SRIRAM RAVISHANKAR
A1
Artistry!
Singer-Coach Suzanne D’ Mello, the genie behind the musical Aladdin’ s“ CDlike” sounding cast unwinds
Until the success of Disney’ s Beauty and the Beast three years ago, who knew India had such an appreciation for Broadway styled musicals? Sure, audiences are still comparing it to traditional cinematic experiences, but seeing people show up in such big numbers for a musical that was only debuting was phenomenal. While the grandeur of the musical had the audiences raving, everybody including the team at Disney Theatrical took notice of playback singer-vocal coach Suzanne D’ Mello’ s work in training the cast to sound like it was being played from a CD on stage. Many celebrities and even insiders including Madhuri Dixit refused to believe that the actors sang their lines live!
“ Audiences are so spoilt by lipsyncing actors in our movies, that coming to terms with all the actors singing, dancing, and acting simultaneously on stage can get overwhelming. Having said that, looking at the kind of response I’ ve personally received for both the musicals, Indian audiences seem to always surprise the world with their appreciation towards something totally new! With these large-scale productions having set the ball rolling, I’ m looking forward to a lot of smaller-scale productions to take centerstage and engage our audiences in ways beyond entertainment,” said D’ Mello lovingly with a gentle smile across her face.
Anybody would find it hard to believe that Beauty and the Beast was D’ Mello’ s first official coaching project. Talking about Aladdin, she said,“ I remember being told,“ When it comes to voice coaching, there can be NO compromise. We want Suzanne! Only she can do this with just 3 months to prepare,” by the Disney team. Their confidence in me really motivated me to give it my all. We worked on building on each actor ' s strengths. The entire cast was a very musical one. So, all had some musical training, be it Hindustani, or Carnatic, or Gospel, or just a couple in Musical Theatre. We used various breathing techniques coupled with physical exercises to build their vocal stamina and worked on expanding their vocal range. By using various techniques, we ensured their singing styles communicated the music to the audiences in the way it was written.”
D’ Mello, who has been in the industry for over 25 years now has worked with all the biggies including AR, Pritam, Ilayaraja, Harris Jayaraj, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Salim-Sulaiman, Anu Malik, Bappi Lahiri, Vishal-Shekar, and many others. Her stamp in the industry was with the hit song“ Mahiya” from“ Awaarapan” after her debut with Pritam’ s“ Khalish” from“ Chocolate”. The success of“ Mahiya” rocketed Suzanne on the wish-lists of every music director who wanted to get their songs sung in her extremely versatile voice. Her collaboration with AR for various projects including“ Slumdog Millionaire” put D’ Mello’ s voice on the international map. She was also a part of AR’ s“ Jai Ho Tour”.
Reminiscing about her journey so far,“ I was thoroughly invested in coaching these musicals and honoring the new-found flavor to my musical personality. Although my playback did take a backseat for a while, I have equally enjoyed exploring this side to me. It’ s hard to explain my love for voice coaching and playback that I feel so differently. Many even thought I stopped singing!( laughs) Till date, I sing backing vocals, do vocal arrangement, coach students, sing songs, write songs, and even fill in as a lyricist sometimes. Each of these are uniquely joyful. To me, latitudinal growth is far more exciting than linear.”
D’ Mello is currently working on her debut album with both co-artists she has grown with over the years and new producers in the industry. The album is scheduled to release early 2019 with a few singles releasing later this year.
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