the creation of the heart…and the chorus team all dressed in black suits with red and green electroluminescent light cords on their bodies, shaped like hearts and in wavy lines skate onto the rink. Wonderful routine with many ice skating tricks!
This is followed by the story of Adam and Eve… Colourful paradise birds and other animals in neon pink enter the ice.
The skating by Adam and Eve was mind blowing…how he just lifts her and turns around in the same place…or when he swings her from her leg…so fast …I was like…if he lets go…she is going to go thrashing across the rink, probably onto the stands…
A huge heart with illuminated veins in red and green is moved forward on the ice. Silently a huge pink tree with apples makes its way to the middle of Garden of Eden, followed by an awesome snake, trying to seduce Eve to pick one of the apples for a bite which she finally does.
This leads us to the next scene about the seven deadly sins - Luxuria, the lust, Invidia, the jealousy, Ira, the anger, Gula, the gluttony, Acedia, the lazyness, Superbia, the pride and Avaritia, the greed. All the skaters personifying the sins were so aptly dressed and again mindblowing skating routines.
Next is the story of Samson & Delilah…The scene starts with a farmers’ dance, performed by the chorus boys with stacked up wood which is set on flame – a technical trick that was really outstanding.
Then there was a routine of a Stone Age gym. The girls exercise with huge rock handles while the boys work out their muscles with weight-lifting on Flintstone-like benches. Very, very cute…
Samson is the popular hero who can withstand any danger but cannot resist the charm of Delilah. He is seduced by Delilah and she chops of his hair which is the source of his strength rendering him completely powerless.
The skater playing Samson (he also plays Ceaser later) was the most energetic skater/dancer…twice he nearly skated off the rink…
Geishas enter the scene, carrying huge red lanterns which are being placed around the ice. Beautiful props creating a very intimate and romantic set….this has to be the famous Japanese story of love and betrayal of Madame Butterfly and Pinkerton…
A bed under a huge pavilion rolls onto the ice and there is a dream sequence where he remembers his wife in USA …so he deserts Madame Butterfly and flees
The next scene is a parade of famous couples in history - Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf…who suddenly freeze as the next couple enters: The frog and the princess and finally a bit drunken, but happy in love, Popeye the sailorman as he tells his beloved, Olive: “I wanna be loved by you”.
They are joined by girls’ in golden dresses and blond wigs, happily jumping: “I’m a barbie girl in a barbie world”. And where there’s Barbie, Ken is not far away. The chorus boys as Kens in fine white jackets with yellow hearts, yellow shirts and black trousers take their Barbies out for an excursion.
Danny and Sandy from Saturday Night fever are next with “You’re the one that I want”, before a Dirty Dancing sequence ends this number with “Time of my life”.
And then one of my favorites…a solo girl in a red dress skating to “The lady in red”…. Superman appears and takes off on an invisible cable, taking his Lois Lane with him.
The last part of the Act 1 begins with a parade of Egyptian girls, beautifully dressed in basketwork dresses, personating Egyptian amphora. Fantastic!
Then the curtain opens again and an enormous Sphinx statue with a black face is being positioned to demonstrate the arrival of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.
When she steps down from her throne, she pulls behind her extra long golden train like a never ending waterfall.
Her entire court surrounds her with “Walk like an Egyptian”.
Caesar tries his best to seduce Cleopatra who is not easy to get…and there is a love triangle with Mark Anthony. He says “She drives me crazy” (and this is the same energetic fellow who played Samson earlier)
Lust is there to help him reach his aim, but is there a rival in the plot? Jealousy, the next of the seven deadly sins is there, too…he is killed and Cleo is off with Mark Anthony.
Act 1 ends with golden banners in a breath-taking finale! Act 2 to follow.
It is a romantic trip through history, telling both happy and tragic tales of passion, emotion and love from through the ages. Amazingly skilful skating from 46 world-class skaters, artistic choreography, exquisite & colorful costumes and lighting and what a use of props! And if that is not enough…there is flying, fire and magic! A truly breathtaking performance
I realized during the show that there was no break in between the various numbers and what I learnt later was that during this show NOT A SINGLE costume change is made in the dressing room! All the changes have to be done right backstage! There’s no time for the skaters to make their way to the dressing room, not because of the distance but because of the required quick changes during the entire show.
The show begins with the creation of the heart…and the chorus team all dressed in black suits with red and green electroluminescent light cords on their bodies, shaped like hearts and in wavy lines skate onto the rink. Wonderful routine with many ice skating tricks!
