“MAYOMBE” by Des Kelly
A while ago, I wrote that while Donavan Andree & sons, Elmo & Malcolm, were still on the “show-biz-scene”,in Ceylon, another young entrepreneur by the name of Mubarak Thaha made his appearance in Colombo, organizing talent-quests, shows, etc., hoping to rival an unbeatable opponent in this difficult “game”. He was an enterprising young man, good-looking, from a “family” that, as far as I knew, wasn’t rooting around, looking for an extra buck or two. They were all astute business-people, the Thahas & Mubarak fancied himself as “another Donavan”.
So, what does he do ?, why, he just went out and bought himself a fancy “night-club” right in the centre of Colombo, calling it “The Atlanta”. He carried on, entertaining the more affluent, if you like, with not only local artistes like Cliff Foenander, Denis Roberts, myself & many others, but also started to “import” Artistes, male & female, from abroad, to show-off their talents to the local gentry. They came, of course, lured by the “fees & services” offered by Mubarak,
He was a personable, up-front character, said it as it was, & then did it, to prove he wasn’t kidding.
Even though I was “working” for Donavan Andree, part-time, from my early teens, he never did stop me from doing what I did, wherever I wanted to do it, & “work” for anyone who could help “his artistes earn a few extra rupees. This was Donavan, & as far as I am concerned, both Donavan Andree and Mubarak Thaha got our “loyalty”, through that particular era. What happened later, is anybody’s guess.
Most of “my lot” migrated all around the World, because certain Governments of this beautiful Country did not know how to KEEP US THERE.
Among the foreign Artistes brought down to Ceylon by Mubarak Thaha, were a male dancer by the name of Arsenio Alexander & his partner (actress cum dancer) Manuela Sanchez. The full-length stage performance was to be called MAYOMBE.
More about Arsenio, Manuela & Mayombe will be explained in my next episode for eLanka. Everything about Mayombe was different. The “music” was essentially “Latin” & plenty of it, the dancing was spectacular, the stage show, one of the “biggest” of the time, so, tune in, folks, for my next episode. As the great Al Jolson once said, “you ain’t heard nothin’ yet”.
Desmond Kelly
Star of eLanka
(Editor-in-Chief).
