Talent galore of past and present
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Award-winning performance: “Human” by Shyomie Kulatunga and Vihani Tennakoon
Past and present students of sister schools Bishop’s College and S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia, lit up the Bishop’s College auditorium as they joined hands for “Back to Stage” on May 17 and 18.
Organised by the BC Past Pupils Association (PPA) and STC Old Boys Association (OBA), the show presented in a school concert style, saw an array of performances showcasing the multiple talents of their students.
Opening the show was the Intermediate Choir of Bishop’s College with Wham’s “Wake me up Before You Go-Go” and “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins. Siblings Gayan and Gayathri performed a melodious cover of “Help me make it through the night” followed by a monologue titled “harmonious” by Lihan Mendis which had the audience chuckling throughout.
Sashmitha Manikyamkumar’s breathtaking solo dance “The fire” was followed by the euphonious duet of Radini Fernando and Andrew Sebastian.
Vocal coach and choral director of the show Sanjeev Jayaratnam then took the stage to perform “Stars” with his sons Tharuka and Cheran, with Dr. Gananath Dasanayake up next captivating the audience with a cover of Bruno Mars’ “Fly me to the moon” adding a beautiful saxophone solo in between.
Memorable: Dr. Sean Amarasekera performing “If I were a rich man” from the musical Fiddler on the Roof
Representing the Danceworld School, past pupils Shyomie Kulatunga and Vihani Tennakoon performed “Human” – their award-winning performance at the LA’s Global Dance Festival ‘Dance Excellence 2024’.
Next in line was an acoustic cover of “Master Sir” dedicated to the staff of both schools, performed by Niranjan Bibile.
Bringing past and present to the stage, were mother and daughter duo Anuradha and Tessara Weerasekara, followed by Shyama Perera (on piano) and Manith Fernando singing “Dancing on my own”.
The Ragtag Band dominated the stage with iconic songs such as Bob Marley’s “No woman no cry” and “Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House followed by a performance by the Western Band of STC featuring Sandadev Liyanage.
Performing for the first time in 19 years, Menik Neydorff presented “Morphing through emotion”, followed by a teacher-student piano duo Shyama Perera and Zahara Mohamed with Richard Clayderman’s “Lyphard Melody” rearranged and improvised for two pianos.
Dr. Sean Amarasekera’s performance of “If I were a rich man” from the Musical Fiddler on the Roof had the audience spellbound. In similar vein came father-daughter and uncle trio Ishan, Khalia and Rohan de Lanerolle singing Diana Ross’s “When you tell you love me”.
A fusion Bharatha dance medley by seven-member Bishopian dance troop “InerGen Raaga Taalam” (pictured on the Magazine cover) was next, and another Bishopian star Dimitri Gunatilleke performed “Somewhere over the Rainbow’’ and “Nim Him Sewwa” accompanied by Mariam Mohamed on the piano and a guest performance with Bishop’s Vice Principal Chrishnika Galbadage on flute.
The Western band of STC. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara and Dilushi Wijesinghe
Delighting the audience, the award-winning Revelations of yesteryear, reunited to sing some acapella covers including “I’m into something good”. Then it was time for the De Lanerolle brothers with “Ganga Addara” and “Sweet Caroline”.
The final performance was by Canto Perpetua, the choir of STC with their rendition of “Fix You” by Coldplay.
The grand finale after the curtain call featured a performance by the Principal of Bishop’s College Chemali Herath, Vice Principal Chrishnika Galbadage and Sub Warden of S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia, Asanka Perera.
- Dilushi Wijesinghe
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