This is followed by the story of Adam and Eve… Colourful paradise birds and other animals in neon pink enter the ice.
The skating by Adam and Eve was mind blowing…how he just lifts her and turns around in the same place…or when he swings her from her leg…so fast …I was like…if he lets go…she is going to go thrashing across the rink, probably onto the stands…
A huge heart with illuminated veins in red and green is moved forward on the ice. Silently a huge pink tree with apples makes its way to the middle of Garden of Eden, followed by an awesome snake, trying to seduce Eve to pick one of the apples for a bite which she finally does.
This leads us to the next scene about the seven deadly sins - Luxuria, the lust, Invidia, the jealousy, Ira, the anger, Gula, the gluttony, Acedia, the lazyness, Superbia, the pride and Avaritia, the greed. All the skaters personifying the sins were so aptly dressed and again mindblowing skating routines.
Next is the story of Samson & Delilah…The scene starts with a farmers’ dance, performed by the chorus boys with stacked up wood which is set on flame – a technical trick that was really outstanding.
Then there was a routine of a Stone Age gym. The girls exercise with huge rock handles while the boys work out their muscles with weight-lifting on Flintstone-like benches. Very, very cute…
Samson is the popular hero who can withstand any danger but cannot resist the charm of Delilah. He is seduced by Delilah and she chops of his hair which is the source of his strength rendering him completely powerless.
The skater playing Samson (he also plays Ceaser later) was the most energetic skater/dancer…twice he nearly skated off the rink…
Geishas enter the scene, carrying huge red lanterns which are being placed around the ice. Beautiful props creating a very intimate and romantic set….this has to be the famous Japanese story of love and betrayal of Madame Butterfly and Pinkerton…
A bed under a huge pavilion rolls onto the ice and there is a dream sequence where he remembers his wife in USA …so he deserts Madame Butterfly and flees
The next scene is a parade of famous couples in history - Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf…who suddenly freeze as the next couple enters: The frog and the princess and finally a bit drunken, but happy in love, Popeye the sailorman as he tells his beloved, Olive: “I wanna be loved by you”.
They are joined by girls’ in golden dresses and blond wigs, happily jumping: “I’m a barbie girl in a barbie world”. And where there’s Barbie, Ken is not far away. The chorus boys as Kens in fine white jackets with yellow hearts, yellow shirts and black trousers take their Barbies out for an excursion.
Danny and Sandy from Saturday Night fever are next with “You’re the one that I want”, before a Dirty Dancing sequence ends this number with “Time of my life”.
And then one of my favorites…a solo girl in a red dress skating to “The lady in red”…. Superman appears and takes off on an invisible cable, taking his Lois Lane with him.
The last part of the Act 1 begins with a parade of Egyptian girls, beautifully dressed in basketwork dresses, personating Egyptian amphora. Fantastic!
Then the curtain opens again and an enormous Sphinx statue with a black face is being positioned to demonstrate the arrival of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.
When she steps down from her throne, she pulls behind her extra long golden train like a never ending waterfall.
Her entire court surrounds her with “Walk like an Egyptian”.
Caesar tries his best to seduce Cleopatra who is not easy to get…and there is a love triangle with Mark Anthony. He says “She drives me crazy” (and this is the same energetic fellow who played Samson earlier)
Lust is there to help him reach his aim, but is there a rival in the plot? Jealousy, the next of the seven deadly sins is there, too…he is killed and Cleo is off with Mark Anthony.
Act 1 ends with golden banners in a breath-taking finale! Act 2 to follow.
07 February 2008
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
~Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there's a pair of us?
Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one's name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!
06 February 2008
01 February 2008
Religions...
Hindus, in their capacity for love, are Hairless Christians,
Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus,
Christians, in their devotion to God, are Hat wearing Muslims...
(From 'The Life of Pi' by Yann Martel)
Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus,
Christians, in their devotion to God, are Hat wearing Muslims...
(From 'The Life of Pi' by Yann Martel)
28 January 2008
Chicago, the Musical
The poster outside the theatre reads "Sex, sleaze, sin"...and much more (can’t remember the whole list now). In the introduction they say...its all about murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery. The catch line is if you can’t be famous, be infamous.
The show lived up to these. It begins with a number 'All that Jazz' - beautifully choreographed...with hot women with perfect bods in SEXY form-fitting bodices and panty hose, good looking hunks in tight pants and body hugging see through shirts or just waistcoats.
And everything in black...the stage, the clothes...excellent and giving the effect that this is a dark tale... 'The Cell Block Tango' number where the six murderesses of the County Jail tell their tales of murder goes well with the entire theme.
