The talented students of Elizabeth Moir School are set to take Colombo by storm once again with their hit musical and dance performance S.O.S. Aida Mansoor, director of Elizabeth Moir School and director of the show speaks to The Sunday Leader about what audiences can expect this time around.

This show is different mainly due to three things: One is working with an ensemble cast with no obvious lead roles. Instead I have a group of main actors who are feeding off each others’ strengths and working as a team so that it is a united effort. This has helped raise the quality of the acting and I am very pleased that this gamble has paid off.

Two, working with a choir instead of soloists and three this show has a wider variety of dancing.

The plot is mainly about a group of orphans struggling to defend their home that’s about to be demolished to make way for a construction site. One of the orphans is romantically involved with the local MP’s son so they appeal to him for help. His mother being devious and cunning plans to exploit the orphans to secure more votes at the upcoming election. All hell and mayhem break loose when the orphans find out and rally round to fight back.

I wrote the script following a newspaper article I read about Bartle’s Woods being destroyed for a construction project. So S.O.S is vaguely based on actual events. Hence I have tried to bring in awareness about conservation and chose to set the play in England, so that some of the references to places and events are factually correct.

So although it is a fun and colourful musical, there is an underlying message and a very surprising twist at the end, which should delight the audience!

The cast has been enormously enthusiastic and has worked very hard. I am particularly proud of the fact that they came up with their own music and vocal arrangements to the song Apologize, which begins acapella. Also some of our most experienced dancers choreographed their own steps to some of the songs so it has really been a group effort and I am proud of all of them.  

Sanjeev jayaratnam is an old friend of mine because he and I acted together in Animal Farm. Having worked with him before, I have the utmost respect for him as a vocal director and was delighted when he joined our staff to train the choir. He has worked wonders with the cast and I am certain the audience will enjoy the songs we have chosen because once again, there is much variety.

Natasha Jayasuriya is a former student and well known to Sri Lankan audiences, and she and I have done many shows together. I was most fortunate that she and Erin worked very hard to bring the dancers up to the high level they are today. The show has much depth in dancing in that there is the usual hip-hop and break dancing along with ballroom, tap dance and modern jazz.

The season of chaos begins. The guys of Whirlwind have been summoned once more to head the battle of scattering the dark disease of Sri Metal! Halloween Fest 2008 will bring together the bands Fault, Forlorn Hope, Restricted and Spleen Saint who will be the opening acts for Whirlwind which comprise of band members Misha, Nisho, Chandu and Kalana.

The show will also feature a guest solo performance by Maria.

The event kicks off at Club Black Out at The Swiss Residence Kandy, on Saturday, November 1, at 5 pm and continues till 1 am on Sunday, November 2.

The show is being hosted by Keen Group, Whirlwind’s record label Possessed Productions in Florida along with their Manager Nick and Promotions Manager Crisco Dabolo for which the bands are immensely thankful, and Area 52.

Dress your self up in any costume you desire and win prizes. You can also get your dream tattoo done by Franco. Tickets will be priced at Rs. 500 per metal head if they are able to make it to the event before 7.30pm. Every person who comes after 7.30 pm will have to pay Rs.750 for a ticket.

Max Payne

Max Payne, a cop in the NYPD, returns home one day to find his wife and baby daughter murdered at the hands of drug addicts, high on a designer drug called Valkyr. After three years of working on the case, Max and his best friend Alex go undercover to bust a V-deal. However, things go wrong: Alex is suddenly killed, and Max is framed for his murder. Hunted by the cops and driven by determination to avenge his family, Max Payne sets out to uncover the truth behind his family’s murder

Everything ripped apart in a New York minute ... Max Payne is a man with nothing to lose in the violent, cold, urban night. A fugitive undercover cop framed for murder and now hunted by cops and the mob. Max is a man with his back against the wall, fighting a battle he cannot hope to win. Prepare for pain.

Detective Max Payne has nothing to lose. His family has been murdered by drug addicts, and he has been framed for the assassination of his best friend, a D. E A. agent. Blaming the mafia, he seeks out the most notorious mob boss in the city, taking on an army of gangsters that he could not possibly hope to overcome, Max Payne confronts the epitome of crime, but discovers that the mafia is only a pawn for a higher corruption: the power-hungry Aesir Corporation and its criminal activities. In an attempt to clear his name and settle his past, Max Payne serves as a vigilante to eliminate the source of a new designer drug being trafficked, that of which he believes was responsible for the death of his family.

Hut re-awakens for Halloween….

Make a haunting date with eternal friends on October 31, 9 pm onwards at the re-awakened, relentlessly haunted, Hut of the Mount Lavinia Hotel (haunted since 1957). Partake of a spooky menu, cackle with eerie laughter and dance to the blood curdling melodies spun by DJ Shiran. Entrance Rs.750 for vampires. Entrance free to the feminine gender.

Quench your thirst with a blood-thirsty brew absolutely free.

Do not miss the horror of the re-awakening, on Friday 31st October at the Hut. For reservations call Kumari on 2711711 ext 430, before the moon rises.

International Day of Rural Women

The Women’s Wing of the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka celebrated International Day of Rural Women on October 15. The Chamber celebrated the event at Trans Asia Hotel which was attended by High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka, Shahdat Hossai.