For the past 20 years, theatre personality Leila Alvares has been directing musicals such as Fiddler On The Roof and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for Bengaluru’s theatre lovers. This year, her 21st, the Coorg-based director stages the musical comedy, The Addams Family. “I always aim to bring plays that people here are familiar with in some manner. Because unlike in the West, people here are not so open to musicals,” says Leila about the choice of this particular adaptation which will be staged this weekend.
The plot is about the daughter of the family, Wednesday, who has grown up and fallen in love with a man from a “normal” family. Now, her father Gomez and his beloved wife, Morticia host a dinner for Wednesday’s boyfriend and his parents, and hilarity ensues. The cast includes Lionel De Nazareth, Deepa Jacob, Arvind Kasthuri, Rahael Thomas, Bhumika Anantharaman, Darshan Venkatesh and Prem Koshy. “Morticia has such a fascinating affinity for all things dark, but at the same time, she never forgets what’s important,” says Deepa who plays the role of the matriarch. Koshys’ owner Prem Koshy, who swaps his apron for the role of Uncle Fester, says that while he is very familiar with the character, he has tried to bring some uniqueness to his role. “We don’t want to follow anyone else so we try our best to bring some originality to the role, but yet stay true the character,” he says.
All the music, accompanied with choreographed pieces by choreographers Alisha D’Souza and Prakrithi Sharma, will be performed live during the performance. The music director, Vivek Menzel, says that the music has a typical Broadway base infused with some Latin styles. “There are a couple of surprise funk and rock elements in the tracks,” he adds. For a cause The musical will be staged in aid of Leila’s non profit, The Cause Foundation. Every year, the proceeds from the musicals go to a few charities supporting human, animal and environmental rights. But this year, the proceeds will be helping the people affected by the flooding in Coorg. She will also release her semi-autobiographical book, Once Upon A Lifetime at the event on Saturday.
Rs. 300 upwards. September 1 and 2, 5.30 pm. At Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram. September 5, 7.15 pm. At MLR Convention Centre, Whitefield
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