MUMBAI: If 'Beauty and the Beast' is a treat for sore eyes, it's manna for the ears as well. Adapting a western musical to Indian tastes can be no mean feat, but here's how the team at Disney India pulled it off last year, and is geared up for a second season this summer.

The musical had already enthralled audiences in over 28 countries when Disney decided to bring ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to Indian shores last year. With Disney India’s creative head Vikranth Pawar at the helm of matters, the execution of the 'Beauty and the Beast' seemed an impeccable treat to the eyes and ears. The musical production returns to the same venue this year, and the Disney team has hit the rehearsal studios once again. The grand conclusion to the first edition of 'Beauty and the Beast’ received critical and commercial recognition, and rightly so. However the team has no intention of falling short of the standards set during the first time. To pull off an event as humungous as this, the Disney team ensured that the right team gets assigned for the staging and preparations.

The musical responsibilities fell on the experienced shoulders of the versatile Lesle Lewis, and if the reviews for the first edition are anything to go by, the sound did not disappoint. In fact, Lewis and the musicians ensured the freedom provided by the Disney team was put to good constructive use. Lewis averred that the Indian production of the musical turned out to be as international as it gets. Lewis explained the obstacles that arrived with the musical – "Vikranth Pawar provided me immense freedom. Or let’s see it in another way, Pawar knew what I am good at and hence assigned me the task. The ‘Beauty and the Beast’ story was written by Disney for smaller theatres. NSCI dome was larger than any conventional theatre. Theatres in the West usually are not as large as NSCI." The musical was held at NSCI in Mumbai, and the giant scale of the venue had won half the battle for the production. "NSCI is immense. It’s larger than any conventional theatre I have ever set my foot in," added Lewis. But with larger scales come bigger adjustments. The musical was originally designed for a 25-piece orchestra, but the sheer size of the venue demanded the increase in musicians. "We went up to 35-piece. We added strings, thus making the sections larger,” informed the music director. To imagine the implementation of such a musical in an Indian market would have sounded borderline impossible, but the successful first edition provided the necessary motivation for Indian artists and the theatre-world in general.  But Lewis believes there’s a lot of road to travel on the musical front. “We do not have an orchestra of such a level in India yet, mostly because the culture does not exist here. Again, no doubt about the existence of talent, but a lot of practice is required In order for a local orchestra to carry off such a feat.” For the upcoming edition, Lewis agrees the task would not be as complicated as earlier, however the procedure and approach would not change. “When you sharpen a knife, you need to sharpen it again after a few days,” said Lewis. The music director adds that the director (VIkranthPawar) took away most of the burden and nervousness with his experience and composed approach. “You need a good captain. I am really good at what I do, but Pawar’s presence only made things better. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is completely VikranthPawar’s play,” declared Lewis.
 

For the actors on the stage, the task was simply too vital. Not only were they the face of the show, but the voice too. And, once again, Pawar ensured the right man (woman, rather) was assigned for ensuring no stones were left unturned to ensure every character hits the right note – at the right time. Suzanne, the vocal trainer for Hrithik Roshan in ‘Kites’, has had a voice-oriented career so far. The preparation for the musicals – vocally – took longer than expected, and as Suzanne pointed out, “the extremely co-operative Pawar offered the support.”Explained Suzanne, “The first part towards the training stuck to understanding the individual voices and their weaknesses. For any vocal exercise, breathing is the most vital part. Every actor, in a way, started at ground zero. They had to unlearn what they had learned and work on it.” Suzanne elaborated on the characters’ individual responsibilities and informed how LeFou’s role demanded intense efforts. “LeFou had various voice modulations in the voice throughout the play. On the other hand, Belle (played by Meher) had the most amount of work to do,” said Suzanne. The vocal trainer had never worked on a project like this before, and echoed Lewis’ statement on the absence of a similar-scale play on Indian soul. “The training took three months. Gradually, before the day of the show, we rehearsed at NSCI, and executed the play electronically first,” informed Suzanne.
 

Meher performs the role of Belle, the ‘beauty’ of the musical, and the character occupies 80 per cent of the play on the stage. Fortunately for Suzanne, Meher had considerable experience in singing and acting, however the actor confirmed the nervousness only grew with the passing days. “Although I had some knowledge about singing, what Suzanne brought to the game helped me perform better, no doubt about that. But you never know what is going to happen during live performance, right? But I am immensely satisfied with how it turned out. People walked to me after the show and asked, ’How are you not running out of breath’ and ‘I cannot believe you guys were singing live’. Such accolades and recognition only helps with my confidence for the upcoming edition,” said Meher.

Gaston, another character executed by the local talent Hitesh, states that every day of the training was a revelation. “Under Suzanne, I learned something new every day. And as the preparation progressed, the intensity increased. I had to unlearn a lot,” said Hitesh, whose exposure to Hindustani classical music helped him understand the basics of vocals. “In a few days, with excessive training, I found out the voice was overused, and I experienced some bleeding in my throat,” informs Hitesh, the ‘Gaston’ for the Indian production of the musical.

The character of Gaston’s sidekick LeFou, played by Tavish, demanded clumsiness through the acting, as well as the vocals. “The biggest obstacle was the technicality. But that came later. I had no idea what character I’ll be playing when I went for the auditions. In fact, I auditioned for Gaston. But a few days later, Disney called me and asked me to perform LeFou’s character. LeFou’s character required a lot of clumsiness to come out in physical manner. Unlike some characters, I had to speak in a voice that belonged to the totally opposite side of the spectrum,” said Tavish.

Under the workshops and rehearsals held by Suzanne, the actors did not compare the elements of the Indian production to the other musicals executed in different countries.

Suzanne had to co-ordinate with the choreographer and music director throughout the rehearsals, and the collective effort resulted into the success of the first edition, thus paving the way for the second. “If Lewis is all about the technicality, Terence (choreographer) was all about the emotions. And I trained the voice,” concluded Suzanne.