The Merchants of Bollywood is an Australian

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

written and directed by Toby Gough. The show is about the history of the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film industry, and it is named after Hiralalji Merchant and his grand daughter

Vaibhavi Merchant Vaibhavi Merchant (born 17 December 1975) is an Indian dance choreographer working in Bollywood films. She won National Film Award for Best Choreography for the song ''Dholi Taaro Dhol Baaje'' from ''Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'' in 1999. Career ...

, two notable

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

s. The set and lighting design was by Liz Berry and the costumes were designed by Falguni Thakore and Bipin. The musical has been described as "an Indian version of the

Billy Elliot ''Billy Elliot'' is a 2000 British coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall. Set in County Durham in North East England during the 1984–1985 miners' strike, the film is about a working-class boy wh ...

story" and is choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant. It was the first ever

production to tour straight from

Film City Film City may refer to * Film City, Mumbai * Noida Film City * Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad * Prayag Film City The Prayag Film City, also known as the Midnapore Film City or Chandrakona Film City or Bengal film city is an i ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. When the show reached Australia in February 2008, there had been 400 performances seen by 500,000 patrons. The show toured the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, various parts of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and various parts of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Harvey Goldsmith

The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

music and arts promoter

Harvey Goldsmith Harvey Goldsmith (born 4 March 1946 in Edgware, Middlesex) is an English performing arts promoter. He is best known as a promoter of rock concerts, charity concerts, television broadcasts for the Prince's Trust and more recently the Teenage ...

presented a three-month tour of ''The Merchants of Bollywood'' in UK during 2006. The show's Premier was at the Alexandra Theatre

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

on 24 October 2006 and the final show of the UK tour took place at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

, London on 21 December 2006. A six-month tour of Europe followed in 2007.

2006 Tour Schedule

The Merchant of Bollywood
This is theatre *

Alexandra Theatre - 24 October to 4 November 2006 *

Manchester Opera House The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England, is a 1,920-seater commercial touring theatre that plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is a Grade II listed building. The Opera House is one of the mai ...

- 6 to 11 November 2006 *

Newcastle Upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Journal Tyne Theatre The Tyne Theatre and Opera House is a theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is a Grade I listed building ">/sup>, rated "in the top 4% of listed buildings" by English Heritage and is afforded a three star (the highest) rating by the Theat ...

- 13 to 17 November 2006 *

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Clyde Auditorium The SEC Armadillo (originally known as the Clyde Auditorium) is an auditorium located near the River Clyde, in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of three venues on the Scottish Event Campus, which includes the SEC Centre and the OVO Hydro.

- 20 to 26 November 2006 * Bradford St George's Hall - 28 November to 2 December 2006 *

Cambridge Corn Exchange Cambridge Corn Exchange is a concert venue located in Cambridge, England with a capacity up to 1,681 people. Construction The site, on the corner of Wheeler Street and Corn Exchange Street, was earmarked for a new Corn Exchange in 1868 to repla ...

- 5 to 9 December 2006 *

Wales Millennium Centre Wales Millennium Centre ( cy, Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 an ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

- 12 to 17 December 2006 * London

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

- 21 December 2006 to 7 January 2007

Notes

Publicity

Asian magazine AIM
Anon 7 July 2006

Anon 10 November 2008. Thisistheatre.com

Editors choice 18 December 2006. Ethnicnow.com

Arifa Akbar 7 July 2006. The Independent.com

Reviews

Perth Now (Australia) 13 February 2008
The Merchants of Bollywood
Richard Edmonds 27 October 2006. Stage review.
The Merchants of Bollywood
Mike Smith 18 December 2006. Theatreinwales.com

Kashif Naveed 7 November 2006. EntertaimnmentManchester.com
The Merchants of Bollywood
Sam Marlowe 23 December 2006. Thetimesonline.co.uk

External links