A.R.Rahman (Fan Club) - Page 81

Andrew Lloyd Webber fell in love with Bollywood, India's thriving film industry, after seeing one of its typical splashy musicals, Taal, at a northwest London cinema in 1999.

A big-bucks producer as well as composer, Lloyd Webber became obsessed with producing a stage musical set against the exotic backdrop of Bollywood. He hired A.R. Rahman, India's leading film composer, to do the score and Meera Syal to write the book.

The result is Bombay Dreams, which premiered in London in June 2002 drew mixed reviews and ran for two years. Substantial changes were made for the show's April 2004 Broadway premiere in an effort to make the content more accessible to American audiences. The changes apparently did more harm than good. The critical reception was more dismissive than in London, and the New York run lasted just eight months.

Bombay Dreams reaches Houston on Thursday in the national tour produced by the Independent Producers Network, which combines a dozen regional musical theaters. Theatre Under The Stars is presenting it here and, as a IPN member, is a co-producer. The lead producer is Atlanta's Theatre Of The Stars, which mounted the new production.

Nick Manos, the Atlanta company's managing director, explained why he and other company leaders wanted to bring Bombay Dreams to their audiences.

"Diversity is part of our mission," Manos said. "As this is the first musical about Indian culture and music, we thought it was a natural. It's also a fun, energetic dance show.

"The other key factor is Rahman's music, which is exceptionally moving at points. He's the John Williams of India, who's sold 150 million albums and has millions of fans. Yet to Americans, he's hardly known at all."

The show has been changed, yet again, for the tour, but the basic plot remains. Akaash, a slum dweller in Mumbai (a.k.a. Bombay), longs to be a Bollywood star.

He gets his chance when Priya, a noble documentary filmmaker, arrives to do a study of the slums. Akaash falls for Priya, and through her, gains entry to the film industry. Rani, a spoiled Bollywood star, chooses Akaash as her new leading man, and he becomes a sensation.

Will success turn Akaash's head? Or will he prove loyal to Priya and his slum family and friends, including his wise granny and his self-sacrificing eunuch buddy? Most crucially, will he return in time to keep their slum from being bulldozed?

The different receptions in London and New York were at least partly explained by the fact that London has a much larger South Asian population, and many more people (of all ethnicities) familiar with the Bollywood films.

"The London production was in some ways a loving tribute to Bollywood," Manos said. "But it also was a spoof. It had the over-the-top quality and the melodramatic multiple plotlines, like a soap opera. It was a snapshot of Indian culture as depicted in Bollywood films. The New York production simplified it, made compromises that made the show more accessible, but also took the uniqueness and the culture out of it."

The tour, Manos said, uses "mostly the London score and chiefly the New York book, but with some changes." He felt some explanation of Bollywood remains necessary for U.S. audiences.

"We've also tried to broaden its appeal, stressing the music, dance and exoticism. We wanted to focus on the strengths of the show."

Perhaps most crucially, the entire show is now set on a Bollywood soundstage — with Akaash's story a Bollywood movie in the making.

Before the show begins, excerpts of Bollywood films will show on large screens, giving first-time audiences a sampling of the genre.

"The numbers in a Bollywood film are best appreciated in terms of the famous Busby Berkeley routines," Manos said. "They're not meant to convey a deep emotional meaning. The idea is that you're supposed to be swept away by the spectacle, to have fun.

The tour is newly directed by Baayork Lee, with new choreography by Lisa Stevens and a new production design by Kenneth Foy. But it will retain the Broadway production's lavish costumes.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/3873590.html