House of Oduduwa’s Queen Moremi the Musical records huge success
The musical drama coming from the House of Oduduwa in collaboration in Rejuvenee , ‘Queen Moremi the Musical’ has just been concluded. The show, tagged as the greatest sold out stage-drama by some spectators was worth it, with some saying, ‘it is a show that one never gets tired of watching time and time over.’
Produced by Bolanle Austen-Peters Production BAP, the show premiered on December 21, 2018 that ran till January 2, 2019, at the Terrakulture mini theater, Victoria Island Lagos witnessed a command performance on December 23 with the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi alongside, Ogun first lady, Mrs. Amosun, Information minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Jimi Agbaje and others in attendance.
Described as one cultural initiative away from the regular contemporary projects by Bolanle Austen-Peters Production by some, Queen Moremi the Musical lived up to its billing to entertain numerous people who trooped in numbers to watch the show.
An anonymous spectator disclosed that his entire family had to watch the show four times until the seats became hot cake. Many families who booked in advance but was a bit late had to stand to watch the show. The casts comprising celebrated Nollywood stars and regular theatre actors were very phenomenal and the stage was equally elevated to suit the cultural set. Notable stars that featured include Bimbo Manuel, Kunle Afolayan, Femi Branch, Rotimi Adelegan, Deyemi Okalawon, Omotola Jolade-Ekeinde, Tosin Adeyemi, Kemi Lala Akndoju, Bamike Olawunni and others. Measuring the success of the first outing of the musical, the global ambassador of queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative, Princess Ronke Ademiluyi disclosed: “The musical has been very receptive even a lot more than we actually thought. In the beginning, the idea was conceived to have the story join the story of Moremi project but we recorded a huge success beyond that.” She also said that creating a musical out of the story of Móremí history actually came about in 2017 December and since then it wasn’t easy. “We had approached Bolanle Austen-Peters production to direct the production and she eventually refused because of the traditional and cultural aspect of it. Then, she is already in the contemporary projects as you can see in her numerous comprising Saro, Fela and the Kalakuta Queens among others. Doing a traditional project then was a no, no thing for her. But that took us a lot of going back and forth to convince her until Her Excellency, Mrs. Amosun, first lady of Ogun State came into the picture to further convince her to accept. And the outcome is what we have just seen as Queen Moremi the Musical today. “In all the 21 shows we had, it was a complete sold out. Right now, people have already started to book for Easter shows. We have promised our numerous fans to bring it back in Easter and after that, we will be having a global tour around the United Kingdom UK and USA including African countries and some states in Nigeria.” Princess Ronke added. Speaking further, she reiterated that the success can be rated high above our expectations. “The show was beyond our imagination. Some people booked ahead of time. Some booked from abroad, came home to watch the show severally, and at some point, people were asking why it shouldn’t be more than two shows per day, and I had to say that the casts need a break because they are human. In overall, it was a success. Generations upon generations came to watch. An entire family of mother, grandmother and great grandmother came to watch this show and it was like one particular show that swoop an entire family to a stage. It is very phenomenal and as an Ambassador of Queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative it is my role to look for strategic partners to portray the name of Queen Moremi out there which is what it is all about. Currently, we have been approached by some people on the film project of Móremí which is the next project that will be a Hollywood blockbuster movie.” On the issue of space challenge and over booked tickets for the show, she stated: “We are looking at different options to explore, having witnessed the surge at the just concluded show. The entire production team will put head together to figure a way out of the space challenge. We saw that people booked in advance even when the seats are not enough. Some came all the way from abroad to watch the show and did not get a seat because the show was sold out. All these will be taken care of in the Easter show of the Queen Moremi the Musical,” Princess Ademiluyi concludes Moremi the musical is an initiative of House of Oduduwa foundation, supported by Rejuvenee and produced by Bolanle Austen-Peters Production (BAP). The musical has a royal blessing from the Arole Oodua, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi as part of his vision to revitalize the cultural heritage of the Yorùbá race. The monarch who has initiated several projects to immortalise the Yorùbá heroine, Queen Moremi Ajasoro is not relenting as he is poised to take the initiative beyond Nigeria to the global scene. By Chris Onuoha
An anonymous spectator disclosed that his entire family had to watch the show four times until the seats became hot cake. Many families who booked in advance but was a bit late had to stand to watch the show. The casts comprising celebrated Nollywood stars and regular theatre actors were very phenomenal and the stage was equally elevated to suit the cultural set. Notable stars that featured include Bimbo Manuel, Kunle Afolayan, Femi Branch, Rotimi Adelegan, Deyemi Okalawon, Omotola Jolade-Ekeinde, Tosin Adeyemi, Kemi Lala Akndoju, Bamike Olawunni and others. Measuring the success of the first outing of the musical, the global ambassador of queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative, Princess Ronke Ademiluyi disclosed: “The musical has been very receptive even a lot more than we actually thought. In the beginning, the idea was conceived to have the story join the story of Moremi project but we recorded a huge success beyond that.” She also said that creating a musical out of the story of Móremí history actually came about in 2017 December and since then it wasn’t easy. “We had approached Bolanle Austen-Peters production to direct the production and she eventually refused because of the traditional and cultural aspect of it. Then, she is already in the contemporary projects as you can see in her numerous comprising Saro, Fela and the Kalakuta Queens among others. Doing a traditional project then was a no, no thing for her. But that took us a lot of going back and forth to convince her until Her Excellency, Mrs. Amosun, first lady of Ogun State came into the picture to further convince her to accept. And the outcome is what we have just seen as Queen Moremi the Musical today. “In all the 21 shows we had, it was a complete sold out. Right now, people have already started to book for Easter shows. We have promised our numerous fans to bring it back in Easter and after that, we will be having a global tour around the United Kingdom UK and USA including African countries and some states in Nigeria.” Princess Ronke added. Speaking further, she reiterated that the success can be rated high above our expectations. “The show was beyond our imagination. Some people booked ahead of time. Some booked from abroad, came home to watch the show severally, and at some point, people were asking why it shouldn’t be more than two shows per day, and I had to say that the casts need a break because they are human. In overall, it was a success. Generations upon generations came to watch. An entire family of mother, grandmother and great grandmother came to watch this show and it was like one particular show that swoop an entire family to a stage. It is very phenomenal and as an Ambassador of Queen Moremi Ajasoro Initiative it is my role to look for strategic partners to portray the name of Queen Moremi out there which is what it is all about. Currently, we have been approached by some people on the film project of Móremí which is the next project that will be a Hollywood blockbuster movie.” On the issue of space challenge and over booked tickets for the show, she stated: “We are looking at different options to explore, having witnessed the surge at the just concluded show. The entire production team will put head together to figure a way out of the space challenge. We saw that people booked in advance even when the seats are not enough. Some came all the way from abroad to watch the show and did not get a seat because the show was sold out. All these will be taken care of in the Easter show of the Queen Moremi the Musical,” Princess Ademiluyi concludes Moremi the musical is an initiative of House of Oduduwa foundation, supported by Rejuvenee and produced by Bolanle Austen-Peters Production (BAP). The musical has a royal blessing from the Arole Oodua, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Babatunde Ogunwusi as part of his vision to revitalize the cultural heritage of the Yorùbá race. The monarch who has initiated several projects to immortalise the Yorùbá heroine, Queen Moremi Ajasoro is not relenting as he is poised to take the initiative beyond Nigeria to the global scene. By Chris Onuoha
