Review: Worship Players Jesus Christ Superstar

Jerome de Silva’s Jesus Christ Superstar sold out twelve shows in a few days. With a cast like he managed to bring together added to the fame of Tim Rice’s lyrics and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music, this was really not a surprise.

The show was the work of amateurs and carried with it some of the so-so quality of such productions. But considering the reputation and expectation there was to live up to, it did surprisingly well, even on a mid-run night.

As happens too often, it feels, there was a lot of obvious use of technology involved in the production.  And if it’s obvious, then there is something wrong. The opening scenes had carefully orchestrated lighting schemes that were quite stunning, except that they were not well timed with the sound-track. But as Jesus breathed his last and the skies broke open, the lights worked well to create an awe-inspiring effect that forced some of the audience back against their seats.

There was a very differently awesome moment in the simple sparkle in ‘Could We Start Again Please’. It was poignant and sincere, and for the first time in a long time I had goose bumps on my arms as Gehan Blok walked on as Judas, to accompany Kavitha Gunesekera’s Mary Magdalene for the last few notes.

Blok has become a familiar name and face on stage, but the fact that his lungs were matched with equally capable vocal cords was probably not well known until now. He sang Judas with strength and good tone, often overshadowing Chrisantha CC de Silva’s performance of Jesus. This was definitely not CC’s best night, and he did not live up to the acting skills required of the star of the show. His voice, nevertheless, came out mellower and better controlled than one usually hears from him in the music scene.

Mario De Soyza playing Pilate and Dominic Kellar playing Herod were probably the most mature performances of the night, Pilate especially being very subtly controlled. Herod was only as funny as he was expected to be, but fortunately or unfortunately, Pusswedilla will haunt Kellar wherever he goes. For Jerome de Silva and his Jesus Christ Superstar though, a Pusswedilla-Herod sure worked.

As far as musicals go, Colombo saw something wonderful through the run of the show. Jerome De Silva’s passion for meaningful and well-produced theatre drew many tears over the ten days, and we congratulate the cast and crew on creating an unforgettable experience. Colombo, one can be sure, unanimously looks forward to more!

Nature Trails at Chaaya Wild

Nature Trails, the professional body of naturalists at Chaaya Wild, are much more serious about nature than just safaris and camping out in the jungle. They’re taking time to observe the villages surrounding the Yala conservation as well as their wilder friends in order to better understand the relations between the two and prevent potential problems. According to Chitral Jayatilake, Assistant Vice President of the John Keells Group as well as Head of Eco Tourism and Special Projects, leopard territory issues may become a problem for cattle farmers in the area. Having observed the issues chena farmers in the north-central province and surrounding areas have had with elephants in the recent past, and the level to which clashes have escalated, Chitral and his team are determined to prevent similar occurrences from taking place at Yala.

As young leopards grow into adulthood and begin marking their own territory, the space available at Yala begins to be insufficient and the junior members of this elegant yet fearful species are being forced to encroach into human property, using penned cattle for prey. With the help of foreign experts as well as our own wild-life enthusiasts, the Nature Trails team have embarked on Project Leopard. What they are slowly but steadily achieving is the availability of strong steel pens in which the farmers can house their cattle for the night, in the assurance that leopards will not be able to break into these as they do with the traditional pens.

Chaaya Wild is also serious about their waste management, recycling waste water and encouraging guests to take their garbage back to the city. “One or two of them, in fact, do take it back” Chitral shares proudly. He recognizes though, that better than guests to the property, it is the locals that are in a position to positively impact the conservation environment. “There are farmers and there are forest conservers” Chitral explains, “and most of the time there are clashes between the two groups. If they worked together instead, their work would be so much more effective.” Instead of just theorizing, Nature Trails is working. They conduct regular awareness workshops at local schools, in the hope that they will encourage the next generation to take a holistic approach to nature conservation seriously.

