by Kirthi Sri Karunaratne
In the first week of this month Hotel Lanka Oberoi gave the seekers of good entertainment a feast in theatre and music, for which all affacianades should say hosannas to the GM Stephen Pffiefer and his staff, among whom were Narmada Muller and Rushan.

The Opera dinner show of Giacome Puccini’s perennial favourite "Madame Butterfly" was a fascinating experience which was beautifully sung by Yvonne Barclay in the lead and Stephen Caira playing Pinkerton the Lieutenant from the US Navy, whose romance with the Japanese maiden and the aftermath made the touching story.

The costumes and the set besides of course the beautiful music torched into a memorable evening, particularly in comparison to the memories of last year’s performance of ‘Carmen’ staged at another hotel by same company with the same producer Barbara Segal we are now so familiar with.

It was a stylish and formal evening and there were many lovely ensembles worn by many women in the audience. Of these the black Kandyan saree Harshini Nadesan wore drew the most comment and admiration. The saree was embossed in a trailing design in black velvet emboss, in which were pin points of dazzling colour, in red, green, blue and yellow. The colours were picked up by the streamers of ribbon cascading from her shoulder off a rosette of the ribbon. The below the elbow sleeves of her blouse were unlined and she wore a three strand necklace of crystal beads and little drop earrings. Her black accessories finished the elegant and sophisticated picture which entranced the leader of the performing group and convinced her that she should wear a saree herself the following evening.

A soft raw silk was the choice of Narmada for the evening. The onion skin toned saree was embroidered in a floral border of silk thread and picked out in pearls in the same shade of pink and white. The unfailing ornament of a string of pearls and stud earrings suited her to near perfection.

An evening such as this is also made by the company one has at the table and at ours were a team of journalists, among them Sonali Samarasinghe, Karel Roberts Ratnaweera, Delrine Munzeer and Prasad Abubaker besides our hosts for the evening and for a bonanza Dilip Jayawickrema a jewellery designer who has captured an international market with his innovative ideas and products.

The following evening the Opera and Concert Productions (Worldwide) Ltd. of England embarked on a Broadway Musical extravaganza "Stepping Out on Broadway" which was in total contrast to the evening before. More informal and relaxed the cast from the Butterfly production sang through a galaxy of melodies from work by Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rogers and Hammerstein and Irving Berling. There were songs sung, that brought the title of a song to mind, that says thank you for the music and among the artistes was Barbara Segal making an indelible impression in her saree of black and silver spun net, bordered in black velvet worked in silver beads and zardosi, with the ease of a veteran, looking glamorously perfect inspite of her sweep of blonde tresses. Her rendition of "Tonight" with Jean-Luc Eveque from "West Side Story" was captivating and Pauline Birchall’s rendition of "I Feel Pretty" from the same musical entrancing.

Yvonne Barclay sang "Don’t Cry For Me Argentina" from "Evita" with the depth of emotion the song calls for, besides "My Favourite Things" from the "Sound of Music". "The Great Caruse" was the musical from which Stephen Caira sang "O Sole Mie" which was the perfect vehicle for his tenor voice.

Fashions on this occasion too were evidently making a song and a dance with Samantha Schumacher in a lovely smoky blue salwar kameez, worked at the neckline in silver beads and sequins, Anne Tradigo in a black dress, the lacy knitted sleeveless top with a V neckline, sparkled with jet sequins, teamed with a long skirt and a necklace of two strands of onyx heads and Harshini Nadesan in pale lilac charmeuse worked on the fall of the saree in ribbon in a design of loops and flowers, with pearl jewellery and silver beaded bag, making the cameras go click click.

It must be said in parting, even though an orchestra could have made a world of difference to the performance, the musical Director Robin Humphreys did nothing short of a great job on the single piano. Once again thank you for the Music, Hotel Lanka Oberoi.

Rock styles and music

Music of an entirely different kind assailed our ears when the Rock Cafe opened its doors to the discotheque in the basement, with DJ Eugene at the head. Performing this evening were a trio of young women, Rossette, Natasha and Nirmali with Warren playing live music to attract all those present on to the dance floor, after a cocktail party outside, earlier in the evening.

Gracing the event were beauty queens and TV and film personalities. Among them was Sanoja Bibile in a deep purple dress worked at the neckline, in shoot blue sequins and black thread, she wore with a purple and while stone necklace.

Vasana Dantanarayana had shoe string straps to her figure hugging red dress, while Sharon Reimers wore a pink dress with a collar cut on the flare.

Natasha had a jacket in sheer black fabric with velvet revers, she wore over a black velvet bare shouldered top, teamed with a slim long black skirt and pearl and gold jewellery. A room of cosy dimensions with the decor in the right concept will soon make it into a popular spot with those looking for good entertainment.