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Mandela Trilogy – A Musical Tribute

Reading Time: 3 minutes

From prisoner to President and
from Nobel Laureate to revered statesman, Nelson Mandela is hailed
across the globe as a treasured icon. The life of this great man who
changed the course of South African history is a fascinating and
inspiring tale, now told as an on stage cultural showpiece. Mandela
Trilogy celebrates the vibrant variety of South African music while
dramatising the defining moments that shaped Mandela’s life.
Mandela Trilogy is Cape Town
Opera’s musical tribute to the extraordinary life of Nelson Mandela,
written by Michael Williams with music by Allan Stephenson, Mike
Campbell and Peter Louis van Dijk. The production begins its South
African tour at Sand du Plessis, Bloemfontein for two performances only
on Friday, 22 July and Saturday, 23 July 2011 followed by four
performances at the Playhouse, Durban from 29 July to 31 July 2011.
Thereafter the show moves to the Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg
for six performances from Saturday, 13 August 2011 to Friday, 19 August
2011. Tickets on sale at Computicket.
Presented by Cape Town Opera and
Rand Merchant Bank in association with KayaFM, Mandela Trilogy is a
major home-grown work featuring the multiple award winning South
African singer and recording artist, Gloria Bosman in a leading role.
The entirely South African cast includes singers Aubrey Lodewyk (Jake
in Porgy & Bess, La Traviata, Prince Yamadori in Madame Butterfly);
Schock Foundation Competition winner, Nozuko Teto (operatic roles
include the Marschallin in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Adina in
Donizetti’s L’elisir D’Amore; oratorio performances include Rossini’s
Stabat Mater and Mendelssohn’s Elijah). Award-winning musical theatre
performer, international movie actor and star of the small screen,
Aubrey Poo has also joined the cast of Mandela Trilogy.

Tuesday 21 June 2011 13:03

The show moves to the Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg for six performances from 13 August – 19 August

With the world’s eyes focused on
South Africa in 2010, writer Michael Williams felt the time was right
to create a large-scale stage work about the life of Nelson Mandela.
Faced with subject matter so complex and significant to our nation,
Williams settled on a multifaceted triptych structure, concentrating on
three key periods in Madiba’s life, each composed in a different
musical style.
Mandela Trilogy concentrates on
three key periods in Madiba’s life, each composed in a different
musical style making this piece unique, interesting and appealing to a
varied audience. Mandela Trilogy opens with an oratorio dramatising
formative moments in Mandela’s early years in the Transkei, as composer
Allan Stephenson weaves traditional Xhosa songs into a classical
framework. Mandela as revolutionary is brought to life in Mike
Campbell’s jazzy Sophiatown act, before Peter Louis van Dijk’s final
act examines the Robben Island years and the final walk to freedom.
All bookings at the Theatres or online www.computicket.com

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