Bombay Dreams has proved, despite some critical carping after the first night, to be one of London's most successful new shows, having played to over a quarter of a million people since it opened at the Apollo Victoria on June 19.

The show, set in the "Bollywood" (i.e. Indian) film industry, is lavish, colorful and packed with catchy tunes that blend classic Indian music with Bollywood scores but gives them a Western twist that makes them accessible to a London audience. Veteran lyricist Don Black (recently honored with a Variety Club lunch) has provided the lyrics.

The catch is that there are not enough suitable Asian actors/singers/dancers to go round: Asian performers are relatively new (with a very few high-profile exceptions like Art Malik or Saeed Jaffrey) to British theatre. As a result, Andrew Lloyd Webber, producer of Bombay Dreams, is looking abroad for Asian actors, and Equity is not expected to raise any objections to this.

—By Paul Webb Theatrenow