Rumi: The Musical

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Rumi: The Musical
MusicDana Al Fardan, Nadim Naaman
LyricsDana Al Fardan, Nadim Naaman
Book Nadim Naaman
Setting13th-century Konya, Turkey
Premiere23 November 2021: London Coliseum, London

Rumi: The Musical is a musical with music and lyrics by Dana Al Fardan and Nadim Naaman and a book by Naaman. [1] The show is based on a story by Evren Sharma and follows the relationship 13th century poet Rumi and his mentor Shams Tabrizi. [2] [3] The show premiered on 23 and 24 November 2021 as a semi-staged concert at the London Coliseum. [3]

Contents

Production

The 2021 London Coliseum production was directed by Bronagh Lagan and choreographed by Anjali Mehra. [2] Music was provided by a 29-piece orchestra. [4]

In December 2022 the show was staged as part of the 2022 D'reesha Performing Arts Festival in Qatar. [5] This version was cut down to a one hour long concert. [6]

Plot

Despite his loving family in Konya, Rumi yearns to find a spiritual companion ("Find My Guide"). He meets Shams Tabrizi, but their relationship incites jealousy with some of Rumi's followers ("Mad Man"). Meanwhile, Rumi's stepdaughter Kimya has fallen in love with his son, Aladdin, and the two wait for the right time to inform their parents ("When"). [7]

Rumi ultimately arranges a marriage between Shams and Kimya, leading Kimya to commit suicide. [8]

Songs

In June 2021 a concept album for the show was released. [9] By November 2021 the album had received over 100,000 streams on Spotify. [1] The show's lyrics are partially derived from Rumi's poetry. [10] [11]

Cast

Concept Album [9] 2021 London Coliseum [3] 2022 Qatar [5]
RumiNadim Naaman
Shams Tabrizi Ramin Karimloo
Kimya Casey Al-Shaqsy
Kara Soophia Foroughi
Sultan Valed Sharif Afifi
AladdinAhmed Hamad [12]
Husam Irvine Iqbal
Sayyed Alim Jayda Benjamin Armstrong [12]

Reception

Broadway World gave the show a positive review, noting that although there were some pacing issues in the first act, the cast was very strong. [1] Theatre Weekly also noted pacing issues, but praised the show's "powerful score". [13]

The New Arab noted how Rumi's poetry had been interwoven with the show's music, but felt that the secondary characters and their relationships were largely underdeveloped, and that some of the acting felt static. [7] TRT World also criticized the show for underdevelopment of its female characters, for basing the work on a story rather than sticking closer to historical accounts, and for a "confusing" plot. [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Grundy, Abbie. "Review: RUMI: THE MUSICAL, London Coliseum". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  2. 1 2 Gans, Andrew (23 November 2021). "World Premiere of Rumi: The Musical, Starring Ramin Karimloo and Nadim Naaman, Begins November 23". Playbill. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Rumi: The Musical, Starring Ramin Karimloo and Nadim Naaman, Gets World Premiere in London". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  4. ↑ "First look at Ramin Karimloo and the cast of Rumi The Musical in rehearsals". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  5. 1 2 "Rumi: The Musical to be performed at the 2022 D'reesha Performing Arts Festival". ILoveQatar.net. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  6. ↑ "Rumi: The Musical to enchant audiences at D'reesha Festival". thepeninsulaqatar.com. 2022-12-12. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  7. 1 2 Flint, Hanna (2021-11-25). "Despite strong casting, 'Rumi: The Musical' fails to impress". www.newarab.com/. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  8. 1 2 "Searching for Mawlana, 'our master,' in 'Rumi: The Musical'". www.trtworld.com. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  9. 1 2 3 Rabinowitz, Chloe. "World Premiere Concept Recording of RUMI: THE MUSICAL Featuring Ramin Karimloo & More to be Released This Friday". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  10. ↑ "Odds & Ends: Billy Porter's Gospel Musical Sanctuary to Stream This Summer & More". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  11. ↑ Manzoor, Sarfraz (2021-11-09). "'We're taking the man out of the myth': the musical reclaiming Rumi from Instagram". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  12. 1 2 Jamal, Urooba. "Authentic Rumi on a London theatre". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  13. ↑ Barrett, Nicola (2021-11-23). "Review: Rumi The Musical at The London Coliseum". Theatre Weekly. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
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