When Evita got lucky

I prod him further about the original production, which opened almost two decades ago. Seems that everyone associated with the play has made it big today. Not an easy feat for a single production. But then I8217;m talking to God. Sharon Prabhakar, who played the original Eva Peron, Alisha Chinai, Sunita Rao, Shiamak Davar, Jaaved Jaaferi, Karla Singh and Dodo Bhujwala are all household names today. quot;Just one of those lucky things,quot; Alyque says modestly, redefining luck as quot;When talent meets opportunityquot;. Cut to 1982 or is that 1984 or 8217;85? Dunno. No one from the original production actually remembers when it opened. Sharon plays Eva Peron, Dalip Tahil essays Che, Karla Singh choreographs a packof dancers that includes names like Shiamak Davar, Jaaved Jaaferi, Sunita Rao, Rachel Reuben and Dodo Bhujwala. Alisha Chinai sings Another Suitcase and Evita is set on course for five years.

Today, 25 years down the road, everyone only has quot;fabulous memoriesquot; of the original production. Karla talks in superlatives.quot;One of the few instances of a family atmosphere in a theatrical production. In fact, we still exchange Christmas cards and only six months ago had an Evita dancers8217; reunion.quot; As for the re-run, she knows that Alyque will pull out a no-stops show and make it really special.

For Viraf Pocha, India8217;s ace lighting designer and live events visualiser, Evita re-defined his career choices. After the camaraderie and joie de vivre among the team, he chucked up chartered accountancy for theatre. Touching wood, and his salt-and-peppered mane, he smiles nostalgically. quot;Thank God for that! Evita will always remain a standard for English theatre. Today, theatre in Bombay can beclassified as pre and post-Evita.quot; He only hopes though that it will live upto the hype that it spun the first time around. Cut to the present. All the hype surrounding Evita8216;s comeback rests uneasily with this thin, agile boy booming instructions to the dancers. Clad in a white singlet, with doe-brown eyes and a soft demeanour, he seems to fill the very large hall every time he takes off to show some steps to the demanding director. quot;Terence,quot; he introduces himself politely. Terence Lewis 8212; choreographing Evita this time round and I know that when he8217;s done, The Names in modern Indian jazz had better watch out for their backsides. He refused Grease and even a Hindi film, to choreograph Evita. quot;Alyque got in touch with me and I didn8217;t expect my future to be charted like thisquot;. Will this do for him what it did for Shiamak and Karla? quot;Well, I8217;ve got my own steam to stand out with, but I definitely know that something big will come out of this.quot;

How big is big? The National Award for best filmchoreography? In 1998, it went to someone Alyque remembers as a tall, gangly Parsi boy wanting to sing and dance and make it on the Bombay stage. Today Shiamak Davar has. Shiamak recalls his role as Che in Evita as, quot;being one of the best experiences in my life.quot; Recalling funny times, he says, quot;I had to wear a beard for the shows. For the first show, the make up man put on too much gum. I was flying, looking completely dazed in Oh! What a Circus. Alyque and Sharon were cracking up for half an hour!quot;

Jaaved Jaaferi, the Indian Jerry Seinfeld and India8217;s best-loved mimic didn8217;t even know Evita was happening again. The play helped him hone as a dancer. He didn8217;t even know how 120 shows whizzed past, taking him from college through till the release of his first film. quot;Some great times,quot; he muses over his crackling mobile.

Back at the rehearsal, I decide to corner an old college buddy, the very large, very warm and always smiling Siddarth Roy Kapoor. Sid plays Peron. quot;I8217;m Sharon8217;s husband, butI8217;m always telling her I want to play Che8230; I like the role of Peron and cherish the opportunity, even though I8217;m not much of a singer.quot; But when it8217;s his time to croon, he booms across the room in his baritone.

I know Alyque has cast a perfect fit. But with the glint in his eye and his half smile, I know he still wants Che8217;s script. Che? As in Che Guevara. He8217;s used as a theatrical device as a link between the events in the play. From the time Eva Duarte, the small town girl uses Magaldi to come to Buenos Aires, and then meets Peron at a charity ball. They marry and she becomes Sainte Evita, immortalised forever into Argentinean history. Che is again being essayed by Dalip Tahil, now, more associated with Bollywood, who actually made it big by portraying Che. Pocha refers to him as the benchmark for Ches played after him; Dalip seems just as charged to play the role again. He8217;s starting from scratch, taking no chances, doing voice classes and going hammer and tongs into rehearsals. Sharon feels his voiceseems more matured now, he8217;s hitting the right notes and he8217;ll always be the perfect Che.

As for herself, Sharon feels that since the first run, she has fine-tuned as a singer. Her voice has enriched almost 70 per cent, helping her with high notes. She8217;s discovered small, vocal tricks that even surprise her. She now doubles up as producer and plans. So this time around Evita is going to be a technical razzle-dazzle. A huge television screen backdrop, promised firecrackers, sound wizardry, a talented choreographer, Sharon at her singing prime, Dalip8217;s onstage charisma and Siddarth8217;s booming personality. Guess Evita is gonna hit home this time round as well. Dancer, choreographer and iconoclast Dodo Bhujwala8217;s words seem to sum up the mood. For him Evita quot;was a complete blast, an endless madness. I8217;m dying to see it again, though I know the freshness from the original production will never come back.quot; On re-runs, he opines, quot;Been there, done that. Next!quot; Hmmm.