Bombay Dreams T. O. bound
Lavish Bollywood musical set to have its Canadian premiere next August as part of 20-city tour Show’s U.S. producers to hold auditions next week in search of South Asian singers and dancers
It has been such a long journey, but Bombay Dreams
— the lavish Bollywood musical — is finally coming to Toronto. The Hummingbird Centre will announce tomorrow that the show will have its Canadian premiere there in mid- August 2006, as part of a 20- city North American tour. The cast is likely to include some talented singing and dancing Torontonians with Bollywood looks. The U. S. producers are holding auditions here on Oct. 12 and 13.
In fact, the originators of this flamboyant musical have had their eye on Toronto ever since Bombay Dreamsbecame a phenomenon in London’s West End more than three years ago.
Produced by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, who was so knocked out by its score that he gambled $ 12 million, the show proved a magnet for a new audience of people from India and Pakistan who rarely went to the theatre. They flocked to the cavernous Apollo Victoria Theatre (near Victoria Station) to see the first Bollywood show to reach a stage in the western world — ignoring critics who were cool to it. But when it came to transferring to the other side of the Atlantic, Lloyd Webber backed off and sought other producers willing to take a risk. Both Lloyd Webber and director Steven Pimlott felt Toronto would be the ideal place to launch a North American production, because with a South Indian population of 500,000, this city seemed to have the right audience for Bombay Dreams.
And with a preBroadway run of several months, they could tinker with the show. When I saw the show, which both celebrates and satirizes Bollywood film conventions, it was clear that its biggest asset was the score by A. R. Rahman, celebrated in India for his film music. But that was offset by a clunky book about a boy from the slums who becomes a star.
“ When we take the show to North America,” Pimlott told me, “ the challenge will be to smooth it down and tell the story better musically.”
Toronto was considered the perfect spot to fix the problem.
In January 2003, the show’s official website announced the show would have its North American premiere in Toronto the following October as part of the Mirvish subscription series.
This was to be the first long- run big musical produced at the Toronto Centre for the Arts since 1998 — and it was meant to stay there for months.
That plan made sense, because Bombay Dreams
seemed like a sure thing in Toronto — but a very risky venture for Broadway, given New York’s smaller South Asian population, higher costs, and the power of a single review to demolish a show.
Still, the Toronto- first plan was abandoned once it became clear that getting a committed opening date from a Broadway theatre would not be easy. By March 2003, plans for a preBroadway Toronto run had been dropped, but David Mirvish was still prepared to gamble $ 10 million on producing the show in New York. Lloyd Webber, who was putting up little or no money for the North American production, agreed to license the show to Mirvish and his New York producing partners, Anita Waxman and Elizabeth Williams of Waxman Williams Entertainment. Their plan was to open the show in April 2004, in time to be eligible for Tony awards.
“ I’m sure we will still bring Bombay Dreams to Toronto later, assuming it’s a success in New York,” Mirvish said then. A few months later, during the summer of 2003, Mirvish bailed out of the Broadway production because of a Toronto theatre crisis caused by SARS. Mirvish placated Lloyd Webber by recruiting his friend and frequent investment partner, Michael Cohl — the rock- concert mogul behind the Rolling Stones — to take over.
“ I’m all jazzed up about this,” Cohl told me when I reached him in Helsinki, where he was presiding at a Stones concert. But Cohl and his investment backers were entering a danger zone. To recoup on Broadway, it would need strong, reviews, a big advance sale, word of mouth, and Tony awards. But when it finally opened on Broadway in April 2004, Bombay Dreams got none of the above. The critics said the show had lost its charm en route from London. Yet despite half- empty houses, the producers managed to keep the show running for nine months. Still, Cohl and his partners lost millions.
Nevertheless, Nick Manos and Atlanta’s Theater of the Stars are launching a lengthy tour. But instead of spending several months in Toronto as once planned, Bombay Dreams will be in town for one week only.
At next week’s Toronto auditions, the producers are seeking a mix of singers and dancers who sing. And one thing they have made clear: performers not of South Asian descent need not apply.
For audition details, check the Hummingbird website. Tickets will be sold through Ticketmaster and the Hummingbird box office. Martin Knelman can be reached at mknelman@