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Football, ballet, music and comedy are on stage at the
Joburg Theatre Complex, offering a little something for every palate.
THE Joburg Theatre Complex, the City's entertainment leader,
has a full calendar planned for 2010, with no fewer than 20 shows lined up.
The Boys in the Photograph is the story of a group of young people wanting to lead normal lives in a city dominated by violence and hatred
The highlight in a year that will be filled with football is
The Boys in the Photograph, which the theatre considers its "core attraction"
for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. It's on at The Mandela from 18 May to 11 July.
The football tournament runs from 11 June to 11 July.
It is a reworked production of the hit musical, The
Beautiful Game, by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton, which was originally
produced in London in 2000 by The Really Useful Group.
Set in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, between 1969 and 1972,
it is centred on a photograph of proud, happy members of an amateur soccer team.
These are young people wanting to love, to play football and to lead normal
lives in a city dominated by violence and hatred.
Their lives are followed in a powerful and passionate
musical which is also a joyous celebration of the freedom that love - and football
- can bring. A match is recreated on stage with original and exciting
choreography.
Produced by the Joburg Theatre Complex in association with
Real Theatre, The Boys in the Photograph is presented by the City of
Johannesburg as a host city parallel event during the World Cup. The
award-winning creative team behind the show is headed by director Janice
Honeyman, set designer Johan Engels, lighting designer Nicholas Michaletos and
costume designer Birrie le Roux.
But before football, there is laughter, when The Real Joburg
Theatre Comedy Festival takes to the stage in March. A production by King Size
Comedy Management, it features some of the country's funniest comedians.
Marc Lottering and Nik Rabinowitz, join MC Chris Forrest on
the stage on 4 March at The Mandela. They are followed by Barry Hilton's Fresh
Catch on 5 March and David Kau's I Should've Done These Jokes First the next
evening, again at The Mandela. Hilton's new-found passion for fishing and
enjoying the great outdoors inspired his new show, which allows for his
quick-witted "Throw me a line" segment.
Hotel California - The Eagles Experience includes the hits Take it Easy, One of these Nights, and Heartache Tonight
There are plenty of other productions to see, starting with Hotel
California - The Eagles Experience. A musical showcase of the American band's chart-toppers, it includes songs from the 1970s onwards, such as Take it Easy, One of these Nights, Take it to the Limit and Heartache Tonight. Hotel
California is on at The Mandela from 20 to 31 January.
Cinema Wow, starring The Dahlings, a three-piece vocal
group, is a tour de force of music from the 1930s to the present. It includes songs
from the movies such as Life could be a Dream, Lemon Tree, ABC, Mas Que Nada
and Chasing Cars. The theatre describes the trio as "the Andrews Sisters meets
Beyonce meets cabaret, set against the surroundings of classical film".
It is on at The Fringe from 3 to 21 February.
It is more music with the Twelve Tenors, who are performing
in South Africa for the first time. The 12 good-looking young men with the
voices of angels have an interesting show. Included are opera arias, pop, jazz
and cabaret standards. Expect to hear songs such as Danny Boy, You raise me Up,
Bring Him Home, Mack the Knife, That's Life, Twist and Shout, Hey Jude and many
more.
The Twelve Tenors are on at The Mandela from 16 to 28
February, quickly followed by Fusión Flamenca at The Fringe from 10 to 14
March.
The click of a castanet, the whirl of a skirt and the
guitar's soulful sound make up the El Rincon Flamenco performance. Three years
ago, the team brought Caminando to Joburg. This time, Mireille Lenferna and
Joanne Bobrow have blended elements of other dance styles, including African
gumboot dancing and contemporary dance. The use of African percussion adds to
the intrigue.
Then, following a highly successful run in the United States,
comes Unforgettable: The Nat King Cole Story, starring Monroe Kent, at The
Fringe from 23 March to 11 April.
And indeed the whole story is here - his piano-playing days
in low down dives and honky-tonks, his breakthrough contract with Capital
Records, his fight against racism at the studio and in his own Hollywood
neighbourhood. The songs are here too, incredible hits like Mona Lisa, Route 66,
Too Young, Paper Moon and the classic Unforgettable.
Ballet season begins with Swan Lake, performed by the South
African Ballet Theatre. This classic ballet tells the tale of a princess held
captive as a swan by the spell of an evil magician, a spell that can only be
broken if a prince swears his undying love for her.
Swan Lake is on at The Mandela from 12 March to 4 April,
followed by another classic show - Opera Africa's La Boheme. In this
production, a South African cast interprets Puccini's romantic opera. It is
also on at The Mandela, from 11 to 25 April.
Ballet season begins with the South African Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake
Over at The Fringe, it is comedy again, with Mile High with Cathy
Specific, a hilarious show about a young girl called Cathy, played by Brendan
van Rhyn, who dreams of being an air hostess and a Broadway star. It runs from 27
April to 29 May.
There is more dance, with a very short run by the State St
Petersburg Male Ballet. The astonishing troupe performs Russian, classic and
modern ballet, at The Mandela from 28 April to 2 May. It is followed by The
Boys in the Photograph, and all things football.
Johnny Clegg - A South African Story is also staged during
the tournament, on 11, 13, 25, 26 and 27 June and 2 July, also at The Mandela.
With a career spanning three decades, Clegg is one of South
Africa's most prolific and well-known musicians. By combining African music structures with
Celtic folk music and international rock sounds, he pioneered a new and unique
sound, establishing himself as South Africa's biggest musical export.
Known for his energetic stage performances, this show
highlights his musical and cultural influences, using amusing anecdotes,
historical bits and pieces, and anthropological facts.
More fantastic theatre comes from Le Grand
Cirque Fantazie, a new production from a cast of 50 acrobats and performers
from over 15 countries. The artists come from China, Russia and Monte Carlo,
among other nations. The circus is on at The Mandela from 15 July to 8 August.
Then there is more ballet, again from the South African
Ballet Theatre. This time the company performs Carmen. It is back on the Joburg
stage after a seven-year absence, running from 13 to 29 August.
At The Fringe, catch The Chilli Boy, by actor playwright
Matthew Ribnick. It is the story of an old Indian woman who is reincarnated as
a white gangster from Boksburg. Opening on 1 September, the show ends on 3 October.
It is replaced by another Ribnick work. Monkey Nuts, his new play, is the story
of Edgar Chambers, an odd character obsessed with entering competitions. It's
at The Fringe from 6 to 31 October.
Jock of The Bushveld - The Legend Lives On, a musical two
years in the making, retells the classic South African dog tale featuring the
famous Jock. It is at The Mandela from 4 September to 10 October.
The end of the year is panto time, this year starring Marc Lottering as the dame in Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates
And finally, as always, the Joburg Theatre Complex ends the
year with a rollicking pantomime from Janice Honeyman, the city's panto queen.
This year, she promises Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates, with Marc Lottering,
Tanya van Graan, Carlo McFarlane and Kim Engelbrecht.
It's booked for The Mandela from 3 November to 31 December,
and is always hugely popular.
Ticket prices for the different shows vary, starting at R90 and
going up to R293. Call Computicket on 083 915 8000 or visit the website
for more information.
For group bookings of 10 or more tickets, contact the theatre's box office on
011 877 6853.
Joburg Theatre Complex, on Loveday Street in Braamfontein, has eight hospitality venues
available for hire. They range from 10-seat dining rooms to 200-capacity
cocktail lounges, each one offering a different entertainment choice. For VIP
hospitality during the day or evening, call the theatre's hospitality office on
011 877 6834/5.
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