Raves on "Adeus" in New Jersey Thanks very much - Jimmy Fernandes - New York and Silviano Barboza (Toronto), Canada for your raves on the performance in New Jersey of the well known Konkani Tiatr - "Adeus" by Toronto's Raymond - aka Jnr. Menezes and his 33 plus compatriots from the Canadian metropolis.
As expected, that was high class konkani tiatr with Jnr. using his varied skills to blend the special effects that held many new comers to the Konkani arena- "spellbound". His intertwining of English with the mainly Konkani script-aimed at non-konkani speakers- was very effective. Some 350 plus attendees from New Jersey, New York city, Long Island, the Peekskill area in UpState New York and a few from neighboring states attended the show at the Parish Center of Peace Church in North Brunswick- a 40-minute drive from New York city. It was organized by the Goan Association of New Jersey (GOANJ). This is the first time in north-eastern USA that an event other than a dance or picnic in New Jersey or New York has attracted so many people- many of whom were first time attendees at a Konkani tiatr. I emceed the event with Brenda Fernandes of New Jersey and Aurita Dias from Long Island- ( ex Carmona and Betalbatim in Salcete, Goa)- catering to the Konkani speakers. There were a great appendage. When introducing Jnr. I "lifted" some info from Silviano's great review of the October 13 performance in Toronto. In the process of my introduction, I surprised Silviano's wife- Sera whose performance as a gaudim was hilarious and sent the audience to great laughters. It was gratifying to note that your son - Glenn was a member of the Stage Crew. Jnr included kids in the show as he stressed that their presence added some flavor. This is something for parents in the diaspora to emulate- i.e. getting kids to appreciate our rich cultural heritage. I was also attempting to link the Konkani play as an attestment to those goans who sacrificed their lives to ensure that Konkani would be the lingua franca of the Goans- culminating in the 1989 recognition of Konkani as the Official State language of Goa State. The performers unfortunately had to grapple with a stage that lacked "depth" - a great hindrance against a backdrop of state of the art stage effects. Jnr. was obviously very disappointed with this anomaly, but as he modestly said that he and members of troupe would make the best of what was available.( New Jersey, unfortunately has great restrictions in acquiring wide and "deep" stages). Before the main show and immediately after the interval, three groups from New Jersey and one each from Long Island and Peekskill in New York State "showcased" local talent. Many attendees were surprised to note the "hidden" skills. At the end of show, I asked Jnr if he will perform again in New Jersey; once again he modestly answered that it will all depend on New Jersey's Minguel Barretto - his childhood friend from his ancestral village in Quepem, Salcete- where he first staged the play- and the GOANJ President - Felix Menezes. Minguel and Felix spearheaded the idea of bring the troupe - against a backdrop of complex logistics and financial constraints. After presenting their proposals to the GOANJ Planning Committee ( of which I am a member with my wife- Edna), it was agreed to go ahead with the trip. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com DeleteReplyForwardSpamMove... Previous | Next | Back to Messages Save Message Text | Full Headers __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com