Kirya serves a sound cup of orchestra

On Thursday, Maurice Kirya surprised many when he decided to program the Kampala Music School in the first ever Orchestra live concert at the Sound Cup café and the building.
Directed by Kiggundu Fredrick Musoke, the group whose set was only cut short by grand piano which I assume they could hardly ship to the location played their hearts out.
Classical music has never been a mainstream thing in many countries, despite being the oldest genre, it is been referred as a type only favored by the richer people of the society.
The marvelous music at the Sound Cup was mostly from films like classical Sound of Music, Star Wars and James Bond chronicles.
Given the beauty of such pieces and the performance delivered by the orchestra, it wasn’t surprising that the Garden City floor that harbours Kirya was filled to the brim, it even became worse that some had to go to the topmost floors to watch the magic.
They opened with various numbers from the movie Sound of Music, being a Christmas favorite over the years; it was a wise decision considering fears that many of those in attendance may not have been ready to accommodate very hard classical music.
The very beginning of the music could have easily fooled many into believing the group had started off in a wrong key, but the consistency and the constant interludes by the three guys on the trumpets proved it was all intentional, it was easy listening but not that involving.
In fact, it was 1959’s My favorite things that pulled heart strings even of the nonmusical guests, the song has been redone various times by Julie Andrews as Maria in the Sound of Music in 1965, The Supremes, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and the Glee cast among others.
Written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, the orchestra may have taken many on the memory lane as they pulled off this classic. Mostly infused in between various violins, trumpets and a piano; the double bass summed it up by creating a warm sound that easily settled and talked to us.
Overture has been a hit especially with the classic TV show Lone Ranger and BBC’s Adventures of William Tell. Italian composer Giachino Rossini wrote this music in 1829, for many first timers though, it channels the famous war sound of the Universal Studios theme by Jerry Goldsmith, thus, when they started playing it, the excitement was visible only to realize it was merely a similarity.
Later as they ended the show, an encore of Overture was requested for which they did. Other songs played included Nella Fantasia from The Mission, Waltz from The sleeping beauty…generally much of the music done was from movies.
Uganda having very many football fans, you could expect them to slot in some Zadok the Priest sample which forms the champions League theme song – that didn’t happen.
There was a general consensus that Kampala Music School had nailed it, Maurice Kirya had taken some strides to do what Club Silk’s Unplugged has failed to do as well as Kampala’s music lovers learning to embrace all forms of music.

Much Ado offers Shakespeare’s soft side

Last week, National Theatre was under some love spell as William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing was staged.
The collaborative production by Kampala Amateur Dramatics Society (KADS) and UK-based Les Foules theatre Company revolves around the relationship of two of Shakespeare’s finest characters – the charming and witty Benedick (Brian Emurwon) who has sworn never to get married, and his equal, Beatrice (Giselle Gant), who complains that no man will ever match up to the required standard to become her husband.
Then there is the marriage of the young Claudio (Douglas Sebamala) to the lovely Hero (Gladys Oyenbot).
Under the direction of Nathalie Adlam and Peter Weildmann, the cast delivers to the auditorium’s expectations.
The music, stage, costumes and storyline gave National Theatre a Broadway feel.
Wherever this play has been staged around the world, the chemistry between Benedick and Beatrice has taken the driving seat; this time round, Claudio and Hero were a force to reckon with.
They cast them beautifully; Sebamala being such a courageous actor and Oyenbot a great completion to the puzzle.
However, it seems the other couple was still created to be stronger. Giselle simply gave her best performance.

Gisselle's impressive Beatrice

Costumes must have been the strongest point of the production especially with the way they maintained an eighteenth century feel coupled with a modern inspiration.
The music too was on point with a mixture of classic music and famous African songs like Davido’s Aye.
This production could have been flawless if it wasn’t for the Shakespeare English that gets ‘too English’ at times.
There were many times we were lost in translation of what a character really meant, yet changing such rich lines could easily affect the emotions and meanings of a line, thus we had to hang in there.
The play was well oiled with a supporting cast that included Samuel Lutaaya, Diana Kahunde, Jackson Dre Otim, Yusuf Kaija and Flora Aduk among others.
Best of the bunch must have been Lutaaya, whose spirited performance as a sly match maker Don Pedro was very impressive.

Sound Cup: Orchestra in a coffee cup

Photo credit: The American Prize

Kampala Music School will tomorrow evening be playing at Maurice Kirya's Sound Cup.
we've probably heard a lot about the school but little about what happens there. Well, they teach music in all forms; from intruments to vocals, music is indeed their thing.
Tomorrow, they will be playing mostly classical with a full orchestra.
This is the first time in Uganda that Orchestra will be playing in a restaurant. Like all the shows that have been held there, this too is free.
Earlier this year, Maurice Kirya started what would be his version of unplugged at his cafe, he has since had artistes like Irene Ntale, Richy Kaweesa, Michael Kitanda as well as unveiling his Kirya Live DVDs.

