Getting cast in a Broadway musical is a milestone in itself. A dream come true for many musical-theatre aspirants.
True it requires heaps of talent, courage, tenacity and loads of luck.
Now to perform in the Broadway and emerging as a shining star is surely the next level! And to create and produce a musical that fits into the joie de vivre of Broadway plays itself is something spectacular, an awesome achievement. Yes, meet Jaspreet Singh Ahluwalia, Jazz to his friends–the Delhi boy who did just that.
Today, he sits patiently on the cusp of greatness with his Turban D– a musical that centers around the character ‘Kewal Singh’. Kewal is a Sikh boy with big dreams of making it big in Bollywood. The musical talks about his journey in tinsel town, the changes, the rejections, the struggles, little victories, dance, drama, love… all this and much more!
The idea behind the project is to address the stereotypes that society has formed. Where talent, passion, experience, knowledge and hard work should decide your future, sometimes elements like color, religion and aesthetics play a bigger role, says Jaspreet in an exclusive chat with ABO.
‘’Turban’d – The Musical – is a 90 minute production aimed to thrill the audiences with every element of drama, humour, excitement and passion. It is inspired by the very foundation of Broadway musicals and aims to take the tradition to India to get a new avatar and spread its wings into the world soon, ’says the 28 –year old strapping Sikh from Delhi. It is inspired by the very foundation of Broadway musicals and aims to take the tradition to India to get a new Avatar and spread its wings into the world soon adds Jaspreet aka Jazz.
More than two years of New York has Jazz humbled. The story of Turban’d – The Musical, is actually very close to his heart something born out of his experiences as a Sikh living in New York. The musical has bits and pieces of his actual experiences in life in the megapolis of which he is thankful for, as they have inspired to set him on this journey that he believes is his first true calling in life.
From the moment he stepped onto the Big Apple, he performed various shows all over which was highly appreciated not only for his talents, but also his intense understanding of stagecraft and production. He travelled to the Virgin Islands, Indianapolis, Portland and many more cities and gained exposure. He helped design and run light and sound for various events, taught in well-known schools in Jersey City and performed in huge cultural events as well.
Some of his early success were at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands for “Bollywood Night” – An annual celebration; studied behind the stage techniques with some ex-Cirque du Soleil artist – Las Vegas, Nevada; Long Island – for various Bollywood Shows, APAP – Manhattan, New York City, Diwali at Hoboken – Jersey City, Holi Hai 2016 – Exchange Place, Jersey City, Annual Hindi Language Promotion event – General Consulate of India, New York City to name a few.
‘’Right from being an impressionable youngster I had always been inspired by musical theatre’’ says Jazz. He recalls the days when at New Delhi, India, studying in the Springdale’s School, his Alma Mate had given him the first break through their extensive annual showcases every winter and soon, he took the flight to replicate famous musicals and Disney movies into reality with students from Modern School, Barakhamba and The Heritage School, Gurgaon all in New Delhi.
‘’Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, Tangled, Frozen, Stomp and Footloose are some of the productions I have replicated at a large scale in these schools and has been widely appreciated,’’ says the unassuming Sikh.
Early Days: At school he was popular more as a singer. Having sung with Harshdeep Kaur and Akriti Kakkar (successful Bollywood playback singers now), his voice was always heard in the notes he hit. Dancing came in much later and so did acting.
‘’I had to work most on dancing as it helped me find new ways of expressing emotions, purely through the form of movement.’’ Says Jazz. Soon he realised, any form of art has to be presented in a tasteful manner to be called an art. He started exploring his ways through light design by sharing the platform with the very well renowned Bollywood choreographer – Ashley Lobo. Soon he found help under the guiding light of some of the best international teachers, Mr Anthony Noah – Ballet, USA; Mr. Tino Sanchez – Modern Jazz, Spain, Ms. Maria Teresa – Contemporary, USA; Mr. Gabor Sziraky – Ballet, Hungary; Ms Janet Reed – Afro Jazz, USA.
It was during a selection of artists for a new musical at Kingdom of Dreams, when his mentor decided that Jaspreet was not aesthetically fit for the musical production in the year 2011. This set back also was his first inspiration giving birth to Turban’D took that would eventually grow later. Earlier this year, when he attended some classes with Michelle Barber, he was appreciated for his dancing abilities and intricate musicality.
“I felt the fear of the unknown, but soon when I started dancing, Michelle called me in the front of the class and said, “India, come here”, only not knowing my name until then since it was my first class. I will always remember that moment and will forever have a special place for Michelle in my heart.”
“From being a student, to a dancer, then a choreographer/singer/actor, to a teacher and now to a director of a musical theatre production, my journey might have been slow, but I know I’m on the right path and I believe in what I’m doing,” says Jazz.
Future plans:
After touring with Turban’D – The Musical, hopefully all across the world, Jaspreet plans to take various social issues and convert them into musicals to spread a more fun way of learning the simplicity we often forget.
“We have all come to a stage in life where we have forgotten our roots and the simple source of everything we do. Happiness might come through every medium we deem right, but happiness through connecting with humans is diminishing. “United we stand, divided we fall” – these simple words have answers to every problem the world faces right now. Everyone has a message to share, a lesson to teach, an experience to educate others and guide their way into a happier life. My way of doing my share is through musical theatre.
Turban’d is my dream production right now, but I not just want to educate people about superficial differences; the actual source of creating those differences lies in our minds. I want to try and inspire people to cleanse their thoughts, and what better way to start than from something that’s close to my heart. In the years to come, with the love and support of all my friends, family, fans and critics, I aspire to collaborate with everyone i can to simply spread happiness through performing arts. I will forever be a learner, for i am merely a human just like you,” that’s the message Jazz gives his readers.
Finally about his magnum opus– Turban’D ‘’ the production will be premièred in India first. Sadly due to lack of sponsors I cannot launch an off-Broadway production as of now. It took me about 18 months to get its script and music ready. The music album will soon be ready and I will have to get it copyrighted and then launch it. Although, I am already talking to producers in New York to put it up on an off-Broadway scale in the coming year.’’