Part 36
Anna was the first to recover her wits. She put her hand on Anus’ arm and said “Well, dear. It seems as if you have total control, finally. I think we should start by getting a check-list and then work through it. I think that this is going to be a fun year.”
I then put my thoughts into words, “Anu, I think that this is now not just a music show but is a spectacular. The only person I haven’t seen yet is our friendly director. He could be very handy to get the look and also to keep everyone in line.” Anu nodded and got his phone out to make the call. They chatted for a bit and he then told his friend what was going down and then looked at me and said “He wonders if his wife can join him” so I just said “It’s your call, you don’t have to ask anyone” and he blinked as the immensity of the situation came home. He seemed to grow slightly in stature and told the director that he could bring his wife for as long as she wanted. I gather the director asked how long the project would take and Anu laughed and said “All year, my friend, all year.”
I asked them to sit a while and went back out into the outer room, where everyone was in deep discussion. Jill and Joyce were just sitting and watching things swirl about them and I went over and sat next to them. “Girls” I said “I seem to remember that Birgitta told me that you both had been secretaries before you went over to being beauticians.” They both nodded so I asked “How would you like to be secretaries again, but at the centre of this extravaganza instead of on the outer?” Jill asked “What do you want us to do?” and I told her that we needed a PA for me and for Anu as we were now in charge of the whole tour, in effect, and we will need someone to note the thoughts and plans that were thrown up during our meetings and to keep us on track. They looked at each other and nodded, with Joyce saying “Do we get a raise?”
I laughed as I nodded and took them into the back room. I asked who the person was who could organise outfits for the two girls and he said that Sam, the hotel manager, would put things into place. I told Anu that now we had our own PAs and that, from lunch-time, the girls will be our shadows. Anna nodded and said “Good start, we will need to hit the deck running this afternoon.”
I then said “Anu, another thought. With guest singers, our line-up needs to be increased. I think that a couple of guitars and someone on keyboard will be needed for whatever they throw at us.” He nodded, saying “Good idea. I have one of my own if we do that. Why don’t we start the show as we did in England with ‘Nice to be here’ and you can open with me joining for the last verse with us singing the last lines together?”
We went back out in the outer room and Anu clapped his hands for silence. When he got it he said “Mr Singh has given Gayle and I total responsibility for the tour. Whatever we want will be supplied. We will want to have a bit of a brainstorming session this afternoon after we have seen the video so we would like you have a good think about what we need to do. Tomorrow we need to be well into getting the show on the road. Our best director is coming in to oversee the visual package and the show video. If anyone has any questions, come to me or Gayle or else Jill and Joyce here, who will be our eyes and ears for the next twelve months. Treat them well and they may reciprocate, treat them badly and you can pack your bags. We want to hit the road as one big happy family and it will work out. There will be no egos in this team and we will all benefit. Tell your crews, tell your friends. OK, let’s go and get lunch.”
We all went back to the hotel and I led the girls in search of Sam. When we found him I said “Sam, these girls are going to be PA for Anu and myself. Can you please organise them with suitable outfits and they will need a supply of notebooks, audio recorders and all the usual equipment.” He said Mr Singh had already spoken to him and that it will be arranged and he picked up his phone. We went up to our rooms to freshen up before lunch. As I was getting ready to go down, Gaurav came in and held me close, saying “I passed. I am now a bona fide actor! He told me that we will be on the big screen together.”
I kissed him and laughed with him. He was like a kid with a new toy. I told him that we were going to get the director in that did the elephant scene and that he will be in charge of the show visuals. I mentioned that he would also be doing the film next year so not to upset him. We went down to lunch and met up with Jill and Joyce, now decked out in pencil skirts and silk blouses, carrying a satchel each that I expected had everything that a good PA needed. Jill said “We decided that I will be with you and Joyce will be with Anudeep. They even supplied us with two-way radios so we can keep in touch while we are out. How cool is that?”
Gaurav asked “What did I miss?” and I told him that he will pick it up as he went along – but that I expected to be called Mistress Gayle from now on and laughed. The lunch was more jovial than previous meals I had experienced here and the mood carried through to the screening of the DVD. In the session following we decided that the show will start with ‘Nice to be here’, followed by a duet and then I would leave Anu on stage to do a range of his earlier songs that would end with a strong duet with Gaurav to close the first half. The second half would start with Gaurav and me singing one of our English duets and then we would welcome the local guest or guests. Anu would come back on stage and we had a choice then depending on who the guest was. They could duet or we could all sing a few of the later songs with us backing him. The final part of the show would be a medley of his greatest hits and, if an encore was needed, he said that a friend was writing something new as we spoke.
We put a line in the sand and said that the show will be two halves of an hour and a half each and that the final play-list would be arranged to suit the timing. If we had no guests, Gaurav and I would do solo numbers. The dancers would be used sparingly and it was thought that no more than six needed to be on stage at any one time. Someone suggested them hanging by ribbon drapes and it was taken on board depending on what each venue could supply. Bill was attached to a small sound and light crew and they left, that afternoon, to check out the Poona venue and the next three so that we were well informed. An erection crew was formed and would leapfrog us setting up and pulling down the venues as we moved around the country.
The following day we had been joined by the director, Ajay, and his wife Bimala. The new aide, Sabhya, re-joined us with a big box of ID cards on lanyards for us. We also had our extra band members, most of a popular group who had been volunteered to join us. Adorned with our lanyards that gave our names, positions and what access we had, we all went to the biggest sound stage. Anu and Ajay took a look at the set-up while Anna, Aganee and Bimala found seats, pulling some knitting out of their big bags. The keyboard, guitars and the Dhawanee instruments were on the stage, along with places for the orchestral guys. The conductor joined the other two and they had a bit more of a chat.
Ajay then called the stage hands over to move things around a bit and then did some sketches of things he wanted made for tomorrow. The new band members were played my version of ‘So nice to be here’ a couple of times and then we had a go at it. We had the two cello players doing the bass lines and the first run through didn’t sound as awful as I thought it would. As we repeated it, the other players started joining in and, by the fifth time it sounded pretty good. Damini was doing quiet dholak riffs and just about everyone was putting in. The director and conductor then asked if we could do it at concert level with Anu joining in and I must say I thought it was a good start to the show, seeing that a quarter of those on stage had never heard it before.
We left that for the moment and worked on the songs that we had played in the UK. This was straight forward and the other instrumentalist had been given the sheet music. The electric guys were good enough to have some input by the third take of each song. As they played it would gain more and none of us were worried about it being scrappy on the first day. Over the course of that first day we worked right through the first half. I thought that Gaurav acquitted himself well when he was up for his part, considering that this was the first time he was taking part in a show rehearsal.
While we played and sang, the dancers were trying out twirls and steps around us, which was odd at first but, as we got used to it, was strangely soothing. All the while everyone was making suggestions and things were discussed, Jill and Joyce keeping tabs on everything for future use.
Marianne G 2021