Chicago tells the story of Roxie Hart, a chorus girl who murders her lover, then manages not only to avoid prison with the help of razzle-dazzle lawyer Billy Flynn, but uses the trial to propel herself to showbiz stardom along with another murderous chorus girl, Velma Kelly.
Roxie is played by a petite redhead and the way she blinks her eyes, nods her head and shakes her bum is brilliant...the act of innocence is perfect and she comes across as a pretty damsel in distress, so vulnerable rather than a cold blooded murderess. The song where Billy and Roxie tell her story to the press – 'We Both Reached for the Gun' is fabulous - my favorite in this show.
Then of course I mustn’t forget Sob sister reporter Mary Sunshine with her opera singer like voice. The shock comes later as they say ...'all is not what it looks like' and Mary Sunshine removes her dress and wig and we realize she’s a man!!!
Billy Flynn, the lawyer is properly slick and manipulative…his gelled hair, his suit says it all...His rendition of 'Razzle Dazzle' was really good. This is the only time we see a bit of color – white as the dancers do wonderful choreography with white feathers. The way they hide him, with only his face popping out...and then the other way around as they circle him and he appears like the centre of a flower...Brilliant and so clean...
If I forget to talk about Amos, Roxie’s husband then it would be just like in the play...his problem is that the whole world just passes by him without seeing him...his parents moved the house while he was away to school!!! The rendition of 'Mr. Cellophane' makes you think...how pathetic.
I remember Shabana Azmi telling someone on one of the dance shows that a good performer is one who even after finishing their performance, keep up the act till they leave the stage, as long as they are visible to the audience they must keep up the act.
That was another amazing aspect of this show...right through the show it had some of the actors sitting in chairs on the side of the stage and they were clapping their hands and clicking their fingers without a miss,in perfect sync...and they would move to a full out dance in the blink of an eye.
A delightful musical...
The show lived up to these. It begins with a number 'All that Jazz' - beautifully choreographed...with hot women with perfect bods in SEXY form-fitting bodices and panty hose, good looking hunks in tight pants and body hugging see through shirts or just waistcoats.
And everything in black...the stage, the clothes...excellent and giving the effect that this is a dark tale... 'The Cell Block Tango' number where the six murderesses of the County Jail tell their tales of murder goes well with the entire theme.
Chicago tells the story of Roxie Hart, a chorus girl who murders her lover, then manages not only to avoid prison with the help of razzle-dazzle lawyer Billy Flynn, but uses the trial to propel herself to showbiz stardom along with another murderous chorus girl, Velma Kelly.
Roxie is played by a petite redhead and the way she blinks her eyes, nods her head and shakes her bum is brilliant...the act of innocence is perfect and she comes across as a pretty damsel in distress, so vulnerable rather than a cold blooded murderess. The song where Billy and Roxie tell her story to the press – 'We Both Reached for the Gun' is fabulous - my favorite in this show.
Then of course I mustn’t forget Sob sister reporter Mary Sunshine with her opera singer like voice. The shock comes later as they say ...'all is not what it looks like' and Mary Sunshine removes her dress and wig and we realize she’s a man!!!
Billy Flynn, the lawyer is properly slick and manipulative…his gelled hair, his suit says it all...His rendition of 'Razzle Dazzle' was really good. This is the only time we see a bit of color – white as the dancers do wonderful choreography with white feathers. The way they hide him, with only his face popping out...and then the other way around as they circle him and he appears like the centre of a flower...Brilliant and so clean...
If I forget to talk about Amos, Roxie’s husband then it would be just like in the play...his problem is that the whole world just passes by him without seeing him...his parents moved the house while he was away to school!!! The rendition of 'Mr. Cellophane' makes you think...how pathetic.
I remember Shabana Azmi telling someone on one of the dance shows that a good performer is one who even after finishing their performance, keep up the act till they leave the stage, as long as they are visible to the audience they must keep up the act.
That was another amazing aspect of this show...right through the show it had some of the actors sitting in chairs on the side of the stage and they were clapping their hands and clicking their fingers without a miss,in perfect sync...and they would move to a full out dance in the blink of an eye.
A delightful musical...
24 January 2008
ARE friends delight or pain?
~Emily Dickinson
ARE friends delight or pain?
Could bounty but remain
Riches were good.
But if they only stay
Bolder to fly away,
Riches are sad.
22 January 2008
18 January 2008
Tare Zameen Par
I watched this movie quite some time back- the first weekend after its release…
I simply loved it…and cried a lot while watching it. Initially I thought that I was the only emotional fool, but who ever I talk to seem to have been moved by it.
