‘Why we partnered Heartbeat The Musical’

From what went down at the Agip Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, recently, it appears the Bank of Industry (BoI) is not relenting in it’s resolve to continue supporting the creative industry. Having assisted filmmakers and fashion designers through different funding schemes, BoI reaffirmed its commitment to the industry when it partnered veteran Nollywood couple Olu Jacob and Joke Silva, in a stage project, Heartbeat The Musical.

A series of 28 shows spread across 19 days, the theatrical masterpiece, is anchored on the fictional Grace House, a well-known shelter for the homeless, where the play explores the themes of love, hate, betrayal, family, identity, politics, homelessness and social justice through music and dance.

Depicting the everyday life and political terrain in Nigeria, Heartbeat makes an effective portrayal of happenstances in the society with such theatrical presentation that had the audience glued to their seats for more than one hour, cheering the cast for great acting and elevated musical dialogues as the characters converge in and around Grace House in search of refuge and atonement.

“It’s a very splendid evening and we are glad to be a part of this theatrical show, particularly when you look at the environment; a little bit of pressure, a little bit of tension. There is indeed the need to relax after the hard day’s job. There must be a good mix of work and play.”

On why the bank is at the forefront of supporting the creative industry, Joseph, who urged other investors to look towards the industry, said, “I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for investment in the creative industry.  You can see with what has happed tonight, especially talking about the turn out even though this is a weekday. The creative industry is the place to put one’s money and we expect that the return will be worth it at the end of the day. You will be surprised that it is even during recession that people tend to embrace the creative activities even more because we really need to find a way to relax; we need to find a way to network and also an avenue where we can meet different people, including people we haven’t met in a long time.”

He continued: “For me, I believe that investing in the creative industry will be a very good way of putting one’s money. And of course it also helps in reducing the state of unemployment. You can imagine how many of them participated in this programme today. At least they would have been empowered, and this is the kind of empowerment that we believe the creative industry should create so that people can have some money in their pocket,” he said.

Written by Tosin Otudeko and Debo Oluwatuminu, and directed by Najite Dede, Heartbeat The Musical is a tale of hope. The songs are original compositions, written by Tosin Otudeko and produced by Efosa Lawal.

The play parades not less than 33 cast and 10 crew members, including popular actor, Femi Jacobs, who plays the role of JD Dacoster, the corrupt politician who seeks atonement in the end.