A.k.a. "MY viewpoint of FBT's seasonal musical."
It wasn't even two weeks since I'd fagged myself out with 'Blood Brothers' when I staggered with the BF into the Johnpillai residence at Surein's invitation to be a part of Christmas Inc. At first glance we'd made up our minds that this was not what we expected. Rows and rows of little people... at least ten years our junior, seated around a be-spectacled guy thumping out notes on a piano, who by the way also seemed a good decade younger than I. In the course of the evening I found out that Mr. Specs was actually the musical director of the play, and the kids gaping at him were the cast. I also found out that he was leaving the country that night, and would be returning five days before opening night.
Uh oh.
Honestly speaking, my first insinct was to turn around and head home, but Surein is a long-time friend and theatrical comrade, and I owed him more than a "no way". BF and I were in the middle of giving each other worried looks, when all of a sudden Mr. Specs (hereinafter to be known as DAN the MAN) started playing the keyboard again.
And then the heavens parted.
I mean it quite literally... it felt like a who new realm just took over the place, right before my eyes. The motley crew before me opened their mouths and began to sing, and my mouth opened along with them... in shock and awe. These kids could sing, dammit! They sounded like a friggin' junior philharmonic choir! I could see BF's eyes open up too. Perhaps we were wrong to have judged so quickly, because this lot were sounding better than all the choirs and theatre groups I've worked with in my entire life, and they were all younger than 18. Suddenly, a show seemed quite possible. Even Surein was looking a bit astounded. One hour into the rehearsal, I decided this cast didn't need any outside intervention from us so-called 'actors'. Hell, they could certainly sing way better than I could, anyway. I asked Surein if I might help out backstage instead, simply out of fear of looking really, really bad in front of these kids, had I tried to display my theatrical experience to them and ended up sounding like a throttled chicken in comparison. That and the fact that I'd never had the chance to actually watch a play I'd been involved in
- my entire theatre experience being ON stage and never off. This would be a definite first for me. BF on the other hand, was conscripted to become part of the comic relief in the show. And so, Christmas Inc began.
The Process
I have to admit, the going was tougher than I'd thought. We had a completely new and inexperienced cast who could only commit to weekend rehearsing, a production budget of a tiny bit more than Rs. 0.00 thanks to a no-sponsorship philosophy, a production crew who'd never been a production crew before, a helluva funny (and yet helluva confusing script) with no particular plot and plenty of unfinished areas, a missing writer and music director, the pressure of obligation to three chosen charities that this play should benefit, and less than two months to make it happen. Not to mention a first-time 'choreographer' in the form of yours truly, who had no idea what she was doing half the time.
Argh.
I wasn't the only one writhing in skepticism and alarm. Enter Ruveen Dias, who walked in one afternoon in a sleepy daze, having agreed the previous night to take on the role of Herod in the show. He took a look around at what we had to offer, and raised one eyebrow, and then the next. He spent the next few days begging for reminders as to WHY he'd said yes to the part.
Over the next 6 weeks, havoc reigned supreme at the Johnpillai residence and a few other cost-effective (free) joints that doubled for rehearsal space. I learnt that when you work with people who've not done theatre before, you tend to be somewhat cool in their eyes because you have. I must say it was quite a welcome change to the bitching and insults I've dealt with at other rehearsals. These kids actually WANTED me to give them dance steps and advice, and what's more amazing is that they actually ACCEPTED it. Wow. What was more amazing was that Ruveen a.k.a Herod, who'd previously wanted to bang his head against a wall for getting involved, was actually starting to enjoy himself thoroughly. He even agreed to letting me teach HIM a few dance steps and furthermore, practiced them!
Surein gave me a free hand to do as I pleased with the choreography and anything else I wanted to get my hands dirty with, and I had the time of my life. True, the cast was no group of ballerinas, but they tried their best, and it was fun churning out silly bollywood and broadway numbers, and not getting slapped or slandered for it. The singing talent kept taking my breath away, as did the sheer determination of these kids to do their best, regardless of their shortcomings in experience.
I enjoyed watching BF having a ball of a time with his role as one of the three kings (and/or wise men), alongside the ever-hilarious Ashan Dias and extraordinary Gehan Cooray. Between the three of them, they kept the cast, Surein and I in stitches all throughout the Christmas Inc experience. Then came the puppets. If you didn't see the show, you missed a real treat by way of a puppet show featuring a cow in a bowler hat, a retarded sheep and two sick-looking goats, all manipulated by the show's wise men (and/or kings), who went to town with it. Handling his sheep puppet was like a wet dream to BF, who's always had this peculiar fascination for making his hands talk. His eyes would light up like a three year old on Christmas day whenever he took the puppet into his hand, and very soon, he and the sheep became one (in a COMPLETELY non-sexual way).
Closer to show date saw alot of stress coming out, and well as a whole new lesson in the power of prayer and work ethic for me. The set designs were entirely handled by one tiny and pretty Korean friend of the JPs, who worked harder than an ant on steroids. She cut, chopped, painted and pasted her way to putting up quite a decent looking stage set, which I thought was a fantastic achievement for someone who did it for the first time, and for free, out of the sheer goodness of her heart and an effort to help friends. Dan the Man returned five days before opening night and put together a superb orchestra that gave such life to the music. Surein's wife Anushka masterfully dedicated herself to raising funds for the production by selling CDs of the show that the JP siblings had tirelessly put together. Dominic JP ('Domkey') single-handedly did just about everything else, from helping with CD sales, recording tracks, assisting with musical direction, playing in the orchestra, and even taking on a stage role at the eleventh hour. Not having money for producing new costumes, we dug into the costume cupboard at the Wendt and put together somewhat decent lot of clothes together, with some help from a lady who sewed the rest, and the cast bringing in their own stuff. Three days to shownight, the Workshop Players trooped in and took their places as the backstage crew. They handled everything from lights to props to make-up, and gave a by-now-much-frazzled Surein a reason to relax a bit.
The Product
I watched it all happen, with an occasional poking of the nose into make-up and costuming. Slowly but surely, the play came to life on stage. It was wild, it was whacky, it was reeking of accidents and inexperience... but it was brilliant.
There's no doubt that my initial fears and hesitations had ben replaced with much excitement and pride at seeing Chirstmas Inc finally happen in front of audiences. The three nights of shows brought us mixed responses. A few people sadly missed out on the fact that this show was not meant to be a commericalized professional production, but rather a heartfelt effort to help people in need, and a community project to convey a very relevant message. There were the audience members who felt they'd been cheated out of their ticket money, because they didn't get the show quality they thought they deserved. How I wish we'd been able to please them all, but then again, this wasn't a professional theatre group... there's no way we could have lived up to the standards set by the more experienced entities out there. That's ok though... because to me, this show was far from disasterous, and because many others did get it, and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Whilst it's not fair to blame or fight a person for not having liked the show (to each his own prerogative, I say), there was much more to this production than the glamour and entertainment expected of it. Had the critics opened their eyes to more than what they saw on stage, then they would have understood what I understood in the process of working on this show. Here was a set of young people with more heart, more determination, and more promise than I've ever seen in any other group, coming together for what I personally think was a wonderful and worthy cause. It was not perfect by any means, but it was magical in it's own quirky way. Nearly three weeks since the show ended, I'm seated here still singing those goddamn tunes in my head.
After starting out as a full-on critic, I ended up being humbled and proud to have been a part of this production.
And the best part is... I got to watch the show.
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