A friend, who I hear from once in a blue moon, mails to tell me that I should go watch the movie...Another friend calls from India and the 1st thing she says – go watch Tare Zameen Par…
Well, I expected the movie to be good….Aamir Khan is after all a perfectionist. He always seems to do movies that leave a lasting impression.
Just thinking and most of my fav movies are his movies.– DCH, Sarforosh, Lagaan, RDB and now this one.
The movie is all about a dyslexic boy and how no one including his family realizes that. They think that he is just not interested in studying and is simply naughty. The movie begins in the life of a happy and care-free boy Ishaan Awasthi, played by Darsheel Safary and moves on to how later he feels he is being punished when he sent to a boarding school and the trauma of separation from his family that he goes through…and finally how Aamir Khan as his art teacher helps him come out of that and overcome his difficulties with reading and writing…
The other message that I liked about the movie was the emphasis on creativity and how it has no value in our academic system…
Darsheel Safary is fabulous…the show stealer…and his character is so well sketched… The contrasts are amazing…
Initially when he is punished and made to leave the class, he thinks its Bindaas…and is break dancing outside the class…
Later in the movie, when again he is punished in the boarding school and made to leave class he is totally lost and so scared. One just wants to hug that boy then. And one realizes that he has changed so drastically …become so quiet from the naughty boy who would jump on the kitchen top to pick up the fish bowl from on top of the fridge, grab a sandwich as his mom shouts at him to wash his hands…even his clothes are clean now…earlier he looked like a typical naughty boy returning from school…shirt out, mud marks all over his clothes, laces and tie undone…
The song ‘mein kabhi batlaata nahi’ is THE MOST TOUCHING song I have heard...it just brings tears into your eyes...
Well…overall a brilliant movie and if you haven’t seen it…don’t give it a miss…
I simply loved it…and cried a lot while watching it. Initially I thought that I was the only emotional fool, but who ever I talk to seem to have been moved by it.
A friend, who I hear from once in a blue moon, mails to tell me that I should go watch the movie...Another friend calls from India and the 1st thing she says – go watch Tare Zameen Par…
Well, I expected the movie to be good….Aamir Khan is after all a perfectionist. He always seems to do movies that leave a lasting impression.
Just thinking and most of my fav movies are his movies.– DCH, Sarforosh, Lagaan, RDB and now this one.
The movie is all about a dyslexic boy and how no one including his family realizes that. They think that he is just not interested in studying and is simply naughty. The movie begins in the life of a happy and care-free boy Ishaan Awasthi, played by Darsheel Safary and moves on to how later he feels he is being punished when he sent to a boarding school and the trauma of separation from his family that he goes through…and finally how Aamir Khan as his art teacher helps him come out of that and overcome his difficulties with reading and writing…
The other message that I liked about the movie was the emphasis on creativity and how it has no value in our academic system…
Darsheel Safary is fabulous…the show stealer…and his character is so well sketched… The contrasts are amazing…
Initially when he is punished and made to leave the class, he thinks its Bindaas…and is break dancing outside the class…
Later in the movie, when again he is punished in the boarding school and made to leave class he is totally lost and so scared. One just wants to hug that boy then. And one realizes that he has changed so drastically …become so quiet from the naughty boy who would jump on the kitchen top to pick up the fish bowl from on top of the fridge, grab a sandwich as his mom shouts at him to wash his hands…even his clothes are clean now…earlier he looked like a typical naughty boy returning from school…shirt out, mud marks all over his clothes, laces and tie undone…
The song ‘mein kabhi batlaata nahi’ is THE MOST TOUCHING song I have heard...it just brings tears into your eyes...
Well…overall a brilliant movie and if you haven’t seen it…don’t give it a miss…
11 January 2008
10 January 2008
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is one of the best-written books I have read…
Even in its simple style the book is immensely powerful and is able to arouse a Kaleidoscope of Emotions...
It took me back to my childhood … when my mother would tell me stories about Sikhism…called Sakhis… the narrative style of this book was like that…simple but so engrossing that you just do not want to put the book down.
The author has used the style of the Russian Authors – while telling the story of Amir and Hassan, it looks at the history of Afghanistan as it moves from its final days of the monarchy, to the Soviet invasion and then the atrocities of the Taliban.
Set in Afghanistan it starts with the childhood of Amir, a small boy from a rich well to do family...who has all the worldly things he could ask for, except his fathers love. He thinks that his father hates him because his mother died during child birth. The father-son relationship is handled in a brilliant way.
