The Bangalore Chorus to stage ‘Annie’ on October 26 and 27

The Bangalore Chorus to stage ‘Annie’ on October 26 and 27 in the city

The tiled-roof atrium with a beautiful red-oxide floor in Annaswamy Mudaliar School, Fraser Town, is brimming with children aged five and above. While some are busy being just children, others jump about excitedly discovering their acrobatic abilities. In one corner, little girls dance daintily to a song that they are whispering to themselves, while senior children are busy arranging the floor as a stage, setting it up with props as professionally as possible. While they carry tables, chairs and bedding to set the stage for the first scene, they are bumped into by naughty ones cart-wheeling. Undeterred, they hush the children and go about their job.

This is a behind-the-scenes glimpse of rehearsals of The Bangalore Chorus (TBC), which is gearing up for its annual production. This time it is the musical Annie, based on a book by Thomas Meehan, originally directed by Martin Charnin for Broadway. Dr Maya Mascarenhas and Judith Roby Bidapa co-direct Annie for TBC. The proceeds from the show will go towards Jyothi Seva Home and School for the Blind, Bengaluru.

Judy and a few parents get the children to form a circle and start with the warm up exercises, while Maya sits to talk with us about Annie and TBC. “We have children, who are the actual cast of the TBC training programme, who will be acting and singing. We train them to stage a play each year as an annual programme.”

Every year, Maya starts a batch at the end of April or May with a nine-month programme, where the children learn choral singing. “We call it a ‘show choir’ as we do a lot of choreography; they are not just standing but moving and singing. Some songs require a little bit of theatre so we have musical theatre.”

The TBC concerts have mostly been excerpts from musicals, says Maya. “They are called the Big Bang series. I noticed that the children are talented and decided to challenge them further with a musical.”

A paediatrician, Maya says she has music is in her blood. Annie was chosen, Maya says, because it is a child-friendly musical. “Second, we got the rights, which cost us a bomb, but we managed with the help of crowd-funding and sponsors and third, because it is a story of hope.”

Annie will feature children from 50 schools across Bengaluru, who enrolled as part of TBC training programme. “The youngest is four. All our concerts work with the philosophy of ‘Children for Children’. Whatever funds we raise, goes to a charity that works with vulnerable children. This year, we chose Jyothi Seva Home and School.”