Don’t miss David Kramer’s new musical, Orpheus in Africa, which is being staged aat the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town. The show’s world premiere limited season was sold out earlier this year.

“It’s always exciting for us to present musical theatre,” says Daniel Galloway executive director of the Fugard Theatre. “But to be able to nurture and produce a new South African work is the most rewarding challenge of all.

“Unlike other shows that have been tried and tested on stages overseas, an original work like Orpheus in Africa had no predictable outcome. So we were especially thrilled at the overwhelming critical and box office response to it’s first ‘try-out, work-in-progress’ season in February. For those who weren’t able to get a ticket we offer an opportunity to see a work that David Kramer has ‘fine-tuned’ for the return season”

Orpheus in Africa is based on the little known story of Orpheus McAdoo and the Virginia Jubilee Singers’ tour of Queen Victoria’s colonies in the last decade of the 19th Century.

Orpheus McAdoo was a free born son of a slave and a graduate from The Hampton Institute in Virginia. He was the first African American impresario to perform in the British colony of South Africa where he and his group achieved unprecedented success. At the same time the musical charts the evolution of African American music from spirituals (Jubilee songs) to jazz and includes several original songs by David Kramer.

Aubrey Poo (Muvhango, Scandal, The Wild, Rent, Dreamgirls) leads the production, as Orpheus McAdoo, alongside Lynelle Kenned (West Side Story, Blood Brothers, Showboat), who also returns as Orpheus’s fiancé, Mattie Allen.

Also returning are: Jill Levenberg (Blood Brothers, Nancy), Jessica Sole (Beauty and the Beast, Annie), Dean Balie (Kat and the Kings, Blood Brothers), Sne Dladla (The Joke’s On You), Sanda Shandu (Presenter Search on 3), Bianca Flanders (Blood Brothers, Dig), Edith Plaatjies (Slick Swing, Blood Brothers), Graham Bourne (Showboat), and Katlego Moncho (Lerato, Waiting for the Rain).

Kramer and the Fugard Theatre are also delighted to announce that Carlo Daniels (Kat and the Kings, Blood Brothers), Robin Pieters (Vocal Mania, Kaapse Musiek in Colour 2), and Jarrad Ricketts (Boy Band Mania, The Standards) will join the company for this run.

Orpheus in Africa is an opportunity to step into the Victorian era and experience the powerful singing style of the Virginia Jubilee Concert Company as they recreate well known classics such as Roll Jordan Roll, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Hush and Deliver Daniel, and debut David Kramer’s specially written songs.

The creative team includes set designer Saul Radomsky (Kat and the Kings, The Shadow of the Hummingbird, Bad Jews) costume designer Birrie le Roux (Showboat, West Side Story), music director and arranger Charl-Johan Lingenfelder (Cabaret, West Side Story, The Rocky Horror Show) and lighting designers Daniel Galloway and Benjamin du Plessis (The Rocky Horror Show).

Tickets ranging from R110 (slightly restricted view) to R220 are available through the Fugard Theatre box office on 021 461 4554 or via http://www.computicket.com. This Wednesday there is a special offer of four tickets for R400 and the chance to take part in a Q&A with David Kramer. These tickets are only available at the Fugard box office. Call 021 461 4554 now to book.

Showtimes: Tuesday to Friday at 8 pm and Saturday at 4 pm and 8 pm.