CHANDIGARH, Sept 30: Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, ``Starlight Express'', had taken the Broadway by storm a few years back. The reason? All the 25 members of the cast performed with the roller skates on. Now Chandigarh can witness this mind-boggling production, but with a difference. You will see children, aged nine to 16, skating about the stage when they perform a musical at the Vivek High School on their Founder's Day which falls on October 30.Theatre personality and TV celeb, Roshan Abbas (of Mastercard Family Fortune and Public Demand fame), is the brain behind the show, replete with laser beams and technobeats, which will be a novelty for the Chandigarh audience. Roshan was in the school today to select the probables for his production.The children were enthusiasm personified as they came out with their hidden talents, though in bits and pieces. But Roshan's discerning eyes caught the right ones. ``Starlight Express'' is the story of a race various locomotive engines indulge in to prove each one's superiority. Pitted against the electric and the diesel engines is our old steam one but it is the story of this improbable winning over the certainties. ``It is all about the spirit of never say die; about how self-confidence can make one overcome all hurdles,'' Roshan told Newsline in between the audition rounds.Since it is a story about trains, Webber thought of this novelty of having it performed on skates. Roshan told the children, ``It will be fun but it also involves a lot of hardwork. Some of your bones may break and at the end of the day you may curse me, but in the end when you get the standing ovation from the audience, you will forget all those gruelling moments. That is the sheer pleasure of theatre''.Webber's musical has 24 numbers and Roshan intends to adapt the play to Indian elements, following the footsteps of his guru Aamir Raza Hussain, the veteran of mega productions, who had staged this play in Delhi in 1992. ``It is a mammoth production and requires a big stage. Though the original cast comprises 25 actors, I intend to squeeze in around 100 of them here so that many children who have volunteered will get a chance. It is very bad to kill enthusiasm.'' Anyone who was witness to this morning's session with Roshan will agree to it. Interestingly, it was the juniors, like those from standards V and VI, who charmed both Roshan and the handful of spectators.The dancers in Roshan's company are trained by Shiamak Davar and the children were delighted to hear that they would be performing some of those steps from ``Dil to Pagal hain''. So come October end, Chandigarhians will get another milestone in the realm of world theatre from the children of the City.
