29 Sep 2022  |   07:14am IST

Creating a musical world on stage

Once in a while, Leila Alvares’ musicals come as a ray of sunshine for English theatre lovers in Goa. She is back with her twist to the classic musical, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, which marks CAUSE Foundation’s 25th anniversary in the world of English theatre

Dolcy D’Cruz

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heatre lovers, especially English theatre enthusiasts, have a reason to rejoice as after a break of nearly two years, there will be a musical lighting up the stage at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. And it is not just any play, but a classic with a huge cast, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’. Directed by Coorg based Leila Alvares, the cast and crew from Bangalore will be performing in Goa on October 1, at 7.15 pm.

‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ is a delightfully irreverent take on the Biblical story of Jacob and his twelve sons, in particular, Joseph. The musical is filled with catchy songs in a variety of genres including, country-western, rock n roll, calypso and French ballads including the unforgettable ‘Any Dream Will Do’ that have entertained and inspired generations of young and old theatre goers. Originally stage in 1968, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible’s Book of Genesis.

The cast includes some of Bangalore’s finest new and old singing, acting, dancing and musical talent including Rahael Thomas, Alapana Bagirath, Madhuri Braganza, Shyju Varkey, Arvind Kasthuri and Prem Koshy among others. One of the most important factors for musicals, the live band will be directed by Aashish Paul and the lively dances are choreographed/directed by Ritu VK and Elexer Fernandes. Be ready to be dazzled by the vibrant costumes and striking sets using a combination of technology and hand painted scenes that make this musical a must see event.

Leila Alvares who traces her roots to Porvorim through her mother, Lavinia Fernandes, was encouraged to experience musicals through her father, Captain Kieren Alvares, a Mangalorean. “My father was more Goan than my mother. His family also came from Goa but was settled in Mangalore. He made it a point for us to travel to Goa for various family functions, Carnival and other feasts,” says Alvares. A director of Broadway musicals, for the past 25 years, she is also the founder and director of the Cooperation of the Arts for the Underprivileged in Society and Environment (CAUSE) Foundation. She has been involved with all things musical from a very young age while simultaneously giving back to the community. Besides her annual musical productions, Alvares is also the author of ‘Once Upon A Lifetime,’ She spends most of the year at her homestay on her coffee plantation in Coorg, where she lives with her two children, Kieren and Keira. This makes practices for the musicals a very intense two months period in Bangalore.

After two well received shows in Bengaluru followed by a show in the cities of Mysuru and Mangaluru, the musical is making its way to Goa. “We have performed in Goa over four times and I hope Goa shows us the same love this time. This was my first musical 25 years ago, which I then revived and improved greatly upon ten years later. Now for the third edition of the musical, it is a huge leap in terms of sets and costumes as you have to keep the musical relevant with the times. I am free to interpret the play and as Jacob has 12 sons and their wives, there will be nearly 40 cast and crew for this musical,” says Alvares, whose son, Kieren and daughter, Keira are also a part of the musical.

Leila Alvares and her team have successfully enthralled audiences for the past 25 years in Bangalore, Mangalore, Chennai, Coorg, Goa, Cochin, Payyanur and Mumbai. “The CAUSE Foundation promotes local talent and the profit is given to charity. It is quiet expensive to bring forth a musical as it requires live sounds and songs. We can only recover our expenses if we receive a full audience. For the past 15 years, I have been selecting the cast based on auditions. Earlier, it was easy to find talent through word of mouth but now it is extremely difficult. Sourcing talent has been a problem and dancers especially professional dancers expect to be paid. But since, this is a voluntary organization they can’t be paid. This year, I am extremely happy to say that we have 90 percent new and young talent. The band also picked up the music within ten days, which is quite impressive,” says Alvares, whose repertoire of past musicals include classics like ‘Grease’, ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Sound of Music’, ‘Fiddler on the Roof‘, ‘Ghost the Musical’, ‘Young Frankenstein’ and ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’.

Don’t miss the chance of see this young bunch of talent in the musical, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.’ Tickets are available online at BookMyShow and at the venue on the day of the event.