Shakespeare's epic comedy to grace theater

Much Ado About Nothing is comedy play by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599 as he was approaching the mid of his career.
It’s considered as one of the author’s best comedies because it combines elements of vigorous glee with serious meditations on honor, shame, and court politics.
Tomorrow at the National Theater, Kampala Amateur Dramatics society (KADS) in partnership with UK-based Les Foules theatre Company will bring the classic to life in a show that will run till 5th.
The story has two main themes. First, the relationship of two of Shakespeare’s finest characters – the charming and witty Benedick who has sworn never to get married, and his equal, Beatrice, who complains that no man will ever match up to the required standard to become her husband. Second, the marriage of the young gentleman Claudio to the lovely Hero.
KADS looks back at more than 50 years history of producing a wide range of plays and musicals in Uganda.
They have previously staged musicals, poetry and Broadway shows.
Much Ado About nothing comes back with a great cast of Samuel Lutaaya, Douglas Sebamala, Brian Emurwon, Gladys Oyenbot, Yusuf Kaija, Diana Kahunde and Flora Aduk among others.
The play that features modern dress, music, dance and innovative staging techniques is directed by Peter Wiedmann and Nathalie Adlam of the Les Foules theatre Company.
It will be staged in five performances from starting tomorrow at 7:30pm. Other show times are October 3rd 7.30pm, 4th 2 shows, 3pm and 7.30pm, October 5th 4pm. 
Ticket prices-Adults- Shs20,000, Students Shs 15,000.

Maddox still has it

Three names come up when the reggae music genre in Uganda is mentioned, Maddox SSematimba, Bebe Cool and Henry Tigan.
Bebe Cool is the self-proclaimed King of reggae; Maddox is indeed the legendary King of reggae, while Henry Tigan was at one time the promised prince of the genre.
For reasons the article won’t look at, both Tigan and Maddox fell off the clif and we even forgot their sweet melodies.
Many stories have since then been written about the two but because the Bayimba International Festival recognizes authentic art regardless of the negative publicity, the two were lined up to close the prestigious celebration last month.
This was a chance the two had to reinvent themselves.
According to Faisal Kiwewa, Director Bayimba Foundation, he chose to programme Tigan after listening to one of his songs during the sixth festival in 2013. He later added Maddox after a string of bad stories were done about him.
“He said he’s been frustrated by guys that give him bad contracts, but if there’s one, he would be available,” Kiwewa said about Maddox.
Henry Tigan took to the stage first. For some reason, straight from his presence, something was amiss with Tigan.
May be his performance was choreographed and produced by a person that hated him! The way his band and backup singers made it to the stage exhibited that exceptional lack of talent.
Then they started performing, it was clear they didn’t reherse and were afraid of the crowd. His backup singers had already turned into his bodyguards looking at microphones with a certain sneer; “whose mic is this?”
Revelers too bored, left Tigan and his stage to enjoy things else where at the festival.
After an agonizing sixty minutes of Tigan, and fears that Maddox could be backstage getting higher and eventually fail to perform, he was finally announced.
Clad in a denim coat and a threaded hood, David Maddox Semanda Ssematimba (yes heclaimed they are all his names) took to the stage, armed with a guitar and backed by an all reggae Blood Brothers band, he started off by decorating the microphone with a Rastafarian scurf.
From the top Maddox’s vocals were spot on, he coordinated well with the band and didn’t waste time to do speeches like many local artistes do.
Besides a few flaws like one of his backup singers flatting on a chorus, Maddox was the Lord, Even people that had escaped to the silent Disco, Santuri DJ stage all left to come and watch the legend perform.

That’s actually when activity elsewhere halted – I guess till the next festival…
He went on a hit after hit rollercoster with Tukolagane, Nakatude, Omuyimbi and Irene among others. He’s not lost any bit of his showmanship thus, dude may be high on whatever, but he still sounds as fresh as Sunday.
You could think it was a cassette playing, just that this sound was in HD,3D and 5D combined, he kept the crowd on its feet as he made them wait for Namagembe (call it the Ugandan version of Johnny).
The moment the band started playing the song, National Theater packing lot went wild, they sang word by word of Namagembe oliwa….. at that moment, Maddox had not only registered a comeback but had made one of the most successful closures of Bayimba and as well assuming titles like Dr, President and Big Size of Ugandan Music.