The Greatest Shows
Were the Greatest indeed
Once again, The Workshop Players triumphed in staging a performance that Colombo will remember for years to come! The Greatest Shows was staged at the Lionel Wendt theatre from the 11th to the 14th of October 2018, and was performed in the form of two 13-play programmes. The second programme, which personally, I felt was better than the first, was an absolute jawdropping performance! With six sold out shows, The WSP, headed by veteran director Jerome L De Silva, certainly managed to uphold their renowned status and succeeded in presenting one of the best productions Colombo has seen this year.
The first half
The show began against the setting of the seedy Kit Kat Club, in which we were welcomed by The M.C. (Emcee) with the song “Willkommen”. This role was portrayed to perfection by Brandon Damien, who succeeded in creating an ominous atmosphere that was necessary to bring the much adored musical Cabaret to life. “Money”, was also led by Brandon, alongside a group of beautiful and talented dancers who flourished in establishing a sense of professionalism right from the beginning.
This was followed by a commendable performance of The Little Mermaid, where an illusion of the underwater world was created. The role of Ariel was portrayed beautifully by Shenuri Pilapitiya, through the songs “Part of your World”, the fun-loving and much loved “Under the sea” and “Kiss the girl”. Sebastian the crab played by Isira Edurusuriya was also an absolute delight to watch. It was such a colourful performance and the choreography and singing together made it sensational to watch.
The little girl portraying Matilda, in the much adored children’s musical of the same name, was absolutely amazing. She took us through the songs “Naught” and “When I grow up” with her rich and melodious voice. All the children, once again, captured the hearts of the audience with their performance of “Revolting Children”. They seemed so full of energy and it was evident that they enjoyed every moment of it, as each child seemed to have developed their own unique character and brought it out perfectly which is much more than what is expected from such young children. It’s great to see so much young talent on stage, it’s not something you see everyday. Quite a commendable performance! Subsequently Kanishka Herath, who portrayed Tony Manero, set a romantic ambiance with the famous Bee Gees song “How Deep is your Love”, which was part of the 1970s Disco musical Saturday Night Fever. Popular hits such as “Boogey shoes”, “Night Fever”, and “If I Can’t Have You” were staged to perfection and the audience seemed to love it. The ensemble too were stellar, and it was a wildly entertaining performance! Amarsha Tissesra, who portrayed the much loved role of Mary Poppins was phenomenal in bringing out the bubbly and dynamic nature of this extraordinary character. She did a praiseworthy performance in “A Spoonful of Sugar” and the ensemble, led by Amarsha executed the much adored song “Supercalifragiristicexpialidotious” to perfection. It was a remarkable performance and absolutely fun to watch! The acclaimed musical Dreamgirls gave us a vivid portrayal of the dark side of show business, with songs like “It’s all over” into “And I’m telling you”, but left us with hope with the performance of “Dream Girl”. Kumudini David, portraying ‘Effie’, was outstanding. Ending the first half with a moving performance was The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Sean Amarasekara did a fantastic job in portraying Quasimodo, bringing out the character’s desperate longing to be accepted by the outside world. The ensemble, along with Esmeralda, left the audience in a bubble of emotion with “God help the Outcast”. Mario de Soysa’s portrayal of the notorious villain Claude Frollo was also commendable.
The second half
Hamilton, a sung and rapped-through musical, was undoubtedly the most phenomenal performance of the night. There were so many things about this performance that was spectacular! Shazad Synon’s portrayal of Alexander Hamilton in the song of the same name was simply astounding, and the whole cast in general were incredible throughout! Following this was “Schuyler Sisters”, “You’ll be Back” and “Yorktown”. Mario De Alwis and Johann Perera’s performances were also highly credible. It was an unforgettable performance, and I’m positive that everyone in the audience would agree. ybeauty and the Beast was yet another sensational performance! Kumarini Rajakaruna, portraying Belle, did a wonderful performance in the song of the same name. Darren Hakel was stellar, as he brought to life the gungho character of Gaston. Mario De Soysa’s portrayal of Beast in “Evermore” was simply remarkable. The soul and passion in his performance was extraordinary, and might even have left the audience in goosebumps. “Beauty and the Beast” was the perfect ending to this musical.
Immediately after this was the much anticipated musical, The Greatest Showman, and it was absolutely mindblowing! The acting, singing, and choreography was out of this world. Beginning with an impressive performance of “The Greatest Show”, we were taken through “A Million Dreams”, “Never enough” and the reprise of “The Greatest Show”. Every single part of this musical was amazing, and the solo in “Never Enough” was definitely commendable. Personally, I felt that the perfect ending to the show would have been with this musical, however, it was still a fabulous performance. The performance from the musical Rent, were awe-inspiring. The vocals and choreography in this musical was perfect. They began with “Take me or Leave me” and “I will Cover you”. The final song was “Seasons of Love”, and it was simply incredible. Another goosebump-filled performance, it was filled with true emotion and love and was nothing short of amazing. Following this was a performance from the musical Funny Girl, with the song “People”, which was commendable. The final performance of the night was from Chorus Line, and it was amazing! The dancing and choreography in this musical were most noteworthy, and the cast really took us through this story with “God I Hope I Get It/ Audition”, “What I Did For Love” and “One”.
Set changes and costumes
The set changes were taken through as smoothly and with as much efficiency as programme one. Although there were a few technical glitches, this did not stop WSP from running a show-stopping performance. The lighting and projections complemented the acting perfectly, and with the dazzling costumes each cast member had, it added the right touch and made each performance that much more colourful.
An outstanding Effort
This could definitely not have been an easy production to pull off, but as expected from WSP, there’s nothing to stop them from going the extra mile. The cast, directorial team, and Jerome did an incredibly outstanding job in putting on one of the “greatest” shows Colombo has seen!