. The historic Cleveland Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio,
where "Swamiji" the laser show took place
on October 19, 2013. (Right) The Sorcar group near the hall
The non-stop winning stream continued. "Swamiji" came, saw and won Cleveland and Columbus, both in the State of Ohio, leaving memorable experience in the minds of the Ohioans
October 19, 2013, Saturday, Cleveland, OH:
The show at Cleveland was held at the Cleveland Music Hall, the historic theater which was built in multi-phases during 1903-1922. Sorcar was humbled to display his laser documentary at the theater which was the venue for many rock and roll acts, including such legendary performers as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Rolling Stones.
The event started at 3:00 pm by the Cleveland Chapter of SEWA International, where they displayed video projection of SEWA's goal, accomplishments, and gave a series of speeches before introducing Manick Sorcar and handing him the wireless microphone to take over.
Manick introduced the show with three parts. The first part is a Sanskrit prayer dance dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda. The second part is a ballet on an overture sung by K. J. Yesudas which is a composition of Swami Vivekananda in Bengali. The third or the main part is a one-hour laser-journey through the life of Swamiji from birth, to youth, meeting with his master Sri Ramakrishna, taking monastic vows, traveling to the USA as the first Hindu monk to speak at the Parliament of World’s Religions in 1893, lecturing around the world, founding the Ramakrishna Mission to his Mahasamadhi.
The unique 1.5 hour show on Swami Vivekananda was witnessed by spellbound audience of all demographics ranging from small children to senior citizens in pin-drop silence for the entire duration. A burst of applause greeted the Sorcars and their crew when they came to take a bow at the end of the show, following the same elegance, dignified and emotional reactions from the audience as they took place in other cities.
After the show of Cleveland, Manick Sorcar Productions team and their equipment were in their traveling coach for a three non-stop hour ride to Columbus, OH. They reached the hotel at 11:30 pm on October 19 itself, when they retired to get ready for the next show at the Capitol Theatre at the Riffe Centre Theatres, Columbus, Ohio, 4pm.
October 20, 2013, Sunday, Columbus, OH:
The visit to Columbus was of special significance to Manick Sorcar, as this was his third visit. The first two were to receive awards from the Columbus International film festivals for his animation "The Sage & the Mouse" in 1993, and "Rule of Twenty-One" in 2003, two short animation based on a fable from The Panchatantra and a non-sense poetry of Sukumar Ray, respectively.
Capitol Theatre at the Vern Riffe Center Theatres, Columbus, Ohio where "Swamiji" show
took place on October 20, 2013
(Left) People await at the lobby.
(Right) A portion of the auditorium as people start coming in
Opened in 1989, the Capitol Theatre is located in the Vern Riffe Center for Government and Arts. It is a part of the Riffe Center Theatre Complex, which includes four state-of-the-art theatres, scenery and costume shops, and offices.
For the SEWA presentation, the MC was Mr. Swaroop Joshi, Prof. Sree Srinath gave introduction to SEWA's goals and accomplishments, and Mr. Hari Narayanswami was the keynote speaker.
The unique 1.5 hour show in Columbus was experienced in pin-drop silence by the spellbound audience for the entire duration. At the end of the show as the Sorcars were felicitated by the SEWA International Columbus Chapter, many waited to personally congratulate the Sorcars with emotional and heart-felt comments for the 'life-time experience' they had. Mr. Shiv Mishra formally concluded the great event with Vote of Thanks.
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