Skip to content Skip to navigation

School Marks 50 Years with Laudato Si’ Musical

By CM Paul |

Siliguri: A premier Catholic school in North Bengal staged an ambitious musical performance marking its golden jubilee with two-day open air mega event by 1,200 children teaching and learning from animal kingdom.

Some 12,000 people including school children and their guardians, as well as students and faculty members from Siliguri participated in both shows staged by Don Bosco School Siliguri.

The musical ‘The Lion King’ stage production with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and a book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, with additional music and lyrics by Lebo M and others is based on the 1994 Walt Disney Animation Studios' film of the same name.

In the golden jubilee performance of the popular musical adaptation, a total of 1,200 students come on stage with 19 students of classes 6 to 12 playing lead roles, among them are 8 soloists. They are supported by 600 plus dancers consisting of various animals, insects, grasses and plants; and 500 strong choir backed by an ensemble of 70 member student orchestra.

“The Lion King talks about our interconnectedness and the delicate balance between us and mother earth,” says Rector and Principal of Don Bosco School Siliguri Fr V.C. Jose, himself an acclaimed musician.

Fr Jose says, “It was our experiment over past six months to fight post-Covid lethargy among students by motivating them to team work with a challenging and ambitious project.”

A senior educationist of North Bengal, In his introductory speech Fr Jose asked parents to be the judges of the result of the experiment by the school.
 
Emphasizing choice of the musical Fr Jose adds, “The musical talks about values of family bonds; joint responsibility for future generations; facing adverse realities, and not shirking away from our duties toward society.”

In house Music Director and alumnus of the school Mr. John Paul adds, “We found this theme most apt to teach children the value of living in harmony, respecting and protecting  God’s beautiful creation entrusted to humans.”

The musical happens on a stage 80 feet long and 60 feet wide, with 48 lead vocalists and support choir with 6 different voices namely: 1 part of Sopranos; 2 parts of Altos; 2 parts of Tenors, and 1 part of Bass.

The props and sets were made by artists from National School of Drama: Sagnik Ckaraborty (Bangalore) and Pratik Jadhav (Mumbai).

Mr. Gopal Dalami (Auroville, Tamil Nadu) assisted by two local choreographers Ashsh Das and Ajay Routh coordinated choreography.

Acting was directed by Sayan Chakraborty, faculty of National School of Drama.

Masks and other props were made under the direction of Jadumani Singh, senior faculty of Sangeet Natya Academy, Imphal and his 5 assistants from Northeast India.

Author info

CM Paul's picture

Former HoD, Dept of Mass Communications at Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati, C.M. Paul was editor of The Herald weekly in Kolkata and director of Don Bosco International News Agency (ANS) based in Rome. He did MA in Journalism & Mass Communication from FORDHAM University, New York.

Comments

Poonam Gulati 's picture

Submitted by Poonam Gulati on Thu, 21/12/2023 - 04:42
It was an amazing performance by 1200+ students from classes three to twelve - well-coordinated, impeccably synchronized. An international level musical! An ambitious project, it was like magic unraveling before us, a treat for our eyes. Incredible!!!

Pages

Add new comment

Assamese Translator

Assam Times seeks English to Assamese translators!
Join our volunteer team.
Email editor@assamtimes.org.

Random Stories

ULFA-Govt Accord ready before Bihu

25 Dec 2015 - 3:25pm | AT New Delhi
The top home ministry group is preparing a draft of an accord to be signed with the pro talk ULFA leaders to woo the voters in the poll bound Assam. Highly placed sources in home ministry told Assam...

Debojit Saha’s Tomake Napale Jaan Oi released at press club

21 Mar 2016 - 2:44pm | AT News
A video compact disk tiled Tomake Napale Jaan Oi comprising new Assamese songs by popular singer Debojit Saha was released on Sunday at Guwahati Press Club. Legendary singer Sudakshina Sarma,...

Recession and the great depression: a historical perspective

16 Aug 2013 - 2:42pm | Jyotsna Baruah
The current recession in global economy is the most dramatic episode in the recent economic history of the world. With its all encompassing character it has affected all the major economies, whether...

All out in nine days

20 Mar 2008 - 11:20am | Daya Nath Singh
It was in Meghalaya, a nine days drama in power. The recent Assembly elections did not give a clear mandate to any political party. The Hung House compelled the political rivals to forge alliances,...

Other Contents by Author

Assamese Entrepreneur heads trillion dollar company

In a rare case of rags to riches story, an Assamese entrepreneur today heads a trillion dollar company in the U.S. employing over 4,000 people. The man in the case is Siddhartha Chowdhary, the founder of Credence, a consulting organization based in Washington DC. An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur (1988-92 Batch) he was two terms president of PAN IIT activities for over 5,000 members in the U.S. Siddhartha affectionately called as Sid was introduced as an unmatched achiever from northeast India at a felicitation held at Press Club Dispur in his home city Guwahati, on 22nd December 2023. Introducing him was his former principal at Don Bosco School Guwahati Fr V. M. Thomas who said, “Sid...

Manipur Elders take moral responsibility, declare indefinite fast and prayer for deeds of immature youth

Imphal, July 29: In a gesture of peace and reconciliation, elders of Vaishnavite Community in Imphal have taken on moral responsibility for the misdeeds of the immature youth of their community, by declaring an indefinite fast and prayer.  In the wake of Archbishop Emeritus Thomas Menamparampil’s third visit to Manipur (25th to 27th July 2023) coincides with the initiative of the Convener of Interfaith Forum for Peace and Harmony of Manipur, Mr. Deben Sharma, announcing Indefinite Fast and Prayer in the name of his Vaishnavite Sanamahi community.  Mr. Sharma, one of the initiators of the Interfaith Forum for Peace along with a number of highly placed leaders...

