Bollywood Musical Bunty Berman Presents… Begins at the New Group April 12

By Adam Hetrick
12 Apr 2013

Erick Avari
Erick Avari

The world-premiere musical Bunty Berman Presents…, penned by Olivier Award nominee Ayub Khan Din and Grammy and Emmy Award winner Paul Bogaev, begins performances April 12 at Off-Broadway's Acorn Theatre under the wing of The New Group. Erick Avari plays the title role, an Indian film producer at the end of his rope.

New Group artistic director Scott Elliott stages the musical that officially opens May 9 for a run through June 1.

Set in a 1950s Bollywood studio and incorporating music inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood, Bunty Berman Presents... has book and lyrics by Din (the playwright of East Is East and Rafta, Rafta...), with music by Din and veteran Broadway conductor-musical director Bogaev (Aida, Les Miserables, Bombay Dreams, "Chicago"). Josh Prince choreographs with musical direction by Boko Suzuki.

The cast features Erick Avari as Bunty Berman, Raja Burrows, Nick Choksi, Katie Chung, Sevan Greene, Andrew Guilarte, Shoba Narayanan, Lyn Philistine, Debargo Sanyal, Pallavi Sastry, Gayton Scott, Lipica Shah, Alok Tewari and Sorab Wadia.

According to the New Group, "Movie producer Bunty Berman has long been the toast of Bombay, but now Raj, his biggest star and best friend, is beginning to lose his lustre. When their new movie bombs, Bunty must navigate through divas, mobsters and ambitious tea-boys to keep his studio alive."

The production has set design by Derek McLane, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by David Lander, sound design by ACME Sound Partners, projection design by Wendall K. Harrington, and orchestrations and arrangements by Bogaev and Suzuki. Bogaev also serves as musical supervisor.

The Acorn Theatre is located at 410 West 42nd Street. For tickets, priced $60, visit telecharge.com or phone (212) 239-6200.