Sunday Times 2
Toccata : Experience the West End like never before
View(s):In less than two weeks, Colombo is about to experience the West End like it has never before, when Toccata Musical Productions takes the stage at the BMICH August 15 – 17. Among the glittering cast are some of the most experienced musicians to grace a Lankan stage, promising magic “Best of West End and Broadway: hits from the musicals that we all know and love” and “Sounds of Nostalgia: Classic, Pop, Rock and Country HITS”.
Artistic director and conductor Judith Sheridan
Mary Loughran, David Booth and singer Alison Arnopp are all graduates from the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), London. Loughran, trained in musical theatre, has been a part of numerous RAM, as well as Belfast Grand Opera House productions. Booth trained with the famed Omar Ebrahim and has performed at the Royal Albert Hall and Theatre Du Champs Elysees in Paris. Arnopp studied both singing and musical theatre at RAM, and has the Royal Opera House, a solo spot at the Queen’s Thames Diamond Jubilee Riverboat Pageant and tours with the famed ensemble, Celtic Woman, under her belt to boast of.
London-born Katie McHardy, though a soprano, has a surprisingly rich and deep voice which, combined with her dancing, has won her spots in Oklahoma! among other well known musicals. McHardy graduated from the Arts Education School, London, where another Toccata singer, tenor Charlie Vose, also studied. Vose has performed at Ye Old Rose and Crown, and played major professional roles including Danny Zuko in Grease and Curly McLain in Oklahoma!. Baritone Gareth McGreevy, too, has played Curly from Oklahoma!, alongside other familiar characters such as Freddie from My Fair Lady and Doody from Grease. Fiona Keegan, Chair of St. Agnes’ Choral Society, will also be featured as Mezzo Soprano at the Toccata shows in Sri Lanka. Her appearances on London stages include roles in Little Shop of Horrors, Oklahoma!, Anything Goes and Beauty and the Beast.
Currently touring Asia with these singers is a group of musicians with an equally impressive performance background. Among these are Venezuelan bassist Adolfredo Pulido, London s multi-talented musician Derrick Coonghe, violinists Alex Postlethwaite and Stephanie Cole as well as trumpeter, Richard Knights.
This dynamic and impressive group is led by Artistic Director and Conductor Judith Sheridan, a well known name in the global music scene. Apart from teaching voice to soloists and choirs, conducting workshops and touring with Toccata, Sheridan also composes for musical theatre.
Although the group is composed of performance experts, what finally brings them together is not the stage but a committed to the cause of taking the world’s premier performances to people and places that are not likely to experience them otherwise. Without doubt, this is that drop of magic which makes Toccata stand out from other performance groups, and their shows from among the hundreds we’ve seen – that they’re not driven by the lights, but by those who’re watching from the other side.
Box office for the shows is now open at the BMICH, in the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies Building, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m Tuesday to Sunday. Call 0766622244 for more info.