The Bangalore Broadway Company which was started just a year-and-a-half back wanted to get into the broadway and musical space. This weekend, the company will be performing a concert with a variety of songs. It will have everything that one would expect from concert with dance, music and the works.
With over 16 vocalists and 10 musicians, this is by far one of the largest broadway groups in the city. Sowmya Raghavan who founded this group shares, “The BBC as we fondly call it is not a group that can go to a pub and perform. When we wanted to perform, we wanted to develop the concept of a seated concert. This is one such concert.”
The theme and the music of this entire concert is connected to the earth. On what one can expect from this show Sowmya adds, “Primarily one can expect three things. Music that is connected to the earth. A lot of the songs have sounds of a tropical forest. There is also a very beautiful piece where only wine glasses are used to create sound. We will also have a music theatre piece where it is conversation between two people with music playing in the background. A dance troupe will also be accompanying us as certain songs will be emoted through dance.”
This show is sure to be a visual treat with a lot of props, dialogues and music. The group will be performing a wide repertoire of music ranging from classic, African folk, Japanese folk about fireflies, rock music and popular hits that have been re-created entirely. The common factor among all of these are the earthy elements that will be added. As for the type of instruments they will be using, she shares, “We have the melody instruments, a percussionist, a horn section which has a clarenet player, trumpet and a saxphone and also a violonist.”
Such big-scale concerts have never been done owing to the funds required for such shows. On the the concert music scene in the city, “Shows like this have only been done on a small scale in school and colleges. Music theatre is not very happening in the city. People are doing on an independent level and I wish more different concepts come up,” Sowmya opines.
Musician Siddarth Suresh says,”I be will taking care of the keyboards and will also be helping with arrangements and vocal harmonies. I would have never been exposed to this sort of music if not for this group. The one song that I canto really connect is called Butterfly. I was really moved by the lyrics and it kind of makes sense when you look at life.”
Deepa Jacob who is a Soprano says, “The reason why I joined this group is because they were doing a lot of songs from Disney and Broadway. But when it comes to this show, Baba Yetu was something that I used to sing with my Acapella group in college. I really love the grooves and feelings that come through African folk music.” Bass singer Siddarth Abraham will be a part of all the songs, including one where he will be the lead singer. He adds, “One of most favourite songs is called Oh Yini. It is an Acapella piece that comes together really well following the vocals. It really resonates really well for me.”
— The show is set to happen in October 6 at Shoonya Center of Art and Somatic Practises.
