A Pocket Oliver Twist at the National Children's Theatre

A Pocket Oliver Twist at the National Children's Theatre from 6 June to 23 July: “Please Sir, I want some more!” These immor­tal words will be trans­formed and given a new lease of life onstage at the National Children’s Theatre (NCT) dur­ing the winter school hol­i­days from 6 June 2011. This pro­duc­tion will trans­port audi­ences of all ages into the vibrant, visual heart of Victorian England.

Multi-award win­ning Artistic Director Joyce Levinsohn, adap­ted this Charles Dickens time­less tale of the orphan boy who dared to ask for more, into a fun, pro­fes­sional piece of enter­tain­ment. She cre­ates a story telling space that engages audi­ences from the open­ing scene. Great care has been taken to high­light the mes­sages from the Dickens’ clas­sic. Both young and old will be enthralled by this new musical ver­sion ... Continued

Jesus Christ Superstar on at Artscape

On at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town and presen­ted by Pieter Torien is one of the world’s best music­als: Jesus Christ Superstar. The musical tells the story of the last days of Jesus Christ and high­lights the polit­ical and inter­per­sonal struggles between Judas Iscariot and Jesus.  The new pro­duc­tion is a spec­tac­u­lar, dram­at­ised ver­sion of the last seven days of the life of Jesus of Nazareth as seen through the eyes of Judas.  Jesus is played by Cito and Mary Magdalene is played by South African singing sen­sa­tion Nadine.  Continued

Showing in May, June and July at Theatre On The Bay

There are three very dif­fer­ent pro­duc­tions on dur­ing the months of May, June and July at the pop­u­lar Theatre On The Bay in Camps Bay, Cape Town.  As always there are ticket price reduc­tions for some of the shows on a Thursday so you have no excuse not to treat your­self to some cul­tural fun!  See below for fur­ther inform­a­tion on what is com­ing up at Theatre on the Bay from May until July ... Continued

Joburg Theatre line-up

This year the line up at the Joburg Theatre is cer­tainly some­thing, it is going to provide enter­tain­ment from every angle and will get even the most timid of theatre goers excited. This is just a taste of what you get to look for­ward to in the begin­ning of this year ... Continued

Comedy is back on at the Baxter Theatre

Comedy is back on at the Baxter Theatre in Rondebosch. Make sure you book your seat for this all-female pro­duc­tion which will be tak­ing place every month for a year and the first show opens on Friday 28 January 2011. Cracks Only will be a reg­u­lar end-of month gig at the Baxter’s Flipside Venue. Continued

Pippi Longstocking — the Musical at the National Children's Theatre in March

Back by pop­u­lar demand,The National Children’s Theatre (NCT) in Parktown, Johannesburg, is proud to announce the second sta­ging sea­son of Pippi Longstocking a clas­sic children’s comic tale of Astrid Lindgren’s, (adap­ted by Thomas W Olson, with music by Roberta Carlson). This pro­duc­tion will run dur­ing the Easter School Holiday, from 7 March 2011. Continued

Evita showing at Theatre on the Bay

Theatre on The Bay

Evita is cur­rently show­ing at Theatre on the Bay in Camps Bay ... it’s so good and there has been such an over­whelm­ing response for tick­ets that the theatre has added a few extra dates to the show times.  So if you thought you’d missed out before get into the Cape Town Festive Season spirit and snap up a ticket!

The pro­duc­tion fol­lows the rise of a young and ambi­tious Eva; telling the story of the enorm­ous wealth and power she gained and how she became the much loved Evita ... Continued

Festive Season lineup for the State Theatre in Pretoria

The State Theatre in Pretoria has a fab­ulous lineup of enter­tain­ment through­out the month of December – per­fect to get you into the Festive Season swing of things.  Read on for more inform­a­tion on just a few of the per­form­ances on the go dur­ing the last month of 2010 ... Continued

Upcoming production from the Cape Dance Company

Cape Dance Company

The Cape Dance Company (CDC) has a strong his­tory in Cape Town and this year they are cel­eb­rat­ing their 15^th anniversary at the Artscape Theatre from 24 November to 4 December 2010. The CDC has been under the dir­ec­tion of Debbie Turner since 1995 and Jacqui Pells is now also assist­ing.  This is a con­tem­por­ary dance com­pany, but one that also explores both neo-classical and neo-contemporary works.

