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Theater's Triple Threat Comes to Kazakhstan

“One was a Butler, Jeeves of his Time” from “Go, Go, Go, Joseph!” from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the Metallurgy Palace of Culture in Oskemen, August 7, 2009.

Oskemen turned out 800 people who packed the Metallurgy Palace of Culture on the evening of August 7 to witness the results of two weeks of master classes given for 21 actors and students by American choreographer and director Lewis Whitlock.  The delighted—and standing room only—audience included Makhmut Chakerimovich Toikenov, head of the Department of Culture of the East Kazakhstan Oblast.  They watched students perform musical numbers from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, and Damn Yankees.  On July 21, some 600 people—also standing room only—crammed the Regional Zhubanov Aktobe Philharmonic to watch 17 students perform the same show. 
Working throughout the entire program in Kazakhstan with musical director Yelena Sakhno from Astana’s Academy of Music, Whitlock acquainted students with what he calls the “triple threat” in American theater: people who can act, sing, and dance.  Students from both cities adhered to a grueling schedule, working eight hours a day, six-seven days a week. 
 
The American Corner and Alexander Pushkin Library in Oskemen did exceptional work in publicizing the event, as did the Zhubanov Philharmonic in Aktobe, resulting in the overflow audiences in both cities.  Whitlock began his program in Astana with a brief master class for students in the capital and a performance seen by around 100 persons.  In all, some 1,500 people saw American musical theater performed by talented Kazakhstanis during this program that ran June 20-August 7.

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