(Photo © Joan Marcus)
It has just been announced that Bombay Dreams will close at the Broadway Theatre after the evening performance on Saturday, January 1, 2005. The production will have played 31 previews and 284 regular performances.
With music by A R Rahman and lyrics by Don Black, Bombay Dreams had its world premiere at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre on June 19, 2002. The Broadway version, directed by Steven Pimlott and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast and Farah Khan, has a book by Meera Syal and Thomas Meehan. Based on an idea by Shekhar Kapur and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bombay Dreams tells the story of a handsome young slum-dweller and his dreams of becoming a Bollywood movie star.
“We are so proud of the production of Bombay Dreams that has played on
Broadway and all those who have been involved with it,” said Elizabeth Williams, one of the show’s producers. “We look forward to bringing the production to theatergoers around the country with a national tour that will begin during the 2005-2006 season.” The Broadway cast is currently led by American Idol star Tamyra Gray as Priya, Manu Narayan as Akaash, Anjali Bhimani as Rani,
Yolande Bavan as Shanti, Sriram Ganesan as Sweetie, Marvin L. Ishmael as
Madan, and Deep Katdare as Vikram. Bombay Dreams features scenic and costume design by Mark Thompson, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, and sound design by Mick Potter.
In his review of the show for TheaterMania.com, David Finkle wrote: “If you’re going to put kitsch on stage, you can’t simply replicate it, but no one associated with Bombay Dreams seems disposed to be genuinely creative. Perhaps in the hope of milking the large Indian market, they play it straight — as if there’s anything original about the tale of a boy turning his back on his upbringing in order to better himself and ending up in hot water, as if this isn’t Theodore Dreiser’s American Tragedy in henna.” Finkle also noted that “A R Rahman, a prolific Bollywood contributor, evidently has included some of his signature tunes here along with some new ones. But whereas his melodies may seem moody and alluring in a movie theater, they come across as personality-challenged in a stage musical…This show repeatedly trumpets the promise that ‘everything is possible in Bombay dreams,’ yet it’s a technicolor nightmare that may require alteration of its title to Sari, Wrong Numbers.”
