Aditya Chopra’s Come Fall in Love – The DDLJ Musical, a new version of his iconie film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ), had a spectacular opening night at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Receiving a rousing standing ovation, the show is well on its way to a brilliant run at the classic theatre.
In Come Fall in Love – The DDLJ Musical, director Aditya Chopra, who is making his directing debut for the theatre, takes a fresh and exciting new look at his hit famous film, renewing it for a new generation and in a new format. With an American audience in mind, he moves the action of the early scenes to America and not England as in the film. He focuses the story more precisely on Simran’s experience, adding gravity and power to her journey. Chopra said, “Come Fall In Love is the story of Simran, an Indian American. She’s at the center of the musical tale as she struggles to balance her love for Indian tradition and her family with her love for Roger. He is a white American man who falls madly in love with Simran and falls in love with her culture and our country. He aspires towards India and find a new version of himself in India’s energy values in a way of life.”
Check out these cool pictures before opening night as Shoba Narayan, Austin Colby and the entire cast of Come Fall In Love perform puja before the curtain rises on the first show.
Aditya Chopra directs a cast of 30, which includes Shoba Narayan as Simran (Broadway’s Disney’s Aladdin as Princess Jasmine), Austin Colby as Rog Mandel (North American Tour of Disney’s Frozen the Musical as Hans, Off-Broadway’s Jersey Boys as Bob Gaudio), Irvine Iqbal as Baldev (West End’s Disney’s Aladdin as The Sultan), Rupal Pujara as Lajjo (Walnut Street Theatre’s In the Heights), Vishal Vaidya as Ajit (Encore’s Road Show), Siddharth Menon as Kuljt (India’s Disney’s Aladdin as Aladdin), ), Kate Loprest as Emily “Minky” Soulard (Broadway’s First Date, Hairspray), Juice Mackins as Ben (Broadway’s The Prom), Hannah Jewel Kohn as Cookie (North American Tour of Disney’s Frozen The Musical), Jeremy Kushnier as Roger Mandel, Sr. (Broadway’s Footloose as Ren McCormack, Rent as Roger Davis), Amita Batra as Ensemble (Amit Patel & Ishika Seth’s Unearthed: Untold Stories of the Ramayana), Neha Dharmapuram as Ensemble (M.S. in Marketing Intelligence from Fordham University), Tiffany Engen as Ensemble (Broadway’s Legally Blonde), Rohit Gijare as Ensemble (Bollywood Blvd at Lincoln Center), Marc A. Heitzman as Ensemble (Broadway’s Bandstand), Usman Ali Ishaq as Ensemble (Signature Theatre’s RENT), Nika Lindsay as Ensemble (North American Tour of Disney’s Frozen The Musical), Ilda Mason as Ensemble (West Side Story directed by Steven Spielberg), Caleb Mathura as Ensemble (Jesus Christ Superstar at Timber Lake Playhouse), Meher Mistry as Ensemble (India’s Disney’s Beauty and the Beast as Belle), Shannon Mullen as Ensemble (Broadway’s A Bronx Tale), Shahil Patel as Ensemble (Off-Broadway’s Fairycakes), Zain Patel as Ensemble (La Jolla Playhouse’s Bhangin’ It: A Bangin’ New Musical), Becca Petersen as Ensemble (Broadway’s Mean Girls), Kinshuk Sen as Ensemble (Much Ado About Nothing at UCLA’s Shakespeare Theater Company), Jack Sippel as Ensemble (Broadway’s The Prom), Michael Starr as Ensemble (First National Tour of Bright Star), Geatali Tampy as Ensemble (Bollywood Blvd at Lincoln Center), and Sonya Venugopal as Ensemble (Musical Theatreworks’ Evita.
In addition to Aditya, Ashford, Benjamin, Dadlani & Ravjiani, the Come Fall in Love – The DDLJ Musical creative team includes set design by Emmy and Tony Award winner Derek McLane (MJ The Musical, Moulin Rouge!, Hairspray Live!), costume design by Tony Award winner Linda Cho (A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder), lighting design by five-time Tony Award nominee Japhy Wiedeman (Dear Evan Hansen, The Visit), sound design by Tony Award winner Jessica Paz (Hadestown), projection design by Akhila Krishhnan (National Theatre’s Our Generation), music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by David Holcenberg (MJ The Musical, Matilda The Musical), music direction by Ted Arthur (Broadway’s Diana), associate director, Stephen Sposito (Broadway’s The Book of Mormon, Wicked), associate choreographer Shruti Merchant (Dhoom 1, 2 and 3), casting is by Duncan Stewart of Stewart/Whitley casting (Hadestown, Chicago The Musical) and Yash Raj Films casting head Shanoo Sharma (Ek Tha Tiger, Gunday, Fan), and production stage manager Anjee Nero (Almost Famous, The Heart of Rock & Roll).
Mr. Chopra said, “In making a new ‘DDLJ’ for a new moment and a new audience, I’ve departed from some aspects of the film that our fans revere. But I believe that the heart of ‘Come Fall In Love’ beats with everything that is essential in ‘DDLJ’ even as it speaks, sings, and dances to this moment, in a different place and time, with hope, optimism, and love.”
Set to run through October 16th at The Old Globe, Come Fall in Love- The DDLJ Musical will then move on to Broadway.
To find out more and get tickets: http://theoldglobe.org/comefallinlove