I have seen many per­form­ances from the CDC and they never dis­ap­point. The dan­cers are dis­cip­lined and very well trained. Each leg and arm exten­sion is gor­geous and the dan­cers are in uni­son you almost feel as if you’re watch­ing one solid move­ment per­formed by many dan­cers. Continued

Peter and the Wolf in Johannesburg from 11 November to 15 December

While grow­ing up I have fond memor­ies of my parent’s old record player and I would often enter­tain myself by put­ting on a record and mak­ing up my own story to the music. One record how­ever told a story through the vari­ous instru­ments and I took great pleas­ure in listen­ing to this one. The story of Peter and the Wolf.

If you would like to intro­duce your chil­dren to this lovely work or if you would like to indulge your­self in a trip down memory lane then you will be pleased to hear that this clas­sic children’s tale will be show­ing at the Joburg Promusica from 11 November to 15 December 2010 ... Continued

Cape Town Opera Sunset Picnic on Signal Hill this month

Opera on Top

Cape Town Opera’s Encore rounds off 2010 on a high note with Opera on Top — an opera per­form­ance and pic­nic on top of Signal Hill on Sunday 28 November 2010 from 17h30 to 19h30.

Guests will be enter­tained with a selec­tion of music and song from France, Spain and Italy, while enjoy­ing an array of tra­di­tional South African eats. Tenor Sunnyboy Dladla will be accom­pan­ied by musi­cians Nir Hermelin (gui­tar) and Danielle Asherson (violin). Continued

The Nutcracker at the State Theatre in Pretoria from 19 November to 19 December

The Nutcracker

I’m not sure it would be Christmas without The Nutcracker… I feel it is one of those shows that warms your heart and leaves you with a little bit of magic. The first per­form­ance of the Nutcracker was in 1892 at the Imperial Maryinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia. This year the SA Ballet Theatre in con­junc­tion with the SA State Theatre brings it to audi­ences on the opera stage from Friday 19 to Sunday 19 December 2010.

Since the first per­form­ance many, many years ago this pro­duc­tion has become syn­onym­ous with the fest­ive sea­son. If you haven’t seen it you may be ask­ing your­self why. Let me tell you a little bit about the story ... Continued

What's on at Artscape?

Cape Town’s Artscape Theatre has a wide vari­ety of enter­tain­ment on offer from now until early December, includ­ing "Interrupting Henry", "Annie" and a pro­duc­tion by the Cape Dance Company.  Read on for snip­pets of some of the pro­duc­tions on at Artscape ... Continued

Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates pantomime at the Joburg Theatre

Robinson Crusoe

Janice Honeyman’s new panto: Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates — We’re near­ing the Festive sea­son and while I cringe at the Christmas dis­plays and music that we are begin­ning to be bom­barded with in the shop­ping malls am I more than a little bit excited because I know this means it is panto time! And this year Janice Honeyman once again does not disappoint.

I am a big fan of panto’s, I’m not sure what it is about the singing, dan­cing and comedic exper­i­ence that is so great. Perhaps it makes me feel like a child again, per­haps it is the whirl­wind of action on stage, I’m not entirely sure but what I do know is that they are thor­oughly enjoy­able no mat­ter what age you are. So this is the per­fect oppor­tun­ity to get the whole fam­ily together to enjoy some­thing ... Continued

Raiders of the Lost Aardvark at the Baxter

Lost Aardvark ...

Something which is almost as old as me, ok well not quite… but still 21 is an import­ant age, is cel­eb­rat­ing this achieve­ment at the Baxter Theatre in Rondebosch until 6 November 2010. The Raiders series, Nicholas Ellenbogen pro­duc­tions have had immense suc­cess for the last 21 years and the latest instal­ment in the series Raiders of the Lost Aardvark is now on stage.

The ori­ginal Raiders series launched at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival and was greeted with a stand­ing ova­tion and this was just the begin­ning. In this pro­duc­tion Nicholas once again teams up with his son, Luke, and the two prove to be quite a duo. They have numer­ous achieve­ments and are the recip­i­ents of a vari­ety of awards. Continued