Months of training and weeks of touring culminated in three electric shows last weekend as Toccata Musical Productions, presented by Wizard Entertainment, brought to Colombo a mixture of Broadway melodies and radio hits with class and charm. Toccata gets together every year with volounteers to travel and take good music, joyfulness and aid around the world. It is headed by Sunil Paulraj and Judith Sheridan is Musical Director. Their enthusiasm for their work is palpable, and translated into their performances.

The first two shows that were on Friday the 15th and Saturday the 16th were ‘Best of West End and Broadway’ and featured a number of well-known show tunes from musicals such as the Phantom of the Opera, Grease and Les Miserables. The singing was incredible, each vocalist had a powerful, distinctive voice that blended well together on the ensemble pieces and shone on the solos. They were backed by a jaunty, energetic choir and a brilliant band.

‘All I Ask of You’, sung by Charlie Vose and Mary Loughran was a really lovely rendition and Vose’s ‘Too Much Heaven on Their Minds’ was very charismatic. ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ by Loughran was another beautiful number. Gareth McGreevy’s ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ felt intimate, with an ethereal dance solo from Rachelle Mooney. David Booth and Fiona Keegan teamed up for ‘We are One’ and were really sweet, Keegan’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was also lovely. ‘Memory’ by Alison Arnopp was a great piece, and my favourite for the night was David Booth’s commanding version of ‘Stars’. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Somebody to Love’ were fun, with ‘At the End of the Day’s crisp harmonies and ‘Shadowland’s haunting making for two very beautiful performances.

The Nostalgia show on Sunday the 17th was even better! ‘Arms of an Angel’ featured another lyrical dance solo from Rachelle, and the harmonies were eloquently striking, as was ‘You Raise Me Up’. ‘Hit the Road Jack’ was snazzy, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ and ‘Jailhouse Rock’ were fun, the latter especially so because of an amusing performance by the dancers! We also got a special treat of Irish dancing on McGreevy’s ‘Danny Boy’. Fiona Keegan’s ‘Desperado’ was amazing, and all the girls, including Katie McHardy, teamed up for ‘Think’ which was a powerful, incredible performance! Sunil Paulraj and Alison Arnopp delivered a scintillating song. ‘Hallelujah’ was emotional, the choir providing evocative harmonies that were balanced with Arnopp’s beautiful vocals, making for a beautiful, memorable performance.

Both shows had a bit of local flavour in the form of Natasha Rathnayake and a guest performance by Soul Sounds. Soul Sounds and the Toccata vocalists performed some traditional Sinhalese and Tamil songs, their voices blended well together and the audience loved it!   
Each day ended with the children of Soundarie David’s choir joining Toccata for a warm and sweet ‘Heal the World/We are the World.’ On the last day, the singers even came into the audience and had everyone on their feet for an encore performance of ‘Malaika’!

Overall the shows were great, and as it was all for a very good cause, donating medical supplies to a hospital in Jaffna, the whole experience had a very pleasant and memorable impact on Sri Lanka. We sincerely hope they come back soon!

Comments from the audience

The show is great. Everything is nice, I love the songs. – Nilakshi

Oh, they were all lovely numbers, I like the Grease one. Actually everything was good, even the Jesus Christ Superstar one was very nice. – Rohana

It was awesome, I liked the dances and the songs. The Jailhouse Rock was fun! – Aaliya

We liked the ballet and the disco. The Hallelujah was beautiful. – Alaina

The ballet was beautiful. – Hana

Everything was nice, we liked all the songs. – Maryam, Tahaani

Very beautiful, it’s a good selection. – Jayamal

The Jailhouse Rock one was very funny! – Hasintha It was very nice, I really liked the Jellical Cats song, and I like the dancers. – Liyara

Oh it’s lovely, it’s very nice and entertaining. I liked the Cats and also the Greased Lightning. – Nazla

By Marissa van Eyck
Pics by Samantha Perera and Nisal Baduge