The C.A.U.S.E Foundation is all set to make its annual pit stop in Goa with their new production ‘CRY BABY: The Musical’
KALYANI JHA | NT BUZZ
Known for staging Broadway musicals, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technical Dreamcoat’, ‘Something Rotten, Pamela’, ‘We Will Rock You’ to name a few, the C.A.U.S.E. Foundation, a non profit registered trust, is back with a new foot-tapping
musical comedy.
Led by founder, director and president Leila Alvares, their new production ‘CRY BABY: The Musical’ will be staged this weekend at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao.
Set in 1950s Baltimore, ‘CRY BABY, The Musical’ is a rebellious comedy about love, identity and defying social norms. The story follows Wade “Cry Baby” Walker, an outsider and leader of the ‘Drapes’ whose world collides with that of Allison Vernon -Williams- one of the prim ‘Squares’ who falls for his unapologetic charm. Their unlikely romance sparks a clash between conformity and individuality. ‘Cry-Baby’ is filled with high-energy rockabilly music and sharp humour, with a powerful message about embracing who you are.
In fact, Alvares reveals that she always chooses light-hearted and uplifting musical productions.
“It’s never a drama or a serious topic because I firmly believe that when people come to see our musicals, they should leave all their own personal worries aside for a few hours of pure entertainment and happiness,”
she says.
In all the 29 years of performances, Alvares has also always worked with a live band. “I’m very particular about that. The whole point of a musical is that everybody should be able to sing on stage,” she says.
The youngest band member is 15 years old and the youngest actor is 18. “I have used people from varying ages from between 18 to 30 years old to play various roles. I have made it a young adult musical,” she says.
The cast and crew include Rahael Thomas, Deepa Jacob, Kieren Alvares, Samiksha Chawla, Aakarsh Paul, Arvind Kasthuri and Prem Koshy, among others.
The live band is directed by Aashish Paul and assisted by Sabarisha R. Dances are choreographed/directed by Elexer Fernandes, Aarushi Turakhia, Kieren and
Keira Alvares.
Alvares doesn’t put any extra effort to make it adaptable to Indian audiences, but changes how she interprets it. “There are some Americanisms that I do change or delete, because there are some things that only American people will understand and laugh at. But when you’re paying for the rights of the script, we are not allowed to change the script. So we don’t do too much of that,”
she says.
One of the unique features of Alvares’ productions is that all her casts are non- professional actors, who volunteer to be a part of the play without any pay. But given that they all have varying jobs, Alvares admits that rehearsals are a challenge and this particular production took two months to put together.
This time, Alvares and her team has also not got any sponsors and she mentions it could be the last time they are performing in Goa.
“We have been donating our proceedings to the local charity and animal shelters for the past few years when we have performed. We could use the sponsorship of just F & B and stay or one could directly donate to our foundation,” she says adding that coming via event management companies will only make it more commercial and increase the cost of the tickets which she does not want.
“I knows that Goan audiences love good plays and we love coming to Goa. But it is becoming financially draining at times,”
she says
(CRY BABY, The Musical will be staged at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, on September 19, 7.30 p.m. onwards. Tickets can be booked via BookMyShow or 9844169903)