Nature Trails is also working with the drivers on the conservation, to give them guide skills as well. “We’re trying to build the driver-guide concept, get them vehicles, diesel etc. and educate them so they can provide better service to their customers and thereby earn a better pay”. This way, they hope, the drivers too will become more interested in the long-term impact they have on their environment, rather than just the short-term financial income.

“Sometimes the villagers misunderstand” Chitral shares regretfully, “but we have to be committed and we have to be strong.” He himself spends most of his time away from his family in Colombo, working to uplift the state of wild-life tourism in the whole island and set new standards. “These two years” he says with passionate determination, he is dedicating his life to the leopard.

A Night to Remember: Bob Fitts

(unpublished.)

The best word to describe the evening of Monday, November 7 is probably “blessed”, or better yet, “blessing”. Audiences generally walk out of an auditorium either disappointed or so pleased they don’t want to leave, but if nobody asked for an encore once Bob Fitts left the stage that night, it wasn’t disappointment in the experience. Most responses were “awesome” or “amazing” and the less hyper-enthusiastic ones were “good” and “nice”, not with that look of “I can’t really say anything rude can I?” but of wide-eyed radiance.

Bob Fitts claims a musical career of over four decades, and a repertoire that has been made popular through performances around the world from the United States to the Middle East and Asia. He is nearly a senior citizen, but the energy Fitts demonstrates in front of the congregation, jumping up and down, strumming his guitar and singing, you’d think he is still just a teenager rocking his ego. Unlike most musicians and artists though, who thrive on as well as give life to their audience by calling attention to themselves, Bob continuously leads the gathering to focus on the meaning of the music. The simplicity of his approach to what he does is further testified to in the lack of a fancy entourage, despite his status as a well-known and popularly emulated musician. Accompanying him on stage were just his wife and a backup band made up of amateur musicians from different parts of Colombo and the suburbs.

The two and a half hour programme featured a good repertoire of over twenty songs ranging from gentle, meaningful classics like ‘Blessed Assurance’ by Fanny Crosby to exuberant contemporary numbers such as Hillsong’s ‘Mighty to Save’. There were the poignant moments of prayerful meditation and the light funny ones too. “I never thought there’d be a worship song with the word intoxicated in it” he laughed, “but here it is!” launching into ‘You Are Worthy’. ‘Glory, Glory Lord’ he sang in English, Spanish, Hawaiian, Sinhala, Tamil and even “Ostraailian”! Although the repertoire didn’t call for display of a wide vocal range, the fluidity of Bob Fitts’ delivery was unmistakable, as was its gentleness and sensitivity. Added to the child-like smile that continuously adorns his face, it steadily becomes impossible not to be infected with his optimism and joy.

The freeness of his performance was more obvious in contrast with the relatively tensed nature of the CHRAFT choir that took the stage before Fitts. For a group of amateurs though, the choir boasted good strength and roundness of sound as well as a number of very good voices that stood out in the solos and full upper notes. A particularly enjoyable arrangement of ‘He is the Rock’ set the group more at ease, and one wished they focused more during the other numbers as well, on conveying the meaning of what they sang and enjoying themselves than putting up a grand performance.

Singing heartily along with Fitts and the choir was a 5000 strong congregation from different backgrounds, packed in the main auditorium at Calvary Church, Kirulapone. It was a rare and unique event that brought together people from a multitude of racial, ethnic, economic and linguistic backgrounds together with one heart and mind. “Say to those who are broken-hearted / Do not lose your faith... He will come and save you!” they all sang, hands held across the theatre and raised to the sky, echoing Bishop of Colombo Rev. Cangasabey’s prayer for our people as “one nation” to “receive healing”. It was an unexpected and meaningful moment, and true to Bob Fitts’ words, the evening was “more than just a concert”. If you missed it, what you missed was so much more than a musical show, what you missed was time to come together in all the diversity our society has to boast and take away a likeminded unity in hope.