Love is in the air is a cabaret-style musical featuring Broadway classics, Sinatra's best and even a Winehouse number with a twist
Love isu00a0inu00a0theu00a0air is a cabaret-style musical featuring Broadway classics, Sinatra's best and even a Winehouse number with a twist
Musiclas are very difficult to pull off simply because you need a huge cast that can act, sing, dance and spare a lot of time for rehearsals. They are also an expensive affair and because of the Bollywood tradition, a lot of our stage musicals include lip syncs and, for me, that's no way to do a musical," says Kaizaad Kotwal, of Poor Box Productions, as he lists out reasons why his latest productionu00a0-- Love Is In The Airu00a0-- is a stripped-down version of what he would really like to create.
Faced with these challenges but keen to work on a musical, Kotwal and his co-director Vishaal Asrani decided to work out a cabaret-style performance.
Vishaal Asrani and Sarosh Nanavaty rehearse for the play
Love is inu00a0the air. Pic/ Sayed Sameer Abedi
Kotwal and Asrani consider the cabaret, with its solos, duets and trios, a manageable format that works in an intimate setting like The Comedy Store. For Kotwal, Love Is In The Air is also a way of tipping his hat to a bygone era when cabarets were popular in Mumbai.
"Cabarets used to be a very popular form of entertainment that disappeared all of a sudden. We thought it would be nice to revive the format," says Kotwal.
When the programming team at The Comedy Store approached Kotwal for a special Valentine's Day show, he saw an opportunity to fulfill a long-standing dreamu00a0-- to produce a musical. Love as the theme was an obvious choice.
"We explore love in every sense you can think ofu00a0-- love for money, love for lust, love for fun, love for love and so on. It's all very beautifully linked through a commentary. It's not just someone standing on stage and singing. But the songs have been dramatised," explains Asrani.
The playlist for the evening includes some familiar and some unexpected numbers. "There are traditional Broadway songs, an interesting interpretation of Frank Sinatra's New York, New York, an Amy Winehouse number in a way you've never thought of it before, Celine Dion's and Whitney Houston's love ballets, ABBA numbers, and even a couple of Hindi songs," says Kotwal, who has roped in Slumdog Millionaire choreographer Longinus. Get your buddies together for this one. After all, you don't get to sing along to a Sinatra classic often.
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At: 8.30 pm, The Comedy Store, Palladium, Lower Parel
Call: 43485000
Tickets: Rs 400
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