By Anote
Ajeluorou
IN
a country where stage performances suffer a huge lag on account of lack of sponsorship
and purpose-built theatres (without necessary acoustics) and acute audience
apathy, this week marks a perfect magical getaway audiences to enjoy the
holidays and immense themselves in the spectacle the stage represents. Two
fantastic Broadway-style Musical Theatres – Wakaa!
The Musical and Kakadu the Musical -
will share two stages at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos. While the Bolanle
Austin-Peters’ Wakaa! The Musical will
start showing today at Shell Hall, Uche Nwokedi’s Kakadu started thrilling theatre fans since yesterday at Agip
Recital Hall, and both will run till January 1st and 3rd respectively.
The two musicals promise to be the greatest
performance shows that will bring 2015 to a glorious end and also usher in a
promising year for live theatre in Lagos, a city that has witnessed a
resurgence of theatre activities through the doggedness of a few diehard
practitioners like Mr. Wole Oguntokun (Renegade Theatre), Mr. Kenneth Uphopho
(PAWS), Mr. Ikenna Okpala (Wazobia Theatre House), Mr. Joshua Alabi (Kininso
Concepts Production) and Mr. Bimbo Olorunmola (B/Rated Production) in the Lagos
theatre circuit. Austin-Peters (BAP) and Nwokedi (The Playhouse Initiative) have
also stepped in to raise the bar with their musicals that fuse history and
contemporary themes to produce amazing artistic results that always leave
audiences asking for more.
After Saro
the Musical that rocked Lagos in the last year two years, Austin-Peters is
adding Wakaa! The Musical to further
spice up the theatric space and give Nigerians what some usually travel abroad
to see. According to the boss of upscale Terra Kulture, “Nigerians love music; Nigerians love to dance. Somehow, music
appeals more to Nigerians although musicals are three times more expensive than
ordinary drama. Saro changed the game
and it can only get better. It’s like we’re creating a mini-revolution; it’s
unbelievable. What we’re doing here is building capacity. In 10 years from now,
it will be great. What if we have a proper theatre? Things will be far better.
The game has changed. We believe that Nigerian theatre can be a major tourist attraction,
job- and wealth-creation driver and tool for socio-economic development”.
Wakaa!
The Musical is a play about the trials, successes and experiences of six
young graduates with varied backgrounds. A wager among them after graduation
has a twist when the realities of life and the folly of their choices hit them.
Eventually, they unite, coming full circle. The story reveals the struggles and
challenges young people face in present-day Nigeria and abroad. Wakaa! The Musical takes you on an
emotional roller-coaster and is a strong satire on Nigerian politics.
On the
other hand, Kakadu charts the music
and socio-political map of 1960s’ Nigeria before the bubble burst and the
resultant bloody civil war and its bitter aftermath from which the country is
yet to fully recover.
According to Nwokwdi, “Kakadu has its own energy; there’s a certain temperament all its
own about it. We’ve also made a lot of changes to it, especially in the musical
rendition. There are some drastic changes although it is the same story. Of
course, you don’t want to change a successful story. Although the same theme,
the cast is 80 per cent new. Kanayo Omo is director while Benneth Ogbeiwei is
musical director”.
Visual artist, Polly Alakija, who is painting
the scenes of Kakadu said, “This
production is no mere indulgence in the glamour and optimism of the 1960s.
Sitting in on the rehearsals was so much more than this. What I witnessed was
producer, director and cast re-living and learning about the political
situation in Nigeria in the 1960s and how optimism turned into destruction and
the pain and suffering that ensued. So my imagery could not be a mere visual
representation of a cast in character. The line between being in character and
living the pain has become blurred for this cast. I am not sure myself if I am
representing cast or character, but the emotions are real, be it pain, outrage
or joy”.
Clearly, the two musicals on offer are must-see and audiences have been
promised unbelievable stage spectacle and magic.
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