Troopers: Male dancers in the Hanoman musical rehearse at Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.

A section at the seventh gate of Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Central Jakarta looked different on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon as dancers, singers and actors practiced for Hanoman, a musical to be performed on Saturday.

Hanoman director Mirwan Suwarso said 35 cast members had been practicing their scenes together the past week.

“We’re almost there. We will put together what we have been practicing here this past week onto the stage trial tomorrow [Thursday],” he said during a break from rehearsals.

Mirwan said although the joint rehearsals had only been a week long, the cast had started practicing their individual parts weeks ago.

The singers received the songs they are to perform in December, he added.

The premier of Hanoman will take place on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Tennis Indoor Senayan in Central Jakarta.

Mirwan said he had been preparing for the musical for two years. But unlike his previous musicals, he wanted to add more of a Broadway atmosphere to this one.

He contacted Broadway agents to hold auditions for the main actors.

“That’s why I have professionals from Broadway as the main actors — but not Hanoman [who is a local actor] — for this musical so I can reach out to an international audience. The dialogue will be in English too,” he said.

Mirwan, who is devoted to adapting traditional wayang puppet folklore into musicals, said since the show was designed for an international audience he needed to find a story that was easier to understand for those who have never heard of wayang before.

Goddess: Laura Vall who plays Dewi Anjani, the mother of Hanoman, practices a song for the Hanoman musical.
“So my challenge was how to simplify the complicated wayang tale,” he said.

Mirwan said he decided to adapt the Hanoman legend, telling the audience the story of the monkey god starting from birth.

The white monkey Hanoman is a Hindu deity that is also the central character in the Indian Ramayana epic.

Mirwan previously worked on other traditional wayang puppet musicals, namely Jabang Tetuko in 2011 and Gatotkaca Jadi Raja, Arjuna Wiwaha and Gatotkaca Kembar—The Evil Within in 2012.

When break time was over, Mirwan asked the cast to prepare to rehearse a few scenes.

It was time for Laura Vall, the Spanish indie singer who will play Dewi Anjani, Hanoman’s mother, to practice her scenes, demonstrating her ability to act, perform a traditional Javanese dance and sing an Indonesian song titled “Cinta”.

“I was running the song over and over when I was in Los Angeles so I could memorize it because I don’t speak Indonesian, and I don’t understand the general meaning — although Mirwan sent me the translation,” Vall said.

Vall was able to sing the entire song smoothly, but when the director stopped her at certain points and asked to repeat from where she left off, she could not do so.

“The funny thing during the rehearsal is when they stopped me at some point and asked me to repeat that point, I couldn’t figure it out,” Vall said, laughing.

Take me higher: Anji, one of the cast members of the Hanoman musical, and other dancers choreograph a formation during rehearsals on Wednesday.
It was not only singing an Indonesian song that challenged Vall. Doing a traditional Javanese dance was her toughest task.

“Dancing, it takes 40 times more for me to learn. The little hand movements, and every time I’m in there, I have to hold the pose — I have to be flowy and be a goddess. I’m Spanish, and my instinct is to be big and fast, and this is completely the opposite,” she said.

“I learned all that when I got here. So I’m telling you, the rehearsal is intense, but good.”

But for Vall, taking part in the musical was a great opportunity to enrich her artistic side.

“I’m not a dancer and actress, I’ve never done a musical theater play before — nothing close to this and nearly close to the level of these people,” she said.

“And here I am, sharing a stage with Broadway actors and amazing Indonesian actors and dancers.”

Separately, Sydney James Harcourt, one of the Broadway Boys who will play Batara Indra in Hanoman, said that after a full week of practice the team was ready for the show although they had not practiced the whole thing through yet.

“It’s kind of hard to put it together until you’re in the theater because so much of the show would also feature there. So we keep learning our individual portions. And as far as the individual portions [they are] going really well, I feel comfortable,” he said.

Harcourt, who will also do martial arts in the musical, said Hanoman was special because of its originality, such as the use of martial arts and the use of silk for water coupled with traditional Javanese dance.

“There is no martial arts musical on Broadway, which is surprising. And that is what makes it special,” he said.

Other Broadway professionals joining the cast are Daniel Torres who will play Batara Guru and Brian Justin Crumb as Batara Bayu. Local talent includes Volland Humonggio as Hanoman, Aqi Alexa, Anji and Piyu from pop band Padi, and Ki Dalang Sambowo from Wayang Orang Bharata.

The show will be accompanied by a mix of traditional gamelan and modern music composed by Aksan Sjuman.

Mirwan said the combination of local and international talent performing in the musical was his way to help introduce local culture on the international stage.

“We modernize traditions to reach a wider audience — to show how rich Indonesia really is,” he said.

After Saturday’s premier, the Hanoman musical will be staged in San Jose, Seattle, Houston and Miami starting on July 26. The musical will also be performed in several countries in Europe, and in Australia and Japan.

— Photos By JP/Nurhayati