Sing De Chorus returns

IN commemoration of Calypso History Month, the most successful calypso musical ever, Rawle Gibbons’ Sing De Chorus, directed by Louis McWilliams, returns to the stage after 27 years.

The highly-acclaimed musical is a salute to calypso’s golden age of the 1930s, and will feature Chuck Gordon as Siparia Kid, David Bereaux as King Radio and Lil Bits as Mathilda, all backed by Marva Newton & The La Cou Kaiso Band.

For Bereaux, he is excited about being in the lead role as King Radio who runs the calypso tent and led fellow calypsonians in their struggles with the government. He said: “I am honoured and privileged to have the chance to do it.”

Bereaux was part of the original cast as an understudy to Errol Jones, who played the inspector general, and actually played the role in 1991. He continued in that role in 1992 in the second part of the trilogy, Ah Wanna Fall, and in 1993, played the lead role as Sparrow in Ten To One.

“Now, I have the opportunity to play the lead and I feel quite privileged. It’s an exciting young cast and it’s really exciting to see how things are unfolding.”

Bereaux added that the current cast is different from the original one and comes with subtle differences in the story.

The event is being presented by Canboulay Productions in collaboration with the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies.

Some 13 performances of Sing De Chorus will be held at four different locations over the four weekends this month. The premiere takes place tomorrow, during the gala launch at the Central Bank Auditorium, Port of Spain, and performances continue through to Sunday.

The musical will then move to venues in south and east Trinidad.

It is expected that the production will generate the same intense excitement with which audiences embraced it when it played to packed audiences at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, back in 1991.

Organisers also believe in the power of this production to communicate the history of calypso to today’s generation in a way that inspires, educates and entertains.

The story of Sing de Chorus is set in a calypso tent and features 40 of the best calypsoes, mainly from the 1930s. The narrative takes the audience into the early years of calypso and draws from the historical record of Trinidad society and the lives of leading calypsonians of the time.

The production had great reviews when it last played 27 years ago, including one from well-known critic Jeremy Taylor who said: “It became the most important event of the Carnival season, something that has to be built upon now, as a deliberate act of repossession,” while a calypso fan simply stated: “It was the best show of the Carnival 1991 season… I would like to see it again…. I also hope that many aspiring calypsonians would see the show and learn something.”