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.
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It was an amazing performance
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