“Buccoo Reef: The Beauty Below the Surface” comes to Carnival City For Dimanche Gras 2019
Port of Spain, Trinidad, February 25, 2019: Beauty, Grace, Remembrance, and Pageantry are all on the cards for this Sunday’s Dimanche Gras show at Carnival City, Queen’s Park Savannah.
Traditionally reserved for the grand showdowns in some of the major Carnival events – Senior Kings and Queens of the Bands and the Calypso Monarch Competitions – this year’s show will feature a grand scale production with the competitive aspect being removed altogether.
Instead, the Senior Kings and Queens Competition Finals 2019 will be held Wednesda y February 27, and the Kaisorama – The Night of Champions (Calypso Finals) 2019 on Thursday, February 28, both starting at 7 pm at Carnival City.
Veteran multiple award-winning Producer and Artistic Director, Davlin Thomas will be at the helm of this year’s show. In addition to producing and serving as Artistic Director on several Dimanche Gras shows and NCC-led productions, Thomas, who has served as Carnival Judge (Downtown) for a number of years, provided production management services for the Carnival Village, and stage-management for various costumed competitions will be bringing his signature style to Sunday’s event.
Commenting on what audiences can expect at Dimanche Gras, Thomas said, “This year’s theme positions the negativity that sometimes permeates the Trinidad and Tobago media as surface distractions, (Rough seas) and cordially invites the world to journey below to witness the beauty “Below the Surface”.”
“The production will exploit the beauty and motion design of our Carnival costumes to create an epic Carnival theatrical production that utilises the Buccoo Reef as a metaphor for the best parts of ourselves and our cultural offerings; Steelpan, Calypso, Mas and other cultural expressions,” Thomas added.
With all that in play, this year’s change in format has also paved the way for “Buccoo Reef – The Beauty Below The Surface” to be a truly entertaining affair with performances by some of the biggest names in the industry, including Machel Montano, Nadia Batson, Destra, Blaxx, Farmer Nappy, Shurwayne Winchester, Calypso Rose, Patrice Roberts, MX Prime, Drupatee, Mavis John, Ronnie McIntosh and much more.
Dimanche Gras 2019 kicks off at 6:15 pm on Sunday with a pre-show featuring David Bereaux & Friends, Ricardo Seales and saxophonist Francis Prime, as well as comedians, The Saint and Damian Melville.
In addition to special performances from this year’s newly-crowned champions in Mas, Calypso, Chutney Soca, and International Soca Competitions, special tributes are also scheduled to our dearly departed icons – Brigo, the Mighty Shadow, The Original De Fosto Himself, Composer, Brother Superior, and Ken “Professor” Philmore .
NCC Chairman, Winston “Gypsy” Peters, in sharing his thoughts ahead of Sunday’s gala said, “For the last few years, the Commission and all Dimanche Gras stakeholders have avidly sought ways of infusing more excitement into the show, drawing in bigger crowds, keeping the show as tight as possible, and marketing it to wider audiences both locally and internationally.”
“While this continues to be a work in progress, the work put in through the years has certainly provided the right foundation upon which to build a Dimanche Gras brand and product that is sustainable and continues to stand the test of time while being flexible enough to adapt to changing demographics and attraction attention from various segments of society.”
“Without question, we are extremely excited about Sunday’s show, which promises to be quite an unforgettable affair, and we invite the public to come down to Carnival City and witness it firsthand, where we will present Dimanche Gras 2019 to the nation, the region, and the world,” he added.
Carnival City comes alive this Sunday at 7 pm at the Dimanche Gras. Tickets are available now at all NLCB Outlets Nationwide, at the NCC Ticket Booth, Queen’s Park Savannah, and online at Suntixx.com. For more information, visit the NCC online at www.ncctt.org, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ncctt/) and on Instagram (www.instagram.com/ncc_tt).
Scene from Dimanche Gras 2010. Davlin Thomas’ ‘Cerro del Aripo’.
