Bombay Dreams

[Deleted]

As quite a few people seem to have fond memories of the show I thought I'd create it's own thread

[singingbird]

Has this ever been revived anywhere? Has anyone tried to do it on the fringe, or as a student production? It does feel like one of those shows that has been largely forgotten. I did see it at the Apollo Victoria but genuinely have almost no memory of it.

[Deleted]

The hippodrome, mayflower and another independent theatre I thunk had planned to co produce a tour of it a good decade ago but it never happened.

Otherwise no I don't think so. Rewatching the montage clip reminded me how good it was, and it was so fresh and a bit ahead of its time really

[knutinkerbell]

Thank you for the videos! I still remember some scenes and liked most part of it.
Side note, my friend and I are still remembering the nonstop talking woman next to us, who smelled badly of onions and white wine. She left during the interval.

[scarpia]

I really did not enjoy this one. I had high hopes and expectations because there was a lot of buzz about it in the summer it opened in. But to me the whole thing felt very amateur. The music was great, the lyrics trite, and the book appalling.

I was surprised they took it to Broadway. They made quite a few changes for it but it bombed there. Then they closed the London production claiming they were going to reopen it with the Broadway changes, but that never happened.

One of the plus sides, I guess, was the audience demographic for this was really quite different from the usual West End audience, and it brought a lot of people to the theatre who otherwise I suspect would not have thought to go.

In retrospect it was a bit ahead of its time in terms of concept, but the execution was a mess IMHO.

[HereForTheatre]

I always thought that Curve would be a good place to stage this, with there being a really large Indian community in the city. Interestingly Curve sent out a questionnaire to it's members I think last year asking for opinions on which Musicals they would like Curve to stage in the future and Bombay Dreams was one of the musicals you could pick, so I guess they are at least thinking about it.

[Steffi]

I remember not being blown away by this but loving The Journey Home. It’s the one song from the soundtrack I still listen to at times. It’s a beautiful song.

[schuttep]

I saw this show twice and loved it. I just listened again to The Journey Home and wept.

[chernjam]

The score is definitely underrated.

I did see the Broadway production, which as much as it's labelled a "bomb" I found pretty enjoyable. Not quite sure why things never gelled where it could've done better, and now that you all have posted about it, its interesting that it never revived or has popped up elsewhere.

[showtoones]

I so loved this show and loved Raza Jaffrey as well as Steven Raman Hughes. It was so much better than it was on Broadway. They try to dumb it down for American audiences and it just didn’t work. plus Raza is super sexy. Me thinks it’s time for revival but not an actor instrument version lol.

[Jon]

Aug 17, 2022 11:27:23 GMT scarpia said:

I really did not enjoy this one. I had high hopes and expectations because there was a lot of buzz about it in the summer it opened in. But to me the whole thing felt very amateur. The music was great, the lyrics trite, and the book appalling.

I was surprised they took it to Broadway. They made quite a few changes for it but it bombed there. Then they closed the London production claiming they were going to reopen it with the Broadway changes, but that never happened.

One of the plus sides, I guess, was the audience demographic for this was really quite different from the usual West End audience, and it brought a lot of people to the theatre who otherwise I suspect would not have thought to go.

In retrospect it was a bit ahead of its time in terms of concept, but the execution was a mess IMHO.

Sounds like your average Bollywood movie!

I admire that ALW decided to not compose the score and bring in AR Rahman although a lot of the music is recycled from films he had composed.

[steve10086]

Why is everyone discussing this “Veg & Non-Veg Family Restaurant” in Bangkok?

[FairyGodmother]

Radio 2 were celebrating 20 years of it on Sunday.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001gg59?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

I have to admit that this board is the only reason I'd heard of it.

[dlevi]

I loved this show not because it was great but because I think it perfectly captured for the stage the energy and silliness of a Bollywood movie. The music was beautiful, the lyrics were often good, and the book was ludicrous. However , the performances were all terrific especially Raza Jaffrey. Why doesn't he do more musicals? When they did the show in the states they decided they needed to explain every aspect of Bollywood culture and in so doing took out any sense of fun. I'd happily see it again but it needs to be done on a large scale , I agree with showtoons in that I don't want to see an actor musician version of it.

[mrbarnaby]

It was certainly ahead of its time, but I remember it being a real disappointment. Following on from the extravagance of the Moulin Rouge film and its Bollywoodesque moments- I thought this was going to be incredible.

I’m no Bollywood expert, but it felt too westernised and inauthentic to me- probably because most of the key creatives were white Brits. Needless to say it was all Andrew Lloyd Webbered to death. The only highlights I remember was Shakalaka Baby and the Kitty character. And Raza Jaffreys absolute gorgeousness.

I’d say it was ripe for a revival though as the score is (mainly) fabulous and with the correct creative team (it would never be so white now.. and rightfully so) it could be wonderful. But not a cheap version at Curve though please.

[TallPaul]

We were supposed to be getting Monsoon Wedding, which would have been much more authentic, but it's all gone very quite since it was postponed due to you-know-what.

[HereForTheatre]

Jan 3, 2023 10:46:11 GMT mrbarnaby said:

It was certainly ahead of its time, but I remember it being a real disappointment. Following on from the extravagance of the Moulin Rouge film and its Bollywoodesque moments- I thought this was going to be incredible.

I’m no Bollywood expert, but it felt too westernised and inauthentic to me- probably because most of the key creatives were white Brits. Needless to say it was all Andrew Lloyd Webbered to death. The only highlights I remember was Shakalaka Baby and the Kitty character. And Raza Jaffreys absolute gorgeousness.

I’d say it was ripe for a revival though as the score is (mainly) fabulous and with the correct creative team (it would never be so white now.. and rightfully so) it could be wonderful. But not a cheap version at Curve though please.

