Even if you’ve attended every single tribute concert in Chennai over the last decade, it’s quite doubtful that you’ve been to one as manic as Pink – A Floydian Trip. Directed by Michael Muthu, the performance on Saturday night was a trip all right. And a full house audience at the Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall was along for the ride. The show was a coming of age rock opera — an adaptation of The Wall, a musical film based on Pink Floyd’s 1979 album of the same name. It’s likely that several of the choreographed scenes probably had aunties in the audience rattled, especially if you hadn’t already seen the movie. Gun shots, blood spatter, a TV hammered in by a golf club – the production made no compromises on bringing out Floyd’s dark side. But between the spectacular laser lights, courtesy technical director Sean Bout and powerhouse music by Roxygen, one was reeled in to a world of Floyd, hook, line and sinker – fan or not.
And from a theatrical genius that has brought Chennai everything from Jesus Christ Superstar in the early 90s to an ode to Edgar Allan Poe, just last month – Muthu has really upped the bar with this piece of work. The cast was voluminous, the sets were classy, each song brought on a roar of applause and without a doubt the lights were a show in themselves. Most impressive was the seamless use of props that weaved into set changes – rows of desks, a cradle... and even a 7-foot wall built centre stage, out of transparent netted blocks mid-show!
Kudos to Timothy Madhukar who played the protagonist of this crazy-psychedelic Floydian tale, alongside some inspired vocals by guest artistes like Anu Cheyyur, Mili Nair, Nadisha Thomas and a hard-to-forget yellow-suited, Christopher Stanley. Some of the top songs of the night were as expected, Another Brick in the Wall, Money and Time. Add in a saxophone solo, exotic dancers and a troop of men in military uniform, sporting The Wall’s signature double hammer insignia and the madness continued. But Chennai’s crowd (who called us conservative again?) couldn’t seem to get enough. Interpretations aside, this was one of those OMG productions that you don’t want to miss if it comes around again!