Sangeet: Yayati Aani Devyani is a historic Marathi musical drama, written by highly talented and famous litterateur V.V. Shirwadkar (popularly known as Kusumagraj) with music by legendary Pt. Jitendra Abhisheki. It's a classic tale of love and revenge between the King Yayati and his wife Devayani from pre-Mahabharata period. It is one of the literary masterpieces of Kusumagraj depicting the richness of Marathi language. It is further embellished with Indian Classical music based naytasangeet, featuring beloved songs like "He suranno chandra vha", "Sarvatmaka Sarveshwara" and more.

This is the first ever production of "Sangeet: Yayati Aani Devayani" in the US. This rendition of the musical drama comprises of 3 acts and 10 songs with live music and dance, performed by well-accomplished, local artists from Ohio, Michigan and New Jersey. Along with the literary and musical eloquence, the grandeur of Mahabharata era in this drama is presented with spectacular drapery, make-up and stage setup.

Kruthi Bhat, a young prodigious vocalist in the field of Indian Classical Music, hails from a family of musicians. Kruthi Bhat is a conservator of her genre’s unique beauty and also preserves ancient tradition as she continues to innovate within it. Kruthi is a disciple of her mother, Vidushi Rajarajeshwary Bhat & maternal uncle Vidwan Vittal Ramamurthy. She has had the privilege to learn from the legendary Padmabhushan Sri Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and Sri T. R. Subramanyan. She is also blessed to receive guidance under renowned musicians, Neyveli Santhanagopalan, S. Sowmya, Abhishek Raghuram, Kalyani Sharma & Trivandram G. Seethalakshmi. Kruthi, an All India Radio graded artist, has performed extensively at Prestigious platforms all around the Globe and has numerous Titles and Awards to her credit. She is the youngest recipient of the title “Kala Ratna” by Cleveland Thyaragaraja Aradhana Committee, “Isai Chudar” from Karthik Fine Arts Chennai, & “Yuva Kala Mani” from Mani Krishna Swamy Academy – To name a few awards, she is a recipient of the ”Best Female Vocalist” Award from the Prestigious Madras Music Academy as part of the Spirit of Youth series, Winner of the Reality Show, Carnatic Music Idol USA Season 3 from Maximum Media Jaya TV, ” “Top 5 Voices of the Future” by Sruti Magazine & “Best Vocalist” by Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai. Kruthi is a Computer Science graduate, also proficient in Western & Indian Classical violin playing, Bharatnatyam & Pastel/Acrylic Painting.

This play unveils the frustrations and disappointments the majority of passengers go through on a daily basis as they commute between their homes and various destinations. An ordinary 15-minute trip from LA to Accra Central (very busy business central locations in Ghana) ends up stretching into a two-hour, side-splitting face-off between a drunken driver and his foul-mouthed ‘mate’ on one side, and a group of vociferous, no-nonsense, highly charged passengers on the other.

Also, ‘Trotro’ captures and brings to light how some of our heavily flawed social structures are responsible for putting the Ghanaian populace in that state of mind of having to constantly debate over who is more important than the other and why.

‘Tro-tro’ offers us a chance to laugh at ourselves while critically looking at important issues such as flouting of traffic regulations, bribery and corruption, and a lack of tolerance—a crucial societal challenge within the African fraternity and society in general.

This Sackey Sowah play, directed by Stampley Asamoah-Ampofo, touches on a very relatable subject that stares us in the face on a daily basis but is most often unnoticed.

Songs at the Center is proud to welcome comedy songwriters Heywood Banks, Steve Goodie, and Carla Ulbrich to the McConnell Arts Center, alongside our host, Eric Gnezda.

YOUR participation is a key part of the success of our series, having been broadcast to more than 400 PBS stations from coast-to-coast in nine seasons. Bring friends, and feel free to come and go as you please!

This taping is FREE to attend, registration is recommended.