“Bumbug, the Musical” Review: Scroogwala’s Tale

The holidays, for some, bring a hint of magic to the air filled with jolliness and festivities.

For Scroogewala, the holiday season is just a cruel reminder that he didn’t achieve the much sought after “American Dream.”

In “Bumbug, The Musical” playing at The Clurman Theatre, New York City deli owner Scroogewala (Andrew Guilarte) feels his immigration to America from India hasn’t brought the opportunities he thought it would. When Sunita (Lipica Shah) comes into his store, Scroogewala seems interested but feels she has become too westernized and is nothing more than an ABCD – an American Born Confused Desi.

“Bumbug” draws inspiration from A Christmas Carol as Angel (Adrienne C. Moore) shows Scroogewala and the audience his past, present and potential future. He used to work alongside his uncle and mentor a few years prior until an unfortunate event took place around the holiday season. Sunita had dreams of being a writer but her mother and father, Cratcheeta (Falu) and Bhavesh (Debargo Sanyal) encouraged her to become a doctor.

Writers Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri comprise a show that isn’t difficult to understand. However, an obvious drawback is that the musical has a target audience. There are references to Bollywood movies and actors and phrases used that the average person would not understand. There was not much explanation but this did not hurt the show.

Sunita’s mother, Cratcheeta, delivers a standout and memorable performance in the song, “Aa-jaa! Aa-Jaa!”- which pays tribute to classic Bollywood movies. Falu and Sanyal are amusing yet sincere as Sunita’s overbearing parents who constantly bug her about getting married. Although they go about showing it in a strange way, they appear to have her best interest at heart.

The musical is short but flows very nicely and smoothly. It is somewhat predictable but that is probably because A Christmas Carol is such a well known story that has been recreated dozens of times. The band in the back of the stage never misses a beat and delivers a hokey but catchy soundtrack. The ensemble cast of Kiarri Andrews, Brooke Ishibashi and Matthew Knowland are cheery, bubbly and full of life each time they make an appearance on stage.

Some of the actors had stronger singing voices than others. Moore plays not only the Angel in the show but also narrates several scenes. Her singing is powerful yet controlled. Falu is a singer/songwriter and has sung at many different venues so it is no surprise she knows how to entertain and get laughs out of an audience. Lastly, Shah has an elegant voice that is very girly and sweet.

“Bumbug” tells a love story between Sunita and Scroogewala as they learn to accept their differences. Arguably the more important social theme that “Bumbug” tackles is one that perhaps most people can relate to – it can be quite a struggle to stay true to who you are and still make it in a big city.

Photo by Lia Chang