The way the author describes his feelings you can almost feel the desperation on Amir’s part to prove himself to his father…
Hassan is Amir’s servant’s son– a Hazara (low caste), illiterate boy…with whom Amir has developed a close, unlikely friendship…Hassan literally worships Amir but Amir often makes fun of Hassan’s naivety and innocence …
At the annual kite flying competition, while Hassan again proves his loyalty…he could have given the kite to the bullies but does not because according to him it rightfully belongs to his Amir Agha. But Amir fails him as he hides and watches in fear as his friend is beaten and sexually abused by the bullies…
Amir goes on a guilt trip after that and avoids Hassan. This part of the book is heartbreaking. One cant help being moved by Hassan’s plight as the young child cannot understand what happened to his dear friend, why does he avoid him all the time, why don’t they spend all the time together as before, why his Amir Agha does not read stories to him…
But at the same time one feels bad for Amir. He was after all a child and its OK if he got scared and did not stand up for his friend…but the guilt and shame he feels is really touching…
This guilt sets the pace for the rest of the book.
Many years later Amir gets a chance to overcome his weaknesses. He returns from USA during the Taliban rule to atone for his sins to Hassan and save Hassan’s son Sohrab.
Sohrab’s character – again well sketched. The author is able to bring out his terror, his inability to trust anyone very nicely. A child’s mind… slowly seems to forget the past and learns to trust. But soon we realize how even a small slip can destroy everything that may have taken days, weeks …maybe even months to develop…and therafter how difficult it is to gain that trust again.
One line in the book that haunts me "How a child deals with terror – they just sleep it off…" and then I can just visualize Sohrab crawling into his bed and curling off to sleep…
The end is beautiful…as Amir repeats to Sohrab what Hassan said to many years back – "For you, a thousand times over"…
Overall an unforgettable book.
Even in its simple style the book is immensely powerful and is able to arouse a Kaleidoscope of Emotions...
It took me back to my childhood … when my mother would tell me stories about Sikhism…called Sakhis… the narrative style of this book was like that…simple but so engrossing that you just do not want to put the book down.
The author has used the style of the Russian Authors – while telling the story of Amir and Hassan, it looks at the history of Afghanistan as it moves from its final days of the monarchy, to the Soviet invasion and then the atrocities of the Taliban.
Set in Afghanistan it starts with the childhood of Amir, a small boy from a rich well to do family...who has all the worldly things he could ask for, except his fathers love. He thinks that his father hates him because his mother died during child birth. The father-son relationship is handled in a brilliant way.
The way the author describes his feelings you can almost feel the desperation on Amir’s part to prove himself to his father…
Hassan is Amir’s servant’s son– a Hazara (low caste), illiterate boy…with whom Amir has developed a close, unlikely friendship…Hassan literally worships Amir but Amir often makes fun of Hassan’s naivety and innocence …
At the annual kite flying competition, while Hassan again proves his loyalty…he could have given the kite to the bullies but does not because according to him it rightfully belongs to his Amir Agha. But Amir fails him as he hides and watches in fear as his friend is beaten and sexually abused by the bullies…
Amir goes on a guilt trip after that and avoids Hassan. This part of the book is heartbreaking. One cant help being moved by Hassan’s plight as the young child cannot understand what happened to his dear friend, why does he avoid him all the time, why don’t they spend all the time together as before, why his Amir Agha does not read stories to him…
But at the same time one feels bad for Amir. He was after all a child and its OK if he got scared and did not stand up for his friend…but the guilt and shame he feels is really touching…
This guilt sets the pace for the rest of the book.
Many years later Amir gets a chance to overcome his weaknesses. He returns from USA during the Taliban rule to atone for his sins to Hassan and save Hassan’s son Sohrab.
Sohrab’s character – again well sketched. The author is able to bring out his terror, his inability to trust anyone very nicely. A child’s mind… slowly seems to forget the past and learns to trust. But soon we realize how even a small slip can destroy everything that may have taken days, weeks …maybe even months to develop…and therafter how difficult it is to gain that trust again.
One line in the book that haunts me "How a child deals with terror – they just sleep it off…" and then I can just visualize Sohrab crawling into his bed and curling off to sleep…
The end is beautiful…as Amir repeats to Sohrab what Hassan said to many years back – "For you, a thousand times over"…
Overall an unforgettable book.
09 January 2008
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
~Emily Dickinson
"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—
And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird—
That kept so many warm—
I’ve heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.
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