BROKEN WINGS: The Original Concept Album – Studio Recording (Auburn Jam Records –AJR2638 and downloads)
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
An autobiographical tale of tragic love based on Lebanese-born poet Kahill Gibran’s 1912 masterpiece The Prophet. Doesn’t sound like the sort of thing you would go running to watch or listen to, does it? Well, you’d be missing out big time if you didn’t.
Written by Nadim Naaman, West End star of The Phantom of the Opera, and Dana Al Fardan, Qatar’s only female contemporary composer, with orchestrations by Joe Davison, Auburn Jam Music’s resident sound-wizard. A sterling cast includes Rob Houchen, Hiba Elchikhe, Nadim Naaman, Adam Linstead, Nadeem Crowe, Soophia Foroughi and others.
The story is set in New York 1923. An ageing Gibran narrates from his cold studio. Through poetry and music, he transports us back two decades and across continents, to turn-of-the-century Beirut. His 18-year-old self returns to the Middle East after five years living in America, to complete his education and discover more of his heritage. He falls deeply in love with Selma Karamy, the daughter of family friend and hugely respected local businessman, Farris Karamy. However, Selma soon becomes betrothed to Mansour Bey Galib, nephew of the powerful Bishop Bulos Galib, who has his eye on the Karamy family fortune. Gibran and Selma fight to reconcile their love for one another, whilst navigating the rules, traditions and expectations that society lays on them.
The songs included in this album are hauntingly beautiful, powerful, moving and superbly performed by the cast. I only wish I was down in London in August to see the semi-staged production at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. I wish all concerned with this project all the best and hopefully we will be seeing more than a semi-staged production in the future.
Nick Wakeham
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