By: Staff Writer
October 7, 2022
A Trinidadian performing artist is ready for the big stage again after COVID-19 held her back and is now up at this year’s Beryl McBurnie celebrations this November 4-6 at the Little Carib Theatre and Folk House.
Le’Andra, co-producer and performance artist at this year’s Beryl McBurnie celebrations, told Caribbean Magazine Plus that she is looking forward to this opportunity to choreograph her own segment at the November celebrations. “It’s actually it’s a concert style show. I came up with the idea of basing it around movie soundtracks, popular blockbuster movies and movie musicals. So, again, some of the songs came from my favourites as well as other people’s favourites as well. We’re just putting them together and doing a concert.”
This festival style performance will be the first since the COVID-19 lockdowns for Le’Andra and she had a lot of time to come up with her re-entry back on to the stage, but Broadway musicals are not very popular, “So I wanted to do something that would be relatable to a wider audience. I knew that these songs would have been heard by a lot of people. So that’s how I came up with that idea,” she said.
LeAndra added: “The tribute is a weekend long event starting on Friday 4th November and ends on Sunday 6th November, 2022. My performance starts at 6:00pm on Saturday. I’ll be accompanied by a seven piece band made up of some of the best musicians in the country and it’s going to be fun. A segment of my performance will be dedicated to Beryl Mc Burnie.”
The notion of movie soundtracks is so creative and ear-catching and Le’Andra knows it. She said she got to this opportunity to partner with the Little Carib Theatre when she was looking for a project to do and through conversations with various entertainment stakeholders the idea of making her concert style show came up and they decided to make it a part of the Beryl McBurnie celebrations this coming November.
LeAndra also said: “Beryl Mc Burnie had a great career as a dancer. I remember hearing a lot of stories about her while growing up and I would often see her walking around. She lived in the same area as my family and I after she returned from her studies abroad. She was well known to the residents.”
Beryl Eugenia McBurnie was born on November 2, 1913 and died on March 30, 2000, was a Trinidadian dancer. She established the Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, and promoted the culture and arts of Trinidad and Tobago as her life’s work. She helped to promote the cultural legitimacy of Trinidad and Tobago that would shift the country into the age independence. McBurnie dedicated her life to dance, becoming one of the greatest influences on modern Trinidadian pop culture. “She is an icon and also the founder of the space where I will be performing. So I have a lot of respect for her and what she’s done for the Performing Arts in Trinidad and Tobago,” Le’Andra said.
LeAndra Head, known professionally as LeAndra, is a talented soprano whose powerful vocals evoke the inspired passion of soul diva Etta James and the melodic phrasings of the first lady of jazz Ella Fitzgerald, both of whom have been very influential to her musical identity. LeAndra’s skills are earning widespread accolades. Journalist Nigel Campbell writing in Caribbean Beat magazine called LeAndra “the darling among new Trinidad and Tobago audiences hearing jazz voices for the first time; her innocent enthusiasm is the charming counterpoint to her cool reserve.” Indian Classical musician Mungal Patasar says of LeAndra, “her great, great, voice will take her where she needs to go.” Patricia Meschino, a contributing writer to Billboard, described LeAndra as “inspiring, able to communicate emotions that are well beyond her years; she possesses the ability to sing anything.”
Lovely article!