Bombay JAZZ in Amsterdam

Bombay JAZZ will be performed at the Tropentheater at Linnaeusstraat 2, on the 27th and 28th November, in Amsterdam.
Here is the Tropentheater schedule

Jazz Shows at Prithvi on 6thJuly 2008 - 6pm & 9pm

Jazz returns once more to the Prithvi Theatre on 6th July 2008- 6pm and 9pm.

Please spread the word...

META JAZZ!

Bugs Bhargava Krishna picked up Best Actor for JAZZ at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards ceremony at New Delhi on 6th March 2008.

JAZZ was among 10 top plays selected from all over the country, and picked up four nominations: Best Play, Best Director, Best Original Script and Best Actor,

For information on other winners, the jury, and on META
check out: http://metawards.com/

JAZZ at Sophia Bhabha Hall, 10th Feb 2008.

7.30 pm, Sunday, 10th February.

JAZZ in aid of Seva Sadan Society

Tickets: Rs. 1000, 750, 500 and 250
Available at Rhythm House, Sophia Bhabha Hall & Seva Sadan Society (Gamdevi).

Home delivery: Arnawaz (2380 8005) and Arti (9821127654)

JAZZ at Prithvi, 3rd & 4th, Jan 2008

Shows at Prithvi Theatre on 3rd and 4th January 2008 - 6:00pm & 9:00 pm (on both days)

Back to Mumbai

After two successful shows down south, JAZZ once again returns to Mumbai. The play, which continues to enthrall its audience, was recently performed at St. Andrew's Auditorium, Mumbai, on Sunday, 23rd December 2007. With a total of six shows under its belt the play now moves into the New Year with a lot more shows scheduled.


The Journey so far......

JAZZ opened to a full house on 6th November 2007 as a part of Prithvi's ongoing Musical Theatre Festival. The response from the audience was not only encouraging but overwhelming.

Penned by Ramu Ramanathan, the play is based on research by Naresh Fernandes.
"I have been interested in this story almost all my life and especially since Jerry Pinto and I worked on the anthology, Bombay, Meri Jaan," says Fernandes. "It's also the story of Goan migration to Bombay."

Along with the play was born Denzil Smith's 'Stagesmith Productions', under whose banner the play continues to flourish. With a hope to make the JAZZ journey wholesome, Denzil Smith along with Naresh Fernandes, set out on a quest to document Mumbai's acquaintance with jazz.

What began as research for a play...
ended up as material for an exhibition, Jazz - The Bombay Connection, which previewed at Zenzi on 15th November 2007.
The collection of photographs, sourced from family albums, flyers and the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower archives, points towards Mumbai as the epicenter of the migrated and traveling musicians. The collated pictures throw up names of some noted musicians—Mickey Correa, Chic Chocolate, Anthony Gonsalves, Lucila and George Pacheco— who created and sustained
Bombay's jazz era from the 1930s until the 1960s.

After the two premier shows at the Prithvi Festival, JAZZ played for the Celebrate Bandra Festival on November 27 th, 2007. As mumbaitheatreguide.com notes:
"It was a day to remember as the play started an hour late due to a power failure in the city. However, it must have been the magic of the Jazz era - that the audience waited.
The show ran to a full house which had the who's who of Mumbai's theatre and music world."

Away from home turf...

JAZZ was very well received in Bangalore and Chennai, where it was invited for the Bangalore Habba Festival and The Park Festival respectively. Standing ovations and repeated cries of 'ENCORE!!' only added to our confidence.

The play now navigates a long journey hoping to relive the spirit of Jazz with our gracious audiences.

As Etienne Coutinho, Director of JAZZ notes,
"This is a story that was waiting to be told, lying buried under the colossal commercial Behemoth called Bollywood. In this provocative context, the story of JAZZ funnels the lives and times of a group of musicians into one man.
For me, directing the play has been a journey of discovery - distilling out the essence - so that what is left is the spirit and truth. I enjoyed the experience. Hope you do too."



The play is being performed on the 3rd & 4th Jan at Prithvi Theatre (6:00pm & 9:00pm on both days.) For further enquiries, contact: Akanksha Gupta at 9820581863.

Images from JAZZ

picture 1:
The mentor played by Bugs Bhargava Krishna.














picture 2:
The pupil played by saxophonist Rhys Sebastian Dsouza.

picture 3:
Shaukat Baig plays member of the Malignant Migraine Club.

picture 4:

Ella Atai plays one of the paramours.

What the critics have to say

"The video photography was exquisite. Perfectly chosen faces and dredged recollections were edited to form a seamless narrative.
A vigorous Goan community came alive in multi-perspectives and meshed voices…
...Designing his own sets and lights, director Etienne Coutinho raised the word-ruled, music-drenched text to signify things beyond sounds, sparking an unquenchable spirit in the present, rimmed by the lights and shadows of the past. An experience for lovers of jazz, theatre and life.”
- Gowri Ramnarayan, THE HINDU


“The play weaves the past into the present with gravelly-voiced Bugs Bhargava Krishna embodying the bitter-sweet stories of the musicians, actors on video playing their friends, fellow-musicians and wives, and Rhys Dsouza, grandson of Sebastian Dsouza, showing us what the saxophone can do.”
- Shanta Gokhale, MUMBAI MIRROR


"Bugs Bhargava Krishna has you bewitched, bothered and bewildered and having hit the right note never goes off it... [He] delivers a performance that would make ‘em say, he’s got chops."
- Pragya Tiwari, MUMBAI MIRROR


“Young Rhys Sebastian D’Souza, (grandson of the jazz musician Sebastian D’Souza) is obviously gifted…”
- Eunice D’Souza, MUMBAI MIRROR


"I was moved inexplicably by the whole experience… When I see a play of this calibre, I am convinced that good theatre is still alive. "
-Vasanthi Sankaranarayan, Film historian and art critic


"A play so scathing and mercilessly funny in its indictment of Bollywood.Ramu’s script – with its iambic rhythms and cunning rhymes – is well exploited by Bugs Bhargava Krishna. His sense of timing and exuberant delivery brings to mind the frenzied, swinging beats of classic Jazz… Heaps of intelligent humour call for a memorable theatre experience. "
- Ankit Soni, mumbaitheatreguide.com


"[27th November 2007] was a day to remember as the play started an hour late due to a power failure in the city. However it must have been the magic of the Jazz era - that the audience waited. The show ran to a full house which had the who's who of Mumbai's theatre and music world. "

- mumbaitheatreguide.com