India gets its first Broadway Musical

The 'Sound of Music' first premiered in New York in 1959 before debuting in London's West End in 1961. This month, it came to Mumbai for the first time. 

It was, in fact, the first time any major Broadway show has come to India and it is part of a push by Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani and his family that is bringing international art, retail brands and more to a city that has one of the fastest-growing millionaire populations in the world. 

Nearby and outfitted in Gucci, Valentino and Burberry, an audience of 2,000 packed the Grand Theater of the newly opened Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre for the Sound of Music opening on 3 May, with some paying more than $400 for 'diamond box' seating. 

The people going to the concerts and shows at NMACC are price inelastic consumers who are unaffected by challenges in the economy, and are insulated from the vagaries of economic cycles," said Ravi Kapoor, partner, retail and consumer at PwC India. 

"More than the 'lipstick' effect, these people want a 'feel good' effect and prioritise their experience first lifestyles and therefore derive real surrogate pleasure from such experiences and purchases of things."

This phenomena is crucial to the cultural clout the Ambanis are building in Mumbai with both the Jio World Centre that houses NMACC and their sprawling 17.5-acre Jio World Drive shopping centre. 

The Sound of Music is actually the second big show at NMACC. 'The Great Indian Musical: Civilization to Nation' ran from 3 to 23 April and featured more than 1,000 costumes by Bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra and an opening night performance by Nita Ambani, the centre's namesake and a Reliance Industries board member. 

Stars including Gigi Hadid, Zendaya and Tom Holland rubbed shoulders with politicians at the centre's launch and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a message commending the effort.