IN March Bridgetown Theatre Company in collaboration with Bridgetown High school, sent 14 of their high school students to the Inspired stages workshop at Grandwest. Here the students empowered their talents in dance, drama and music, returned to our communities and imparted their acquired knowledge to other similar minded performing arts students. This meeting of minds resulted in producing the original musical Love is Beautiful.
The show will be performed at High School Jam at the Grandwest Arena on August 20 at 10am. High school Jam is a hugely successful initiative which encourages learners to conquer their fears.
This high-energy, colourful musical pays tribute through its use of local music to well-known musicians from the 1970’s and 1980’s - Jonathan Butler, Richard Jon Smith, Zayn Adams; Ricardo, Invaders, Basil “Manenberg” Coetzee, Robbie Jansen and more.
The youth have here deliberately decided to use these music genres because they feel strongly that we have lost our musical identity by continually supporting overseas music. And in the process forgetting that these local icons of the 1970-1980 apartheid era endured a great deal of hardship, discrimination and poverty to produce high calibre music.
Love is Beautiful pays homage to them by saying “We salute you.” So go and hear songs like For your Precious Love, Sexy Ways, Please Stay, That’s why I love you, Give a little Love and more, rendered by a talented cast of 20 youthful singers, dancers and musicians.
The cast comes from various townships and suburbs - Bridgetown, Kew Town, Vanguard Estate, Heideveld, Mitchells Plain, Elsies River, Wynberg and Lansdowne . Regardless of the diverse socio-economic backgrounds of the cast, their communality of purpose is that they all love music and dance. In this there is no difference and their objective is to perform a high concept musical that evoke emotion and entertains for the great good of everybody
The cast of singers and dancers of the musical are Caswill Adams, Shane Davids, Mujahid Kamish, Ashwin Faroa, Chad Arendse, Cealina-joy Charles, Tanya Johnson, Leah Petersen, Gershwin Andrews, Lindsay Michaels, Jennifer Barnard, Martinique Bayman, Joy Davids and Clint Van Den Broeck. Musicians are Shaun Abrahams (drums), Taygan Engel (keyboard), Ryan Petersen (guitar) and Lisa Wesson (bass).
Love is Beautiful is produced and choreographed by Joelene Daniels with vocal coach Jennifer Barnard. Arranger is Mark Goliath and the writer and director of the show is Theo.E.Davids. - Staff Writer
l Book: Fowzia Khan 082 7167179. Information: Bridgetown Theatre Company face b ook page.