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| Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
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Jingletastic by Umangi de Mel
And of course Christmas is finally here!!! Decor has once again come out of their boxes, and christmas songs are on air. Concerts are being staged... but with a different beat. Difference is always nice... A difference that brings together the whole family as an interactive audience. Vinodh Senadheera's Christmas musical called 'Jingletastic' is a combination traditional of both modern and traditional Christmas songs that also include, poetry and extracts from pop songs like the Prayer and Beauty and the Beast. The concept of a family Christmas concert has been put together by Vinodh, Chaminda Samaraweera and George Kennedy right after their last show 'Prince and Drums!'
A lot of singing, three instrumentals called the Jingletastic medley and even poetry that'll be provided with background music, the guys seem determined to make it as fruitful as possible. Their idea of having a family Christmas concert is mainly to make sure everyone enjoys the music and not just one particular group. "We've transforming the Russian Centre, the venue of the concert into a place where as soon as one enters will feel the magic of Christmas in every nook and corner. We are planning to decorate the garden and keep our fingers crossed about the weather. Every kid under the age of ten will get a present and everyone will be served coffee and cake in the garden," they talk about their plans. The group includes Vinodh on Clarinova, George on guitar, Chaminda on drums and percussion (the three of them having their own three piece called the 'Ensemble') Dian Fernando on vocals for most of the songs, Shenali Peris on vocals who'll sing a medley of songs and Dilesh Dias on poetry while soloists from the Thomian choir such as Anushka and Aviska Samarasinghe, Dinal & Dion Dias, Niran de Mel will also join the group. "In adition, Dilan Foxx, Dilhani Perera, Bhagyani Benedict with her choir called 'Joshaya' also will sing at the concert. The literature part of it will be handled by Suki Goonetilleke. The concert will be sponsored by DelAir events and actually the funds from the concert will be donated a St. Francis boy's home at Minuwangoda. Attempting to create an atmosphere which could be a little alien to the Sri Lankan audience, Vinodh and the guys say that they want to break the formal way that Christmas concerts are generally done and make it very lively and interactive. "This type of thing is very common in other countries. But it's the first time we are doing something like this in Sri Lanka. The audience will have to wear Christmas hats. Hope they appreciate it." Working hard towards a different goal they say that having done many shows together, it's fun experiencing different aspects of drama and theatre. Talking about the show, Chaminda says having worked with Vinodh on many other shows, that there was always an improvement each time they do a concert, "And I like the different concept. Unlike other X-mas concerts where Christmas carols are being played one after another, 'Jingletastic' will be quite a surprise. It caters to three categories and this has been done to capture everyone's attention and not to stick to a particular group." He adds that he's using a lot of percussion instruments, "No one's restricted, we are allowed to do whatever we like. It was rather hectic producing and composing music while studying and schooling. Nevertheless we're satisfied with the result." George says that it's his first X-mas concert, "it's not the usual X-mas concert where you do the same old traditional things. It's lighter and very innovative. Even the practice sessions have been fun. Vinodh's helping us a lot. Specially when it's been very hard to get the people since the most of them are working. Nevertheless everyone's pretty committed." |
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Christmas time, mistletoe and wine, 
'The show is divided into three segments such as adults, teens and
children. It's almost like 'piano & drums' but again we're doing it our
way with a collection of percussion instruments. It's going to be totally
different to what you normally hear on radio' the group says. 
