Ambrose inherited the gift of music and singing from his father and as he was schooling he learnt to play the violin besides reading, writing and singing the solfeggio. He was privileged to receive musical education from great musicians of the times in Karachi
Goan Tiatr was born in Bombay (now Mumbai); was and is staged all over the world wherever Goans reside. Karachi, now in the neighbouring country of Pakistan, was in pre-independence times, an integral part of Hindustan, a colony of the British Empire. Karachi had a great Goan population living there earning a livelihood and it is this Goan populace who promoted the Goan Tiatr among its people. Many tiatrists flourished in Karachi during the infancy stages of tiatr: prominent among them is A M B Rose!
Ambrose Carlisto Piedade Fernandes was born on July 31, 1899 in the picturesque island of Calvim Aldona. His father Salvadore Fernandes was a noted Konkani artiste, a well-known composer and organiser of Konkani Zagors! Salvadore was employed in distant Karachi and at a very young age, his mother took him to Karachi and got him enrolled in St Patrick’s School run by the Jesuits. Ambrose inherited the gift of music and singing from his father and as he was schooling he learnt to play the violin besides reading, writing and singing the solfeggio. He was privileged to receive musical education from great musicians of the times in Karachi.
The Jesuits were impressed by the musical prowess of this young lad and soon picked him up to sing for the school concert. Ambrose excelled in the rendition doing justice to the faith reposed in him by his Jesuit superiors and at the same time did justice to the art that God had granted to him in inheritance. With this stupendous performance, he came to be known as ‘Kantorist Rose’ in his school. The Jesuits of St Patrick’s School split his first name and presented him as A M B Rose, a stage name he reverently used throughout his Stage career.
In the year 1919, Saib Rocha’s Union Jack Dramatic Company toured Karachi with his tiatr ‘Noketr Italia Xarachem’. This drama company had the best artistes of the times which included tiatr stalwarts like Emidio Sailor from Majorda, Simon Alphonso, Patrick Fireman, Mittaiwala, Alphonso Pako, Peter Peres Bomoicar, Johnnie Bartle among others. A M B Rose witnessed this tiatr performance and was filled with awe watching the star cast perform in the tiatr. He returned home with a pledge of being part of a tiatr, and this craving led him to write his first tiatr which was named ‘Gondoll Zunvlleam Bhavancho’ which he then staged at the Goa Portuguese Association Hall in Karachi. This tiatr not only confirmed his stage presence as a singer but made him known as an actor and director of repute. The Mayor of Karachi B F Cabral from Chimbel-Ribandar was so impressed by the tiatr performance that he instantly requested A M B Rose to direct his tiatrs ‘Gabriel Balchao Ani Tachi Sasumaim’, ‘A Conquista de Goa’ and ‘Inosent Hermione’. A M B Rose did great justice to the roles he enacted and became the first Goan to stage and perform a tiatr in The Palace Theater, which was then an exclusive auditorium for the Europeans! He also performed his tiatrs in the Zoroastrian Hall. He encouraged and inspired Goans settled in Karachi to promote and participate in Konkani Tiatrs and imbibed in them love for the mother tongue Konkani and Konkani Tiatr. In 1929 before bidding adieu to Karachi, he staged his tiatr, ‘Kuslolo Visvo Xekddo’ to a packed audience and returned to his native village Aldona.
After spending 4 years in Goa, A M B Rose migrated to Mumbai and began working first for Shah & C., and later in Nestle the Swiss Company from where he retired upon superannuation. Here he got his much-deserved break in J P Souzalino’s Conde de Monte Cruz, which was staged in P T Bhangwadi Hall. A M B Rose was an instant hit and his performance earned him offers to act in tiatrs written by legendary Tiatrists like Saib Rocha, Alexinho de Candolim among others. He not only excelled in his performance but gave tips to other artistes as well and helped them to hone their acting talents.
A M B Rose would enact his roles to perfection and his portrayal of the characters of the beggar in J P Souzalino’s Padr Agnel, the daring character in Alexinho de Candolim’s ‘Aga Kumpar’ and the character of a heartbroken father in Souzalino’s Hem Asa Tem, earned him great fame and respect.
“Ghatkeponnacho Inam’ and ‘Jadu’ were the most acclaimed and memorable tiatrs penned by him. He was affectionately called ‘Daddy’ by his tiatrist brethren.
At the age of 55, owing to poor health conditions, he returned to his ancestral house in Goa bidding adieu to the Konkani Tiatr stage and breathed his last on April 6, 1982, to partake in eternal life.
A M B Rose gave to the Konkani Tiatr stage and Music his beloved son; the legendary golden-voiced Melody King, Alfred Rose!
