With only 9 days to go, the countdown is on to the star-studded production FINDING THE LIGHT – AN EVENING WITH MUSICAL THEATRE STARS. It runs at Artscape Opera House in Cape Town from Wednesday 17th to Sunday 21st April 2024 for six shows only, with the Gala Night on Thursday 18th April 2024.
Initiated by the Finding The Light Foundation, FINDING THE LIGHT – AN EVENING WITH MUSICAL THEATRE STARS is a concert-style celebration of some of musical theatre’s best loved shows, with 100% of net proceeds going towards supporting the work of the Kolisi Foundation.
Musical Theatre Stars of the West End, Broadway and South Africa come together for this theatrical highlight, accompanied by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Brandon Phillips (CPO Resident Conductor), and hosted by Marc Lottering.
Bookings can be made at Webtickets.
“Tickets are flying out the door, so make sure you get your tickets booked for this unique production, which will be presented for six performances only,” says Jessica Ross, Executive Producer of the show and co-founder of Finding The Light Foundation.
“With the production being just weeks away, we are thrilled to share that audiences can enjoy hits from RENT, The Greatest Showman, Frozen, The Colour Purple, Into The Woods, Phantom Of The Opera, Annie, Guys & Dolls and Dear Evan Hansen. There are also beautiful favourite songs from Sunset Boulevard, Chess, Little Shop of Horrors, Company, West Side Story and Les Misérables!” says Daniel Galloway, Producer of Finding The Light.
The dazzling international soloist line-up is Kim Criswell (Olivier-award nominated for Annie Get Your Gun; “Lucy” opposite Sting in 3 Penny Opera; Cats); Michael D. Xavier (Joe in Sunset Boulevard opposite Hollywood film star Glenn Close; Joe Bradley in Roman Holiday The Musical; ITV’s Grantchester); David Habbin, (West Side Story, Les Misérables, Amici Forever, and co-founder of the Finding the Light Foundation) and Broadway Star Nikki Renée Daniels (Company; The Book of Mormon; Les Misérables; Hamilton).
They join South Africa’s musical stars Jonathan Roxmouth (Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Cats), Lynelle Kenned (West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Orpheus in Africa), Tshepo Ncokoane (Janice Honeyman’s Peter Pan Pantomine, Kinky Boots, We Will Rock You – The Musical World Tour) and Lucy Tops (Kinky Boots, Funny Girl, The Romantix).
“We are also delighted to announce our ensemble of 15 brilliant young talents featuring student performers from Cape Town’s Waterfront Theatre School and LAMTA,” says Daniel Galloway, who is producing the event alongside Jessica Ross.
“From the Waterfront Theatre School, we welcome William Young, Asanda Mngadi, Jamie Peters, Phiwe Ngqangweni and Saskia Bormans. The performers joining us from LAMTA are Benjamin Wood, Euan Frankim, Matt Blerk, Peta Duckitt, Alessia Gironi, Grace Brown, Nikita Latimer, Sash Duffy, Keely Crocker and Michiel Bester.”
FINDING THE LIGHT – AN EVENING WITH MUSICAL THEATRE STARS will be staged by the UK’s Paul Robinson (Singing In The Rain – Olivier Nominated) with Creative Direction by David Habbin (West Side Story, Les Misérables), Musical Supervision by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder (West Side Story, King Kong) and Musical Direction by Dawid Boverhoff (Kinky Boots, Funny Girl, Sound of Music).
FINDING THE LIGHT – AN EVENING WITH MUSICAL THEATRE STARS the brainchild of Jessica Ross and husband David Habbin, is the culmination of a coordinated international fundraising drive for the Kolisi Foundation. The campaign launched with a star-studded gala dinner with Siya & Rachel Kolisi in London on 14th March and, will include a pledge campaign for the Kolisi Foundation running alongside the show.
The Finding The Light show will also bring together the community through two out-reach initiatives: on the morning of 19th April over 20 development organisations and the academic community will come together at Artscape to share knowledge and best practice on addressing the extremely high levels of trauma in South African communities; then on the 20th April 250 program beneficiaries for these organisations will have the opportunity to experience the magic of the theatre for the first time.
The Kolisi Foundation was set up by Siya and Rachel Kolisi in 2019 to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing South African communities.
Siya and Rachel Kolisi founded the Kolisi Foundation with a vision to use their influence to change the stories of inequality in South Africa, to see thriving communities. The Foundation works alongside others to make a difference, by “remembering the one, one by one” to impact the nation. The foundation’s programs focus on three core areas: food security; gender-based violence and creating safe spaces through sport and education.
The two organisations, in their own right, were both founded with the common desire of making an enduring difference in South Africa.
For further information visit https://kolisifoundation.org/ and https://ftl.org.uk/
Tickets, starting from R190 and can be booked at Webtickets.
Evening performances are at 20h00, with matinees on Saturday at 15h00 and Sunday at 14h00.
*VIP experience packages are available and include a dedicated parking spot, welcome sparkling wine and prime seating.
No babies on laps, no under 5s.
