Find your beat. Find your team. Find yourself.
Winner of the 2019 Richard Rodgers Award, Bhangra Nation is an exhilarating new musical set in the high stakes world of intercollegiate competitive bhangra (a Punjabi folk dance morphed into a good old fashioned dance-off).
Bhangra Nation will make its U.K. premiere in an all-new production at the Birmingham Rep on February 17, 2024, and run through March 16!
About the Show
THE STORY...
When Mary and Preeti's bhangra team qualifies for Nationals, they set off on opposing quests to dance to their own beat. Drawing from competitive Bhangra and mixing it with other Indian and Western dance forms, Bhangra Nation is a brash, intoxicating and joyous new musical comedy for everyone.
Bhangra Nation premiered under its previous title, Bhangin' It, at the Tony-winning La Jolla Playhouse in spring, 2022. The show's generous developmental homes have included La Jolla Playhouse, the Jerome Robbins Foundation's Project Springboard: Developing Dance Musicals, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat's Triple R Program for two readings and a residency and Rhinebeck's summertime Writers Retreat, as well as the Johnny Mercer Colony at Goodspeed Musicals, Running Deer Musical Theatre Lab and The Orchard Project.
THE TEAM...
Featuring music, lyrics, and co-dance and vocal arrangements by Sam, the creative team includes:
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award-winning playwrights Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew
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director Stafford Arima (Ragtime on the West End, Allegiance, Altar Boyz)
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additional arrangements and orchestrations by legendary musician and bhangra pioneer Kuljit Bhamra, MBE (The West End's Bombay Dreams, Bend It Like Beckham, and The Far Pavillions)
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acclaimed Bollywood, Bhangra and Kathak choreographer Rujuta Vaidya
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multi-Tony-award-winning producers Mara Isaacs and Tom Kirdahy (Hadestown, The Inheritance, Here We Are)
Bhangra Nation "manages to pull off [nuance] and more, without any kind of diluting. It presents multiple sides of complex discussions around cultural identity without declaring a definitive winner, incorporates deeply rooted South Asian art forms into an American musical... and genuinely addresses these topics and conversations without sacrificing story, character or crowd-pleasing humor."
-- Ashley Lee