Radio Salesian journalists make first post-Covid outreach progra

In a post-covid outreach effort to connect with the local community, Radio Salesian journalists made their first attempt and reached one of the far-flung tea garden in Mirik Sub-Division, some two hours' drive from Sonada. On Saturday 5 March, the Radio Salesian RJ team including 4 new radio journalists RJs Wang, Garima, Bandana and Pratap went for their first community outreach programme guided by senior RJs Moses, Rejina and Programme Co-ordinator RJ Samir.  Upon reaching Murmah Tea Estate, the Radio Salesian team members were received with traditional khadas (scarf) and welcome greetings from the residents of Murmah. Radio Salesian regular listener and caller Laxmi Pradhan...

Students honour 1971 war veterans

Siliguri: Marking the 50th anniversary of the birth of Bangladesh and the 13-day Indo-Pak war of 1971, a group of college students organised a felicitation program for war veterans on 18th December 2021. Leading a group of six veterans, as well as a war widow was 86-year old Hon Cap S.B. Chhetri, who belonged to 5/11 Gorkha Rifles who were part of the decisive battle of Bogra to capture Dhaka, then the capital of East Pakistan. Other eminent veterans present were Hawaldar Duryodhan Tamang (Army Corps of Engineers); Hon Capt Hemant Subba; Subedar Bijai Kumar Subba Sena Medal; Hav M Gautam Tamang; Subedar Tilak Ram Chhetri, and war widow Mrs Ishadevi Thapa, representing late Sub SB...

College youth celebrate diversity in fashion show

A college in North Bengal concluded two day college events with celebration of diversity of India with a much awaited popular item - fashion show, 17th December 2021. Salesian College Siliguri organised the event christened Exsurge 2021 (Arise and Take Flight), which has had its tradition since 2009 when Salesian College Sonada established in 1938 started its Siliguri campus. Unlike other years, this year, despite the pandemic, students were able to participate in 20 events including: bands, dancing, painting, collage, sketching, doodling, poetry, stand up comedy, photography and short film making among others. “It is our way of affirming the diverse culture of India represented by...

Archbishop, Academicians, Activists join forces to promote peace

Guwahati, 22 October 2021: A group of academicians and social activists came together under the leadership of the archbishop emeritus of Guwahati to promote peace at a time when the whole of Brahmaputra Valley is “in search of peace”.  The occasion was the release of an Assamese language book entitled Hanti Bisari (In Search of Peace) written by Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil. The original work in the English language was translated into Assamese by a civil society leader, Mr. Paresh Malakar. The book-release turned out to be a social-discussion session in which the need for mutual understanding between communities was emphasised. A reputed intellectual of Assam, Mr. Hiren...

10 days training for paramilitary force

The combined 10-day Annual National Cadet Corps (NCC) Training Camp was held under the aegis of the 16th Bengal Battalion at Salesian College Siliguri from 16th to 25th September 2021.  As many as 400 NCC cadets from 10 colleges from in and around Siliguri participated. Camp activities included drills, weapons training, map reading and various team-building exercises along with social activities.  28 Cadets from Salesian College participated in the camp along with Salesian College NCC Coordinator Lt Risha Chettri. The Cadets followed their daily schedule which included doing morning meditation, morning and evening drills, studying subjects from the armed forces as...

College Radio launches ‘Aazadi - Freedom Song Competition’ to celebrate diversity

Darjeeling: The first college Community Radio in North Bengal launched a creative initiative to mark 75th year of India’s Independence with what it calls ‘Azaadi Freedom Songs’ - a celebration of diversity and harmony. India snatched its freedom from British colonial rule on 15th August 1947. Radio Salesian 90.8 FM - The Voice of the Hills based at Salesian College Sonada is the first and only FM radio channel of Darjeeling since 2016. This Independence Day initiative by Radio Salesian is in collaboration with two youth groups : Darjeeling NGO Mukh Bandh Kaam Suru (Shut Up Start Work) and Salesian Youth Movement Kolkata. “It is our humble effort to promote fraternity, liberty,...

Hill NGOs fight Covid with joint well being campaign

A group of Non Government Organizations (NGO) in the hills have come together to fight Covid 19 with joint well being campaign with slogans: ‘Bring Back the Smiles’, and ‘We Build Each Other.   “Using the hashtags #Bringbackthesmiles #Webuildeachother, the Well Being Campaign is all set to change the information game in these trying times,” says Adarsh Rai Founder of Encompass and team member of Hayden Hall Darjeeling.    “We plan to do it from top-down directives to modelling everyday safety standards, from negativity to positive action language, from fear and doom to healing, well being, hope and growth,” says Psychologist Susan Subba of Heart works....

Tea women take empowerment lessons in College

 In a first time effort in the hills, tea women are coming to college to take lessons in empowerment. The academia-industry partnership initiative launched, on 21 February 2021 is at its mid-point marking women’s day 8th March. 28 women from 3 tea plantations in the hills are in this project spanning five Sundays till 21st March 2021. Salesian College Sonada established in 1938 and Tea Promoters India founded in 1980 who own plantations in Darjeeling, Dooars, Assam and Kerala have launched a pilot project entitled: Women Empowerment in Tea Communities. They offer workshops spread out on five Sundays from 21st February to 21 March 2021. In the first phase, ten women workers from...