Mar 06 2014.
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It is well past 7 in the evening on a school day and if you decide to take a walk down Talakotuwa Gardens and you happen to pass the Asian International School you might hear its students singing the words “It’s a hard knock life for us” and the hauntingly beautiful voice of 11 year old Shyalina Muthumudalige singing “The sun will come out tomorrow”, you might wonder if the school has opened up a boarding school and its kids are quite depressed but they most certainly are not. If you walk into the school you will find 70 enthusiastic youngsters dancing and singing along to the famous musical “Annie” and you will also find Jerome L. De Silva watching their every move along with Shanuki De Alwis and Ishan De Lanerolle paying heed to every single note that is sung.
Daily Mirror Life caught up with the cast and directors of Asian International School’s production and this is what they had to say:
Shyalina Muthumudalige: Annie
Annie is an orphan who hasn’t given up on her parents but she manages to get away from the orphanage run by the evil Miss Hannigan and luckily ends up being adopted by billionaire Oliver Warbuck. It has been fun and scary been playing the lead of such a big production and I have learnt a lot by working with Jerome.
Jameel Oriff and Pavith Pathirana: Oliver Warbuck
We play the short tempered billionaire who likes to command people around and although he is not a bit right in the head, he finds happiness through Annie. We really have enjoyed ourselves by being a part of the cast. Jerome has been fantastic and we really appreciate the fact that no matter how big the cast is he gives everyone a role and makes them feel special and his scolding have helped us push ourselves to do better.
Udaara Hapangama: Miss Hannigan
Hannigan is nothing but a complete nightmare! She is rude and bitter and is jealous of others especially Annie and would do anything to get what she has. She thinks that alcohol is the answer to everything and drowns herself in it and craves for male attention. My friends say that as a result of the rehearsals I tend to be Miss Hannigan in real life. Getting into character is hard so you have to be in it all the time. Shanuki has done a fantastic job with everything and she is so easy to work with.
Vaishnavi Nadarajah and Chamathka Ratnayake: Grace
Grace is Oliver Warbuck’s secretary and has been in love with him for yonks. She plays a motherly and loving role towards Annie secretly wishing that Warbuck will notice her even then. We consider it a great opportunity to work with a director like Jerome.
Bilal Ghouse and Shelantha Fernando: Rooster
Rooster is the drunken womanizer who is always trying to get money off of people. We have fun playing the role. Shanuki is really cool because she hasn’t yelled at us yet.
Harindi Jayakody: Lilly
Lilly is a prostitute picked up by Rooster and she is extremely flirtatious and very clueless. The role is challenging and I had no idea what to do with myself when we first started rehearsals because of the extremely high pitched voice that she has to communicate in. my parents have been really supportive of me acting and although I have skipped a whole load of classes due to rehearsals, it has been worth it and I have caught up with my studies as well.
Jerome: It certainly was a challenge to pull this off in a short period of time. But the kids were enthusiastic and the teachers have been extremely committed and hard working which made it a lot easier to handle. Shanuki and Ishan are really nice to work with as well.
Shanuki: When I walked in for the first rehearsal, I stepped into a blur of chaotic cacophony, where a long-suffering teacher greeted me with the advice that in order to maintain discipline and more importantly to survive, I'd have to be very strict. I immediately asked myself what I'd gotten myself into. I put on the school marm persona and started by reading the kids the riot act and I think I scared them a bit in the process. Since then, it's been an interesting adventure for someone like me, who hasn't had the years of experience in working with children that Jerome has. I have to say it's not been as stressful as I thought it would be, because they're an entertaining bunch of nutters! I've become quite fond of them over time. However, choreographing for a majority who started out with three little left feet has been challenging, yet fun. (They claim they can't dance, but have no problem wriggling about when they're not supposed to!) There is some raw, untapped potential in those kids, which has seen remarkable improvement over a short span of time. Given that the school offers them all the necessary resources and exposure to grow in aesthetic crafts, I do hope they will make use of it and hone themselves into becoming the future stars that I can see in them.
Ishan: Working with Asian International School has been an extremely rewarding one, but it has not been without challenges. The challenges of course were that I had to work with some first time singers but that to me was an opportunity. I could hone each of the actors to become the stars they are capable of becoming. They are all fired by a passion to do their best and to me, that is a great foundation to build upon. It hasn't been easy but as we move closer to opening night, I see each of them sing with so much love and joy, that I'm moved. They have taken their roles to heart, worked tirelessly to ensure that they get perfection and support each other with true team spirit. I feel honoured to have been invited to direct this production along with the veteran Jerome L De Silva, and to have the support of Shanuki De Alwis on choreography who is great with kids.
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By Reihan Stephen
Pics by Waruna Wanniarachchi
0 Comments
don vincent mutumudalige says:
Mar 08, 2014 at 12:00 amit is great to see the photo of my garnd daughter keep doing and achieve the best. sky is the limit grand pa