What an absolute delight it was to be invited to the launch event of Bhangra Nation – A New Musical. This brand-new show follows the story of Mary and Preeti, whose college Bhangra team qualifies for the USA Nationals. Through the lens of musical comedy, we watch these characters go on a journey of self-discovery, shown through the varying Indian and Western dance forms.

The launch event for this exciting new show was held at The Rep Theatre in the heart of Birmingham, where Bhangra Nation will premiere on Saturday 17^th February. Catering was provided by the well-respected restaurant chain Dishoom, serving an array of delicious treats throughout the night. Upon arrival, we were welcomed with a steaming cup of spiced chia and enjoyed the small plate dishes of Bombay street-food classics.

It is clear from this performance how much passion and love has gone into the musical

We were then lucky to be treated to a small snippet of the musical, performed by the main cast. The singing and dancing was energetic and wonderful to watch, and it is clear from this performance how much passion and love has gone into the musical. There must be special recognition given to the highly-respected musician Kuljit Bhamra, who played the tabla, and Parv Kaur, who played the dhol. They created such an upbeat atmosphere in the theatre, with some of the audience dancing along to their compelling sound!

The well-known Satnam Rana then gave a wonderful speech and conducted interviews with the creatives behind Bhangra Nation. Rana, being an influential individual who was born and raised in the Black Country, had some lovely insights into the links between Birmingham and Bhangra: ‘It is really fitting that the show is being premiered in the UK, in our city Birmingham, because we are the birthplace of modern British Bhangra sounds. And naturally with those sounds come the beat of the dhol!’

Rana spoke with the writers of Bhangra Nation, Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew, who explained that their main aim was ‘to get to do a musical about culture and about people coming together on a grand scale.’ Later, the musical composer and lyrist Sam Willmott spoke about his position and intentions with the production, and explained his creative thought process: ‘When you get too emotional to speak, you have to sing, and when you get too emotional for singing, you have to dance, and find ways in which that comes out through music, through character, through story, and then marry that with culture and history.’ Having the opportunity to hear from the creatives behind Bhangra Nation was hugely insightful because it allowed me (as an avid lover of theatre) to understand the process of getting a musical from script to stage, and how the music and choreography are created from the plot.

Having the opportunity to hear from the creatives behind Bhangra Nation was hugely insightful

The launch event concluded with two lovely musical numbers from the show, introduced by the director of Bhangra Nation, Stafford Arima. For the first song, ‘The Mumtra’, Arima stated: ‘It is a duet between mother and daughter […] it is a song about the memories about childhood, dance and family.’ It was a beautiful, calming song to listen to, in complete contrast with the high energy of the concluding song called ‘Commit’. Arima described this number as a ‘Bollywood extravaganza,’ and it did not disappoint, featuring the amazing voices of the lead singers Jena Pandya and Ivan Fernadez Gonzalez along with the rest of the energetic cast.

I encourage everyone who has the opportunity to go and see Bhangra Nation

I cannot wait to see the complete production of Bhangra Nation. Seeing this cultural representation in musical theatre is something that I have, for a long time, been aching for. I encourage everyone who has the opportunity to go and see Bhangra Nation because, from the small snippet I watched, I know that you will not be disappointed! I want to end by reiterating a lovely point made by Rana which shows the significance of Bhangra Nation: ‘I am so proud to see a theatre production of this extraordinary level […] and the joy this will bring to our city on our mainstream stage. […] it is so important because when we see ourselves, our lives, our music, our culture in mainstream spaces, we feel as if we belong.’

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