‘An impossible feat now coming together’
This production will be the ultimate binge-watch for every theatre nerd,” says director and actor Sean Amarasekera, talking of “The Greatest Shows” -a musical revue spanning 26 Broadway musical extracts that will take place from October 11 to 14 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.
Produced by Jerome L. De Silva, the Workshop Players’ latest production sees a cast and crew of over 200, guided by 20 directors, choreographers and music directors stage this two-programme show.
A theatre nerd himself Sean will be directing sketches from Matilda, Aida, Chorus Line and Cabaret. Having studied the context, themes and production technicalities of each production whilst also using his past acting experiences to bring “a nice variation to the show, from a directorial perspective” Sean says that staging such a mammoth musical enterprise is a risky task in countries which lack resources for musical theatre like Sri Lanka. “But I think the Workshop Players have got it down to an art,” he comments adding “We do more with a lot less. This is passion not a job at the end of the day -we’re here because we love what we’re doing.”
During the round table discussions behind the production scenes Sean shares “We cast mainly ensemble pieces and looked at the production in terms of the group dynamics.” Their 200+ cast and crew have oodles of talent, he says. “When they all piled in for the audition, for a minute I was wondering where these people have been hiding all this time!”
Among other appearances, audiences will see Sean as Agatha Trunchbull in Matilda. The harsh, psychopathic, cruel, pantsuited educator with her iconic tight hair bun and beady eyes has surprisingly always been played by a man on Broadway Sean informs us. His role as Trunchbull will also make it the second time Sean acts alongside his daughter having performed opposite her in Les Miserables in the past.
“Terrifying” and “amazing” is how Workshop newbies Meth Bandaranaike and Nigel Wayne White describe their experience of taking part in this colossal production. A self-proclaimed “bathroom singer” and closet dancer Meth, who has been thrust into the ensemble casts of a range of productions tries to come up with “specific details” for each character giving the audience a taste of a story in the background. Taking part in Rent, Aladdin and Mary Poppins, he teases, “In Mary Poppins the audience will get a taste from a lesser known song.”
For Wayne, “The ensemble is the heartbeat of the play” but this time he will be taking on the lead role in some extracts, such as the Genie in Aladdin, played by the late Robin Williams in the Disney animated production.
Having previously directed Aladdin for the young students at St. Thomas International School, Seeduwa in December 2017, the young girl who Wayne cast as the genie’s “phenomenal” performance made him adamant to try out for the role. Citing director Kevin Cruze as his mentor, Wayne has been in St. Joseph’s College’s production of Peter Pan, having previously tackled characters like Mr. Smee. However nothing prepared him for “The Greatest Show”.
For Meth, peer pressure made him audition as he laughs “all my friends were taking part and it just happened.” However he hasn’t looked back. “It has now become a journey of experiences from the audition day to date and it’s been lovely.”
Playing Deloris Van Cartier from Sister Act, the role Whoopi Goldberg made famous, bubbly Dilini Perera’s excitement is palpable. Another first timer to the Workshop Players, Dilini had always been interested in auditioning but was inhibited due to family commitments and her responsibilities as choral director of the Holy Family Convent choir etc.
However, this time around her background in singing has landed her leads in The Greatest Shows from Deloris from Sister Act, Elphaba from Wicked, Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast and the Bearded Lady from the Greatest Showman. Although the variety sketches have been a “hectic” adjustment, the support of director Kumudini David has made it an “amazing experience” Dilini enthuses.
Dilini largely identifies with the challenging role of Elphaba, who has some technical singing pieces and a sentimental storyline. Acting alongside the hilarious Vinuri Weerawardena who plays the affable Glinda enhances the experience.
Speaking to the hands behind the scenes Johann A. Perera, we learn has the weighty task of physically operating the technical aspects of this colossal production as the backstage crew. Having been with the Workshop since 2015, Johann admits, “I enjoy the back hand work.” The production carries a bare minimum of over 200 props in its two day programme featuring 13 musicals a day.
Johann will also be taking on a few ensemble characters in some excerpts. “What really inspired me to take part was that there is so much hidden talent in Colombo and I just thought I have to be part of this!” he states.
Mihara Jayalath shares the choreographer role with Ayushka Nugaliyadda yet again. The duo, who debuted their combined efforts with the WSP production of My Fair Lady are taking on some technical dance numbers with this production.
Although Mihara’s dance background is in ballet, tap and street jazz , “Ayushka and I have the ability to adapt,” she says, adding that each musical demands a certain specific style from the theatrical Fosse style (made famous in productions such as Chicago and Cabaret), Hip-Hop, Pumping, the classical styles etc. “We’ve merged a lot of styles,” she shares “it all depended on how we feed the music.”
“You’re very unlikely to create a plotline with this revue,” Mihara shares, adding “We’re telling a really quick story.”
A challenge however was creating “choreography that everyone can do” making them spend endless hours on the finer details of each movement, all choreography made purely from scratch other than certain numbers which are iconic to particular scenes.
What was initially deemed to be an impossible feat is now coming together as they reach the final weeks of rehearsal. “We’ve come up to a point where I don’t think the cast or the crew have any doubts that we are doing a good job,” Johann shares as Mihara nods in agreement “The best part is when you see the progress and you understand and appreciate why you spend so many hours doing it.”
“The Greatest Shows – It’s everything you ever want” will be held from October 11 – 14 at the Lionel Wendt theatre with two matinee shows on October 13 and 14 at 3 p.m. With the box plan and tickets yet to be released please check their Facebook page (@theworkshopplayers) for more updates.