With just weeks to the much awaited World Premiere of ‘Rag – The Musical’ on the 19th of October, the cast and production teamare busily refining, rehearsing and building stamina for their 5 night run at the Lionel Wendt theatre.
The musical has already created quite a buzz bothlocally and abroad due to the show’s message and content; hence the cast is determined to create another ground-breaking new production in true CentreStage style.
‘Rag’ is a work of fiction inspired by the experiences of its creator Jehan Aloysius and his University batch-mates,and dealswith the topical issue of ragging sensitively and intelligently. The musical, which is filled with memorable melodies and meaningful lyrics, presents a positive message of non-violence and unity which is relevant to students in all educationalinstitutions.
When ‘Rag’ was previewed as excerpts in 2004 & 2005, it was received with standing ovations and rave reviews.It was also possibly Sri Lanka’s first home-grown musical to take the stage. The cast and production team are excited to finally present the full scale musical for audiences.
Costumes, props, scaffolding and an immense amount of energy and talent fill the rehearsal venue, fondly called the ‘CentreStage Space’ these days, while multiple groups harmonising in various corners create a surreal soundscape.
The show’s creator Jehan states, “The cast has come a long way over the last few months. CentreStage Productions is possibly the only theatre troupe that promotes new talent in the lead roles, rather than relying on a star system of regular leads for our shows. As a result we feel we’re constantly adding to the talent pool of performers of the English and Sinhala theatre by training new performers to become stars. It’s a risk and extremely hard work for the director, and yet it’s one worth taking – especially when the new talent finally blossoms by delivering an excellent performance. The absence of the star-system also allows for a generous sharing of ideas, skills and advice without any barriers of egos.”
The cast believes that ‘Rag’, being a home-grown original musical, will be a fitting finale to this year’s unofficial musical theatre season at the Lionel Wendt. The show will be a radical counterpoint to the more glitzy licensed foreign imports, with its focus on a topical local issue, as well its stark concept of ‘theatre of the poor’ in its presentation.
The musical is written and composed by Jehan Aloysius. Avanti Perera performed the music tracks and orchestrated Jehan’s melodies. Eshantha Peiris will be the choral director, who has also written additional choral arrangements to complement those already written by Deshan Cooray.
Theatre lovers would be pleased to note that Jehan Aloysius, who starred in many large-scale musicals (Les Miserables, West Side Story, The Lion King), will also be returning to musical theatre with this production – playing the role of Joseph.
Other key singing roles are played by classical baritone Laknath Seneviratne, award-winning classical soprano Kumudini David, TNL Onstage winner Dilini Perera, Damien Fernando (Voiceprint), Anushiya Bastiampillai (Mary Anne Singers), Amandhi Caldera (Soul Sounds), Shenal Perera (Old Joe’s Choir). Stephen Anoj, Darren Hakel, Anabella Brochard and Dinara Punchihewa play other lead roles.
As usual with CentreStage Productions, the cast is a vibrant mix of singers, actors, dancers and acrobats who have been given training at workshops in various aspects of musical theatre – from singing, dancing, creativity and character analysis.
Many of the newcomers who have never danced or sung before, have discovered that they have been able to pick up the complex choreography, stage fighting and choral singing essential for this musical. Visit and join the Facebook Page and Event for ‘Rag – The Musical’ for more details, and behind-the scenes information.
‘Rag’ will take the stage from the 19th – 23rd of October at the Lionel Wendt Theatre. Cargills One Trust is the Principal Sponsor, while Revello, Mascons and Furniture Factory are Co-Sponsors. Media Sponsors for the show are The Sunday Times, The Daily Mirror and TNL Radio.
The show will be a fund-raiser for theatre-based humanitarian work conducted through the troupe’s StageHands Project for this year which includes educating students on the issue of bullying and ragging.
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