Catching up with the cast of “Best of Broadway”! 

The rehearsal space reverberated as voices erupted into a stunning rendition of a Lion King number that left us with goosebumps. We watched, enthralled as the cast rehearsed hit after hit, one big talented family, playing off of the electric energy emanating from each other. Jerome de Silva's “Best of Broadway” – supported by a brilliant cast that are the Workshop Players - promises to be an evening of spectacular performances.

The Daily Mirror Life caught up with some of the cast members of the Best of Broadway between rehearsals. Here’s what they had to say.

Surein 

I am the music director of the Workshop Players. I've been with them from the day we started and I've been part of all the productions since then. This production more or less is kind of a summary of what we’ve done over the last few years - bits and pieces of all the full length shows we’ve performed. The past pupils of Musaeus College wanted to do a fundraiser and approached us for this so we said okay, because these days we are in the middle of rehearsing for Les Misérables, so we kinda split our days between rehearsing for the Best of Broadway and subsequently Les Misérables. It’s fun in the sense that it's nice to relive all the old memories because these are some of the stuff that we did 10-15 years ago. Some of the old cast is back to reprise their roles and relive the whole thing. So anybody who’s seen stuff that we’ve done and people who are particularly fond of Broadway can enjoy their evening out.

Shanuki 

I’m an assistant director at the Workshop Players and in this show I'm also helping to choreograph it as well as taking part in it. I sing a couple of solos as well as dance. I've been doing this  for about 17 years with the Workshop Players. So actually I've been in all the full length musicals that we are doing in this show. It's nice, it's fun and it's like going back in time. Very nostalgic. Variety shows are really fun for us because it's not as intense for us as our full length productions and because we’ve done it before it's much easier and we know what to do the second time around.

Dimitri 

I joined the Workshop Players in 2008. In this production I am playing Grizabella's role in Cats and doing Eva Peron's role and I’m singing “Don't Cry For Me Argentina” and also from Phantom of The Opera - that was my last production - I’m singing “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”. It’s always fun. I’m used to them so it’s quite nice and it’s productions I've done except for Cats. So I’m really excited to do especially Phantom of The Opera and Evita again because that was a bit of a tough production.

Devashrie 

I’m playing Christine in the Phantom of The Opera numbers, which was the last production of the Workshop Players. So coming back to it after about 9 months is fantastic actually. But also, you need to get back in character and think about that whole experience all over again and it's good to relive it. Off course being back with the Workshop Players - it feels like home, and the production I think is going really well. Having the best of the pieces of all the productions is going to be a treat for the audience, and we’re definitely enjoying it.

Sanith 

I’m one of the founders of the Workshop Players. So it means I’ve been taking part in their productions for well over 20 years. In this particular show I’m playing the role of Pumbaa as well as in the Phantom of The Opera I play the role of Signor Piangi who's the resident opera singer. Both of them are roles that I played when we performed the full length shows. My wife and I both met at Workshop Players and it's a great time because my son is on stage as well and it has become a family affair now.

Catch “The Best of Broadway” staged at the Musaeus College Auditorium on Saturday, 25th July 2015. Tickets are available at The Commons - Flower Road, Tea Avenue – Barnes Place, Food City – Staple Street and at Musaeus College – Rosmead Place entrance. Avail yourself of a 20% discount at the TGI Friday's Restaurant on the production of the theatre ticket.

By Rihaab Mowlana
Photographs by Kushan Pathiraja