What a 3-Canal show
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Review by TERRY JOSEPH

And such a thing did on Monday night at The Little Carib Theatre, as the popular rapso group premiered The 3-Canal Show, an innovative calypso tent, upgrading the staple combination of song and dance into a riveting presentation of new and vintage music, set against a bland backdrop; using lighting and revolutionary ideas to colour the production.

But to see a Jouvert band going down the road and two big-trucks moving across the cozy theatre (whose west wall hosted a massive projection screen) and hear an aria infused into regular up tempo jams, as break-dancing, triad harmonies, drama and regular calypso meld into a powerful production might have provoked even Mother Teresa into less-than-saintly demeanour.

Unfettered by such tenets, Minshall, revelling in temporary recess from his trademark aplomb, launched into a proper Trini appreciation of what was indeed a glorious evening, joining audience consensus in clamouring for more; many remarking upon the pleasant rarity of a two-hour show in this country of entertainment marathons.

The 3-Canal Show is but one of the new paradigms available to Trinidad Carnival and a must-see, if one is to arrive at pragmatic assessment of what far too many locals may have prematurely adjudged "The Greatest Show On Earth".

According to the Canal Press, a novel newspaper-sized eight-page programme designed by Roger Roberts, the group was presenting its work in a space that used the barest of infrastructure to showcase a variety of acts, from blue devil abandon to operatic propriety; all hinged on driving rhythms from the featured trio.

Indeed, the work was delivered in a black box, varied only by an appendage that rolled (under manpower) across the front of the stage, doubling as big-truck and the road itself, while the main aisle hosted another transporter; both coming together at the finale for a "band meets band" scenario.

Produced by the Cut + Clear Crew in association with Trevor Jadunath's J&N Productions and directed by Wendell Manwarren, The 3-Canal Show also brings to the stage hip-hop dancers The Scientist Crew, the arias of Glenda Thomas, choreography of Dave Williams and Rocky Kewley, messages from Black Lyrics, calypsonians Blessed V and Shaft and dramatis personae Zia Holder, Dion McNichol and Cecilia Salazar.

Woven into the presentation are traditional mas characters like the pierrot and baby-doll, pique dancing, a high-tech Tobago speech band that touches on "conscious" issues ranging from deadbeat dads to domestic abuse, rapso pioneer Lancelot Layne's commentary on the treatment of indigenous music (Blow 'Way/Get off the Radio), plus an album of 3-Canal's greatest hits.

The show is presented in two acts, the Jouvay Experience and Making a Statement, opening with a tableau featuring the Scientist Crew, who stay to back 3-Canal's first appearance doing Run Come, making way for Williams's black pierrot heralding Jouvert (Let the Session Begin), through a splendid upper-class denunciation of Carnival by Salazar (some of them wining like they never christen), who interacts with McNicol's jamette and Holder's baby-doll to present differing views on the festival. And it similarly sizzles right down to Blue.

Act Two enhanced the metaphors, using classic calypso style to make the point, opening with 3-Canal and the Scientist Crew on Clear d' Way and Revolution, then going into a segment featuring Black Lyrics, in which a radio talk-show is the vehicle for a number of comments on social issues and the introduction of Blessed V and Shaft, whose work comments on past masters of Carnival arts.

After another commentary from the Salazar crew, 3-Canal does its benchmark trilogy Watch Dem, Salt and Talk Yuh Talk, before presenting their current breakout hit Good News with help from the Scientist Crew, bringing back the entire cast for Iere Vibes, a piece that touches on all the elements of Carnival and calypso.

Comprising the usual suspects, Monday night's select audience couldn't get enough, stretching the curtain calls into a party, acknowledging the programme's theatre, commentary and straight ahead jams; the stuff of which great Carnival shows are made.

But it was the "vibes" throughout the evening that made even the most staid among us get up and dance.

Ask Minshall.

Courtesy the Trinidad Express

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