Is the implication there that Curve only do cheap versions of things? Because that's not the first time you've implied something like this and it's just not true. They of course do some smaller scale or stripped back versions productions yes but they also do very high quality productions too. They could do a very good production of this actually and it would suit Leicesters demographic very well.

[max]

It was the design that held this production back, for me. Mark Thompson used a revolve with a sort of huge drainpipe curled along one edge of it, graduating from large to small size as it went. Hmmm, revolve, and the diminishing wall in Mamma Mia. I was shocked it felt a lazy rehash of something he'd recently done. It looked cheap in Mamma Mia, and an underwhelming idea in Bombay Dreams.

Was there a prison scene at some point? I have a memory of that being on multiple levels face on to the audience like 'Celebrity Squares'. Overall, it was one of those designs that feels like an ITV shiny floor show presented to the audience, rather than a grimy and exciting environment for real physical action to happen in. Mind you - I felt that about the design for RENT so what do I know? -  it was successful enough!

Bombay Dreams was pretty successful in its London run (stats on Wikipedia are impressive), and I've never seen so many South East Asian families in a West End venue - a triumph really.

Can't believe they cut 'Like An Eagle' from Broadway; such an important hymn to Akash's dream, and everyone's dream of what Bollywood represents; and the first pumping exciting song in the piece.

Agree a new version would be good to see, and there are certainly South East Asian creatives who could do a great job of it now (...and could have done better than Pimlott/Thompson back then).  Leicester's stating of Sunset Boulevard was excellent I thought - I'd certainly trust them with it.

[og]

Jan 3, 2023 10:46:11 GMT mrbarnaby said:

It was certainly ahead of its time, but I remember it being a real disappointment. Following on from the extravagance of the Moulin Rouge film and its Bollywoodesque moments- I thought this was going to be incredible.

I’m no Bollywood expert, but it felt too westernised and inauthentic to me- probably because most of the key creatives were white Brits. Needless to say it was all Andrew Lloyd Webbered to death. The only highlights I remember was Shakalaka Baby and the Kitty character. And Raza Jaffreys absolute gorgeousness.

I’d say it was ripe for a revival though as the score is (mainly) fabulous and with the correct creative team (it would never be so white now.. and rightfully so) it could be wonderful. But not a cheap version at Curve though please.

The press team did such a good job with that song. I feel that was one of the last real moments of musical songs charting in popular music. It was all over MTV, Smash Hits and other music channels at the time. Granted it only just about charted in the top 40, for two weeks, but since 2002 not many 'singles' from soundtracks have gotten much attention in the pop music scene, to my knowledge

[Jon]

I do like Shakalaka Baby but Love's Never Easy and The Journey Home are better songs.

[mrbarnaby]

Jan 3, 2023 15:34:51 GMT max said:

It was the design that held this production back, for me. Mark Thompson used a revolve with a sort of huge drainpipe curled along one edge of it, graduating from large to small size as it went. Hmmm, revolve, and the diminishing wall in Mamma Mia. I was shocked it felt a lazy rehash of something he'd recently done. It looked cheap in Mamma Mia, and an underwhelming idea in Bombay Dreams.

Was there a prison scene at some point? I have a memory of that being on multiple levels face on to the audience like 'Celebrity Squares'. Overall, it was one of those designs that feels like an ITV shiny floor show presented to the audience, rather than a grimy and exciting environment for real physical action to happen in. Mind you - I felt that about the design for RENT so what do I know? -  it was successful enough!

Bombay Dreams was pretty successful in its London run (stats on Wikipedia are impressive), and I've never seen so many South East Asian families in a West End venue - a triumph really.

Can't believe they cut 'Like An Eagle' from Broadway; such an important hymn to Akash's dream, and everyone's dream of what Bollywood represents; and the first pumping exciting song in the piece.

Agree a new version would be good to see, and there are certainly South East Asian creatives who could do a great job of it now (...and could have done better than Pimlott/Thompson back then).  Leicester's stating of Sunset Boulevard was excellent I thought - I'd certainly trust them with it.

That drainpipe design looked nothing like Mamma Mia and also neither show had a revolve. There was a circular track in the floor for the staircase and drainpipe!

I do think the show LOOKED better in NYC- it was all darker and richer. The show there was a mess though.

The London prison scene was one of the worst elements of the show. Terrible song

[drowseychap]

Sadly never got to see this show I’m sure there was a special on the radio only yesterday I think 🤔… I love the journey home Sarah bright man recorded a great version of it

[parsley1]

How can we get this revived?

I think it could

1- be given the JL treatment barefoot and monochrome

2- work very well at Open Air with themed venue

3- and would also suit the Olivier and be an improvement on some of the recent material presented there this year



ADDENDUM:

4- we can stage our own version

[oxfordsimon]

I have only two memories of when I saw this.

1 - seeing a lot of bad lip syncing

2 - being threatened with a punch because I asked the people behind me to stop talking.

[parsley1]

Aug 24, 2024 0:55:16 GMT oxfordsimon said:

I have only two memories of when I saw this.

1 - seeing a lot of bad lip syncing and used for 1-2 numbers in the show as part of the “Bollywood” film they were making

2 - being threatened with a punch because I asked the people behind me to stop talking.

The lip syncing was intentional

As per Bollywood films

Where the actors don’t sing

And it’s dubbed over

The singers are superstars in their own right

Despite the fact it was a relatively tacky show

It did massive business and was a huge surprise hit for all involved

The error was the greed in closing the WE production and eyeing Broadway

It could have run for another 1-2 years on a tidy profit

ALW often makes and repeats the same errors over time

Bad Cinderella