THE management of National Troupe of Nigeria got more than it bargained for last Saturday at the National Theatre, as invited guests to the compilation of folk and highlife tunes, Rhythms and Reminiscences, did not just sit, relax, and enjoy the show, but seized different parts of the cinema hall two where the show held and in twosmale and femaledancing their hearts out to the evergreen tunes from legends such as Victor Olaiya, Bobby Benson, Cardinal Rex Lawson, E.T Mensah as rendered by a 59man band comprising 48 singers, eight instrumentalists, one pianist and two saxophonists, which the Troupe assembled for the show directed by Dapo Omideyi and co-directed by the ethnomusicologist, actor and film producer, Femi Ogunrombi.As the band moved from one hit tune to the other, guests shoved their frames from side to side and joined in the chorus. They sang out loud when the band performed Ilu le, one of Olaiyas evergreen songs about the economic melt down of the 80s.The loudness of their response got the lead singers, at some point, to give the audience opportunity to lead in the rendition. This song is still relevant till today, screamed one of the excited audience, who danced all through the session dedicated to highlife music.The atmosphere got really charged up again when the band rendered two hit tracks from the highlife legend (Omo Pupa and Baby Jowo).But for the fact that each rendition was timed, the band would have played Omo Pupa longer because the audience kept routing for it even when music changed Lawsons Sa Wale.But the show stopper for the evening which also featured the rendition of folk songs like Isantim (Efik folk song), Ose Va (Edo folk song), Densu (Ghanaian folk song); a comic performance by an emerging comedian SLK, a performance by the Afro-pop singing sensation Zule Zoo of Africa and a skit by members of the newly recruited core artistes of the National Troupe (the outcome of their month long training programme) was the rendition of Lawson most performed hit song Love Adure.Performed by the Bongolypso crooner, Pius Amolo the song got everybody in the hall including the artistic director of the Troupe Martin Adaji, and his wife Susan to the dance floor.Those who couldnt help it, made it to the stage and it was fun to see them move to the rhythm of the song especially at the point when the singer pepped up the song with like this, like that and to the left and to the right.Performed in Ibo, Love Adure has become something of an African music standard and has been remade numerous times by artistes such as Zubby Enebeli. So, it was not a surprise that it was able to ginger the kind of excitement it generated among the different class of people at the show.Also, it was Amolos beautiful rendition and dance steps that were very much in sync with the rhythm that enhanced the songs appeal.Former Chairman of Lagos State chapter of National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), Deji Etiwe, described the evening as thrilling and rewarding.He commended the management of the troupe for putting up such a musical show. I totally enjoyed the evening and Im sure the feeling is general because you can see that people are still humming the songs as they are leaving. Some of us were even asking for more. I think the selection of songs is good. I also like the fact that they had a lot of comic breaks and dancing as well. I think this is the best way to end a long election break and Easter break and this is hoping that the troupe will keep it up and help us at NANTAP to keep the stage alive, he saidMrs. Chika Onyia, a music teacher, described the show as engaging and well produced. I think they did a good job in their selection of songs and the way they were rendered were appealing. I also like the energy of the choristers and the fact that they could dance very well to all the songs they rendered. It is not all the time that you find choristers who could sing and dance so strongly as those folks did and still kept on singing. I like the lighting of the show. It helped to enhance the show. It allowed for easy entry and exit. Though a lot more work has to be done on a few of the singers because some of them who led the songs lacked clarity. We could hardly hear them. On the whole, it was a good show by all standards.Earlier, Artistic Director of the Troupe, Adaji had explained that the performance was the first in the series of performances lined up for the year.He hinted that the troupe would in June commence auditions and rehearsals for its first major stage production for the year titled Ojomolami.Established by decree No 47 of 1991 (the same decree that established the National Theatre), the National Troupe is a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation.
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