Durban - The immortal sounds of musical genius Freddie Mercury will reverberate through Suncoast casino next week when an all-South African cast brings the music to life in a tribute concert called “Queen: It’s a Kinda Magic”.
Publicist Kristy Mathews said the production was back in South Africa for the first time in three years after it was put on hold because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The show has been running since 2007 but the current cast was introduced in 2019: Freddie Mercury is played by Cape Town’s Warren Vernon-Driscoll, Durban’s Rusty Red is on lead guitar as Brian May, André van der Merwe plays bass guitarist John Deacon and Hilton drummer Michael Dickens takes on the role of Roger Taylor.
“The show itself has performed in South Africa many times, but this particular cast has only played here once before in late 2019 in Boksburg. Other SA tours were planned in 2020 but were cancelled for obvious reasons,” Mathews said.
She said the performers were a close-knit group who knew each other well, making for a really special performance and vibe on stage.
Vernon-Driscoll and Dickens both attended Drakensberg Boys Choir School.
They met Red and Van der Merwe while performing on the local music scene after school and the four played gigs together.
The performers returned home to South Africa last week after a whirlwind tour of Canada where they did 36 shows in 35 cities.
Mathews said most shows were sold out in advance because the tour had been scheduled for 2020 but was postponed multiple times because of the pandemic.
“So the fans were more than ready by the time we eventually got there this year,” she said.
Show director Johnny van Grinsven said the Globe at Suncoast was the perfect venue for next Saturday’s show, after which they head to Cape Town to perform at the 5 000-seat Grand Arena at GrandWest on September 10.
“The two large-scale arena venues provide the perfect backdrop for producers to create the ultimate rock concert experience.
“This is exactly how Queen’s music should be heard, live and loud, in these huge spaces full of people and buzz and atmosphere. It’s going to be incredible, something the audiences will never forget,” said Van Grinsven.
He said Queen’s biggest hits were on the menu and fans would get to hear the favourites like “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “We Will Rock You”, “We Are the Champions”, “I Want to Break Free”, “Somebody to Love”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Under Pressure” and more.
Tickets for the Durban show are almost sold out and can be purchased at Ticketpros.co.za starting at R150 each.
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Five lucky readers stand a chance to win two tickets each to the Queen show. To enter, SMS IOSQueen followed by your name and surname to 33258. SMS costs R1.50. Competition closes on Monday, August 29 at 8am.
The Independent on Saturday