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Bombay Dreams

Topic started by Sajeev Raj (@ 210.195.144.64) on Sat Apr 13 22:31:21 EDT 2002.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Bombay Dreams is releasing in June 2002

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: jab (@ 195.93.34.7) on: Thu Nov 7 09:19:23 EST 2002
  
  http://www.londontown.com/London/Londons_Top_Ten_Musicals/
  
  
• From: londonwala (@ 195.93.34.7) on: Thu Nov 7 09:25:35 EST 2002
  
  http://www.theatreguidelondon.co.uk/reviews/bombaydreams02.htm
  check this out guysNot bad enough to be dire, Dreams is a drab, disappointing effort that misses almost every mark. Admittedly it makes for a pleasant enough evening of unchallenging entertainment -- but this presumably is not what producer Andrew Lloyd Webber expects of this much heralded new musical...
  
  "In the music department, A. R. Rahman writes pleasant enough tunes -- some even hummable -- but like Syal he suffers the same indecisiveness over style. Additionally the arrangements fail to build on any sparkle he may offer while Don Black's banal lyrics swiftly kill off any audience connection by line 1, verse 1. (Tellingly, no hit song has emerged from the show.) Staging is unimaginative and displays minimal input from director Steven Pimlott, while -- with the exception of the Bollywood set pieces (you may already have caught the techno Shakalaka Baby on TV) -- the choreography is lazy, lazy, lazy...
  and much more
  
  
  
  
  
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• From: lw (@ 195.93.34.7) on: Thu Nov 7 09:36:25 EST 2002
  
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/easy/reviews/arrahman_bombay.shtml
  
  ...So it comes as a pleasant surprise when it turns out that the music was, in fact, written by classically-trained musical polymath A R Rahman. Until you actually hear it however...
  
  ...Worst offender here is the single sung by star Preeya Kalidas, "Shakalaka Baby". In a shameless attempt to appeal to the supposed 30 second attention of under 25s a vaguely garage rhythm accompanies pearls of wisdom such as: "Saw your face and the damage was done, you weaved (sic) a spell that took me over. I found a bolt right out of the sun, I'd love to send it supernova". And so it goes.
  
  The real disappointment is that someone with as much talent as Rahman seemed unable to break the free of his producer's spell and produce something that really did translate the glamour of Bollywood onto a West End stage. In fact a vast amount of talent seems to have been wasted in giving us just another one for the tourists.
  
  
  
  
• From: lw (@ 195.93.34.7) on: Thu Nov 7 09:41:54 EST 2002
  
  http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/londontheatre/reviews/bombaydreams02.htm
  So why did Bombay dreams fail to impress? The music was not particularly memorable, with the exception of ‘Shakalaka Baby’ and ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’. Meera Syal, comedy scriptwriter to the successful British comedy show “Goodness Gracious Me”, seemed to have forgotten to include the comedy and romance, and Anthony Van Laast’s choreography is unimpressionable. Fortunately, Farah Khan who choreographed the Bollywood dance sequences assisted him. She brought some great routines to the show and much needed energy and verve.
  
  
  
• From: Are Yaar (@ 203.197.141.186) on: Fri Nov 8 00:15:09 EST 2002
  
  Good try lw.
  
  But the Queen has different ideas. She doesn't necessaryly subsrcribe to you.
  
  Her Majesty attends a sparkling gala performance
  The Queen's visit to Bombay Dreams
  
  http://www.bombaydreamstheshow.co.uk/FrontEnd/_Flash/Output/News/index.html
  also see attached pic (arr_queen.jpg)
  
  Her Majesty The Queen, who is patron of the British Red Cross,
  last night attended a special British Red Cross Gala performance
  of BOMBAY DREAMS at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.
  
  Her Majesty was greeted by the composer of the hit musical, A R
  Rahman and the producer Andrew Lloyd Webber. The audience also
  included a host of celebrities, including the author of the book,
  Bombay Dreams, Meera Syal, lyricist Don Black, director Shekhar
  Kapur as well as the likes of model Jodie Kidd, actors Sanjeev
  Bhaskar and Nigel Havers, designer Linda Barker, and former news
  broadcaster Angela Rippon.
  
  The evening, which was kindly sponsored by Bhs, aimed to raise
  vital funds for the work of the British Red Cross in the UK and
  overseas. Following last year's earthquake in the Indian state of
  Gujarat, the British Red Cross has been working closely with the
  Indian Red Cross on a number of projects including a nationwide
  disaster preparedness programme and the reconstruction of primary
  health centres and community facilities.
  
  Sir Nicholas Young, Chief Executive of the British Red Cross,
  says: "We are honoured and delighted that Her Majesty The Queen
  attended this special performance of Bombay Dreams. It was a
  wonderful evening, which has helped raise much needed funds for
  our work throughout the world."
  
  Her Majesty also met the cast of BOMBAY DREAMS after the
  performance. Raj Ghatak, who plays Eunuch Sweetie in the show said
  of the experience: "It was quite overwhelming to meet The Queen,
  and to be honest I didn't know whether to bow or curtsey!"
  
  
  

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