Forty five children – some of whom not too long ago, were reluctant to leave their mothers’ side and step into their performing arts class, took their first baby steps on their road to fame on March 25, in The Road to Fame concert, held at the Wendt.
They promised us an evening of lively singing, a popular children’s musical, barber shop, jazz and pop and entertainment for an audience of all ages. And we certainly got no less than a thoroughly enjoyable performance by a cast of 64 members fro the ages of 4-50 in this, the maiden concert of Revelations Academy.
Starting off on The Road to Fame were The Revelations, who true to form, gave off a brilliant performance. Their repertoire consisted of barber shop and popular favourites such as “Aint Misbehaving” and Ray Charles’ “Georgia.” They sang these acapella numbers to perfection with excellent harmonizing, good balance and control. Although the singing was vocally pleasing, a little more variety would have been nice.
The confidence was noticeable in the second act of the night, and adaptation of Walt Disney’s Jungle Book. With no trace of self consciousness, the kids took on their roles with gusto, and quite obviously had the time of their lives. Considering that the cast consisted of raw beginners, the singing was impressive – lively and fun to listen to, for the children and adults of the audience.
Mowgli, played by Migara Gunawansha, was cute, and gave off an engaging and convincing performance as the little man cub thrust into the company of the wacky animals who see him through the jungle and into civilization. Kevin Fernando, taking on the role of the fun-loving Baloo, was also impressive as he plodded around on stage, heavily padded up, as befits a bear of Baloo’s stature. He really got the audience going, with his animated singing, acting and dancing. Other commendable performances were those of Kaa and King Louis, played by Roshana Tissaaratchy and Joshua Goonetileke. Roshana did an excellent and memorable performance of the sssserpent with a sseriouss ssinuss problem, and Joshua headed his lively band of monkeys with ease and a nice sense of fun!
Special mention should also be made of the set and the costumes – particularly the costumes worn by Kaa and the vultures. The costume concepts were well executed.
With regard to the overall performance though, it was often felt that the children would not have had any problem projecting their voices, with a little help from the hanging mikes and those at apron stage. Occasionally, the bulky FM mikes they had strapped to their chests seemed a little redundant.
The final act of the performance was by a group of adults of The Revelations academy, singing an Abba medley and other favourites such as “Here comes the Sun,” “Sentimental Journey,” “I can’t stop loving you,” “You’re the one that I want” and “Fame.” Entertaininment and making good use of choreography, theirs was a good selection of songs to complement their talent and vocal range. However, the show lacked a grand finale, and left the audience a little surprised. Having said that though, The Revelations Academy’s first concert was in every other sense a success, and leaves its audience with the hope for more from them in the near future.
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