When walking along the foyer of the Lionel Wendt be it a rehearsal or show, if you are a performer or member of the audience is always a very nostalgic experience. Then last week I had the pleasure of taking this walk to watch the Soul Sounds, Sri Lanka’s premier female choir sing for a cause that many people would not pay attention to. 

Born Free was a concert in aid of animal protection in Sri Lanka. Having made my way into the theatre, the stage was made to look like the jungles of Africa which I thought would be a distraction and it was then that I made my second mistake. My first mistake was predicting the start of the concert even before I got to the Wendt. It being a concert in aid of animal welfare I had decided to myself that the girls would kick off the show with the acclaimed 'Circle of Life' from The Lion King (I am not wrong for thinking so right?). However I couldn’t have been more wrong. The girls stormed through the audience and burst into Michael Jackson’s 'They Don’t Really Care About Us' and 'Earth Song'. 

Following this totally unexpected but brilliant start the Soul Sounds turned the tempo down a notch with a soothing and beautiful rendition of 'Colours of The Wind' from Pocahontas. If this song didn’t leave any member of the audience questioning themselves as to how they have been side tracked and have neglected the beauty of the world around them, I have no idea as to what they were listening to. The audience was then transported back to the days of the Jackson 5 with a rendition of the young Michael Jackson’s heart-warming 'Ben', followed by an unusual and interesting take on Toto’s 'Africa'. Personally I felt as though I was being teased by being led to believe that the choir would come all guns blazing in the song, but they maintained quite an easy take on the song. 

Back again to Michael Jackson (no, I’m not complaining) we were treated to the hit soundtrack from the movie Free Willie, 'Will You Be There' and then we were taken on a trip into the wonderful world of Disney’s The Lion King’s 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', 'He Lives In You', and the 'Grassland Chant' which brought an end to the first half of Born Free. 

After a short interval of 10 minutes, the second half opened again to tunes of The Lion King’s 'One by One', followed by a powerpacked Bryan Adam’s 'Here I Am' from the animated feature film Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron, and 'The Animal Song' by Savage Garden. The Soul Sounds are known for stepping out of their comfort zones and experimenting with their music, and they certainly did so with an original instrumental composition by the founding director Soundarie David Rodrigo, and the other talented accompanists on stage. 

Following this the choir was back on stage, and delivered an emotional performance of Katy Perry’s 'Roar', and 'Shadow Land' from The Lion King. However the next song was the one that I was waiting for the most, and that happened to be my least favourite rendition of the evening. The 'Circle of Life' didn’t carry the same amount of oomph that it is meant to carry, and was somewhat of a disappointment. And as for the finale the title song 'Born Free' certainly moved the audience literally out of their seats to give them the deserved standing ovation. 

All in all it was quite a pleasant evening at the theatre, and I certainly am looking forward to their next performance. 

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Audience Comments 

Sunil 

Fantastic! Wonderful show and wonderful talent. 

Dilhan 

Soundarie is a perfectionist, you can’t expect anything less than that. 

Indhra 

This was a beautiful show. I love animals, so I’m glad such an initiative was taken. 

Peter 

Very good show. 

Yohan 

I loved the show. The costumes and designs were also brilliant. 

Nicole 

A wonderful show! 

Danielle 

This show was done for a very good cause. The selection of songs were amazing and touching. 

Reviewed by Reihan Stephen 
Photographs by Kushan Pathiraja