Singer, performer, and children’s writer Shalini Singh is bringing Broadway to Chennai with an Indian musical theatre workshop for children between five and 20. The workshop, which commenced on September 16, is now in full swing, with hundred children being taught to simultaneously sing, dance, and act in true Broadway fashion.
“It’s amazing,” she says. “The kids are having a blast. They have already learnt four songs which is so cool. Amazing progress. Children are just like sponges.”
Despite the difficulties posed by having to train them from scratch, Singh says she is finding the whole process thoroughly enjoyable and commends the children for being “very fast learners.”
A niche area
In fact, throughout the interview, Singh speaks of the children in nothing but the most glowing terms, and suggests that the reason she loves working with them is because she still feels like one herself. She says it is the lack of similar initiatives for her sons, and her childhood love of musicals that inspired her decision.
“I started looking for classes for my son when he was growing up such as music classes and things like that. I found good Carnatic classes, but there was nothing for Broadway music here, which was how I started my life. Since I was five, I have been doing lots of musicals such as The Sound of Music , Cats , Phantom Of The Opera , you name it. I was a part of all those productions and suddenly there’s such a void here. I went looking for something like that, but there wasn’t anything in Chennai.
There were classes separately for music, dance and acting. But what about musicals? That was completely missing. That is when I thought ‘why not do it myself’?”
Learning from classics
In preparing for the workshop, Shalini says she watched several Broadway productions with the intention of learning from them. “It’s always good to know what the levels are right now because I am looking at doing something completely new and improved. ”
Some of her personal favourites include Aladdin and Frozen Live . Taking inspiration from these shows, Singh is striving to make her own production as visually complex and dynamic as possible, making use of projections, holograms, and animated graphics. With intense rehearsals every weekend, the children are now preparing for a live performance of Singh’s play Adi and Ashi’s Indian Adventure , which takes the audience on a musical and cultural journey through the colourful states of India.
A desi twist
“Over the course of the story, when the kids land in a particular place, you’ll see the music, dance, and the culture of that place. This is basically my way of introducing children and adults to Indian music, culture, dance, locations, monuments, history, and so on. It’s a good way to initiate everybody into enjoying India in all its beauty and splendor,” she says.
At the conclusion of the workshop, the performance of Adi and Ashi’s Indian Adventures is scheduled to take place at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Auditorium, Chetpet, on February 11, 2018. Details of time and tickets will be finalised soon.
