Today’s stars join stars of tomorrow in the Born To Perform Gala Concert at The Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City on Wednesday 1 July at 7.30 pm.

Daniel Baron, Graeme Watkins, Nathan Ro and Cito join budding stars of tomorrow on stage to celebrate the young and professional talent that we have in South Africa.

Born To Perform is a platform created by Gemma Marinus Donnelly and Matthew Marinus to create professional opportunities in the performing arts industry for young budding talented children and teens.

Originally coming from the United Kingdom, Gemma has been a major player in the musical theatre industry in SA for over eight years before opening up an elite performing arts school (Stageworx School Of Performing Arts) in 2009. www.stageworx.co.za

Passionate about growing a bright future for our budding artists Gemma and Matthew are heavily involved in training and showcasing the future stars of SA.

Matthew is best known as the talented drummer for The Graeme Watkins Project, but most recently is fast making a name for himself as Dream Canvas Productions, a video production company he has recently formed, where he produces music videos and EPK’s for SA artists. www.dreamcanvas.co.za

For the Born To Perform Gala Concert at The Lyric Theatre on July 1, Gemma and Matt have searched all over Johannesburg for the most talented singer, dancers and actors in musical theatre and pop music to put together a variety style show inspired by the annual Royal Variety Show in England. These budding performers will be teaming up with some of SA’s favourite artists to show the world what South Africa has to offer.

Says Gemma; “We are lucky enough to have such strong industry support and have managed to gain assistance from some top industry players including Collett Dawson and Cito from The CoLab Network as well as seasoned pro’s such as Graeme Watkins (The Graeme Watkins Project) Nathan Ro (Lonehill Estate), Daniel Baron and Cito (WONDERboom).

“Having these artists performing with our young stars will not only give the youngsters an experience of a lifetime but also hopefully encourage other producers to create opportunities in the industry for them. “

The evening will be a dazzling display of song and dance provided by our leading stars alongside a wide array of budding talent. Here are just a few of the expected highlights:

• Graeme Watkins and Nathan Ro will be opening the show with a full swing section with over 60 children hand-selected from the Johannesburg region in an explosion of timeless dance and song classics.
• Cito will be performing one of his signature performances, Hallelujah, with the beautiful talented 10-year-old Tylo Venter.
• Daniel Baron will be performing a medley of recent popular radio songs with some upcoming music stars including Joshua Middleton, Lisa Kriel and Joshua Moreira.
• For the musical theatre lovers we have excerpts from Hairspray, Jesus Christ Superstar, Matilda, Smash and Jekyll and Hyde accompanied by Rowan Bakker (musical director of Jersey Boys SA Tour, Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You.)

The second leg to Born To Perform is the Born To Perform TV show. Gemma and Matthew are currently in the process of filming segments for this, such as the “Sing with a Star” segment where talented children will duo with local stars – such as Tylo Venter in this clip working with Belinda Davids from the recent The Greatest Love of All – The Whitney Show. Watch the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sd0kCWqKT8

The final aspect is the new Teen group “The Buzz” where it’s hoped to create a market for young singers in the SA music scene. You can see the debut of “The Buzz” at the showcase in July.

Tickets range from R180 to R220 and can be booked through Computicket or online at www.goldreefcity.co.za or by calling The Lyric Theatre Box Office on 011 248 5000.

Follow Born to Perform:

Website: www.borntoperform.co.za

Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/Borntoperformgala

YouTube: Born To Perform TV

Stageworx Performing Arts is always looking for new talent for their projects so if you are a young talented teen please send a clip to info@borntoperform.co.za

Watch these videos to give you an idea what to expect from the youngsters on the night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cBzy4ade94

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iiw93HzaMco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtfUq_FfF7w