BENGALURU: Claiming to have put together Bengaluru’s first Disney licensed show, ‘Dreams 2012- a musical journey’, Divyesh Bhandari is now busy orchestrating a production with 156 children of the Clarence High School.
It will be the celebration of 102 years of the conception of the school.
“In 2012, Imbroglio Productions became the first Indian group to obtain a license from the Disney office in US to use their tunes. I was shocked to know that several production houses were using the tunes illegally in their performances in the city,” says the production head.
He says that following this, the team did close to ten such musical productions with children. The proceeds for the current performance goes to the Clarence Special School. The students’ performance of the ‘The Chosen One’ adapted from The Book of Exodus is being held at Flack Auditorium until December 11 at 6pm.
The play opens with a dramatic scene. “My son, I have nothing I can give, but this chance that you may live.” With these words, Yocheved, a Hebrew mother, places her infant son in a basket and sets him adrift on the River Nile. His sister Miriam follows him along the riverbank to ensure his safety.
The basket floats near the royal palace, where it is spotted by the Egyptian Queen. She names the baby- Moses, and adopts him as her own. It is classic tale of two brothers, one born of royal blood and one an orphan with a secret past. The play follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to his ultimate destiny leading the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Dealing with children is fun and a lot of responsibility says Divyesh. “They are like sponge and will absorb whatever you offer them. One has to be careful about the language one uses. We are treating the students are professionaly and not amatuers. We tell them that we want to put not a mediocre annual function event but a high quality theatre production,” says the 24-year-old.
Students between the age of seven and 17 are putting together the show, for which they have been practising from over two month. Ruth Manoj, the school coordinator says, “This wouldn’t have been possible if we didn’t have cooperative parents and a school management that understands the significance of art and culture in academics”.