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Terminology

Musical Theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theatre overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theatre stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals.

Rock Musical and Rock Opera

A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concept albums become rock musicals. Rock operas are sung-through productions with rock music scores and, like operas, have no spoken dialogue; all lines are sung.

Township Musical

"Township musical" is a term used to refer to a uniquely South African form of musical melodrama which evolved in the black urban townships of South Africa. In apartheid-era South Africa, the term "township" denoted a place that was anything but pastoral or idyllic. The townships were blacks-only suburbs, with shanties and cinder-block homes among the better-constructed residences, situated near large cities like Johannesburg. There were schools and churches, but very little in the way of organized entertainment. The form utilizes stock township characters and situations and melodramatic and moralizing plots in which good, sympathetic characters suffer as a result of the pressures of urban life and the machinations of evil urban characters, but ultimately triumph.

For more information, see Township musical.

Jukebox Musical

A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known popular music songs, rather than original music. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while others confine themselves to songs performed by one singer or band, or written by one songwriter.

Introduction

Producers

Musicals have been a staple offering in the entertainment industry in South Africa and also a popular choice for schools, student productions and amateur dramatic societies. This discussion considers the production of musicals by professional theatre companies in South Africa.

African Consolidated Theatres (1913-1970)

African Consolidated Theatres (ACT) was a national theatre and film organization active in the country between 1913 and 1970. The organisation regularly staged and toured large-scale musicals, including productions and stars imported from abroad.

Musicals produced by African Consolidated Theatres included:

1948: Perchance to Dream ; Oklahoma!

1949: Annie Get Your Gun

1950: Brigadoon

1957: Folies Bergère

1958: The Pajama Game

1959: Bo Jungle (a South African musical)

1962: My Fair Lady

1966: The Minstrel Scandals

1969: Fiddler on the Roof

1970: Non-Stop Minstrel Scandals

For more information, see African Consolidated Theatres.

State-funded productions by the Performing Arts Councils (1963-1990s)

In 1963, the Minister of Education, Arts and Science, Dr Jan de Klerk, formally proclaimed the institution of four new Performing Arts Councils (PACs), one for each of the four provinces: the Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB), the Natal Performing Arts Council (NAPAC), the Performing Arts Council of the Orange Free State (PACOFS) and the Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal (PACT). In 1966 a fifth was added, namely the South West Africa Performing Arts Council (SWAPAC.

Over the thirty years of their existence, these arts councils regularly produced large-scale musicals, independently and collaboratively. Often productions shared creative teams, sets, costumes and stars across the country's major cities. Almost all of the musicals produced by the arts councils were American musicals. CAPAB co-produced several musicals with local amateur theatre organisations in the eastern Cape, bringing professional sets, costumes, productions teams and leading players to Port Elizabeth and East London.

In the 1980s, departments for the production of musicals were created at CAPAB (CAPAB Musicals) and NAPAC (NAPAC Musicals).

Productions

Productions of musicals by the arts councils include:

1966: Gigi (CAPAB)

1973: Annie Get Your Gun (CAPAB); Kismet (PACT)

1974: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (PACT)

1975: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (PACT)

1976: The Sound of Music (PACT with Brickhill-Burke Company); Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (PACT)

1977: Chicago (PACT); My Fair Lady (PACT)

1978: Showboat (CAPAB); My Fair Lady (CAPAB); A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (PACOFS); Oliver! (PACT); You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (CAPAB)

1979: Showboat (CAPAB); Fiddler on the Roof (CAPAB); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (PACT); The Archon (PACT)

1980: South Pacific (CAPAB); Oh! What a Lovely War (PACT)

1981: My Fair Lady (CAPAB); Evita (PACT); Peter Pan (CAPAB); You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (PACOFS); Kismet (PACT); The Great Waltz (PACT); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (PACT)

1982: Gigi (CAPAB); The King and I (CAPAB); Evita (PACT)

1983: Snoopy!!! (CAPAB); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (PACT); Barnum (PACT); Winnie-the-Pooh (NAPAC); The Best of Brel (PACT)

1984: Gigi (PACOFS); The King and I (PACT), Showboat (PACT); Snoopy!!! (NAPAC)

1985: The Sound of Music (CAPAB); Fiddler on the Roof (CAPAB and PACOFS)

1986: The Wizard of Oz (CAPAB); Godspell (PACT); The Student Prince (PACT)

1987: Hello, Dolly! (CAPAB); My Fair Lady (NAPAC); The Great Waltz (PACT)

1989: Sweeney Todd (NAPAC); Candide (NAPAC); Sweet Charity (NAPAC); Mame (PACOFS); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (CAPAB); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (PACT)

1990: My Fair Lady (CAPAB); March of the Falsettos (CAPAB)

1991: Jesus Christ Superstar (NAPAC); Grease (PACOFS); March of the Falsettos (NAPAC); The Wizard of Oz (PACOFS)

1992: Gigi (PACT); The Sound of Music (CAPAB); Grease (PACT)

1993: The Sound of Music (PACT); Jesus Christ Superstar (CAPAB); Buddy! The Buddy Holly Story (PACT); Hair (CAPAB); The Wizard of Oz (PACT and Peoples Theatre)

1994: Mame (CAPAB); Camelot (CAPAB; Showboat (PACOFS); Evita (CAPAB); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (PACT)

1995: Cabaret (CAPAB); Fiddler on the Roof (CAPAB)

1996: Jesus Christ Superstar (CAPAB); The Sound of Music (CAPAB)

Collaborations

Productions staged in collaboration included:

1986: The Pirates of Penzance (NAPAC and PACT)

1987: The Great Waltz (CAPAB, NAPAC, PACT and PACOFS).

1988: Singin’ in the Rain (CAPAB, NAPAC, PACT and PACOFS).

1989: March of the Falsettos (NAPAC with Moira Blumenthal at the Adcock-Ingram).

1989: Camelot (NAPAC, PACT and PACOFS at the State Theatre).

1990: Ain’t Misbehavin’ (NAPAC with Pieter Toerien at the Andre Huguenet).

1990: My Fair Lady (NAPAC, PACOFS and PACT).

1990/1991: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (CAPAB, NAPAC, PACT and PACOFS).

1992: A Chorus Line (CAPAB, NAPAC, PACT, and the Johannesburg Civic Theatre Association).

1993: Oklahoma! (CAPAB, NAPAC and PACOFS).

1995: West Side Story (PACT and CAPAB)

Original South African musicals

The arts councils did not invest in the development of original South African musicals. Production of original South African musicals by any of the four Performing Arts Councils appears to be limited to:

1977: Fangs (a rock-musical comedy created by Ken Leach, PACT)

1979: Christian! (music by Nick Taylor, lyrics by Nick Taylor and Alex Learmont, book by Nick and Birthe Taylor, NAPAC, produced again by NAPAC in 1980 and 1986)

1988: King Afrika (PACT and the Lindbergs)

1992: Poison (by David Kramer and Taliep Petersen, CAPAB)

For further information on the various arts councils, see: Performing Arts Councils; CAPAB; NAPAC; PACT; PACOFS.

Independent producers

There have been a number of independent theatre producers in South Africa who have produced musicals around the country. However, unlike the Performing Arts Councils, these companies have functioned typically without government subsidy, relying predominantly on private and corporate investment and ticket sales to fund their projects. What follows is a chronological overview of musical theatre presented by independent production companies.

Brian Brooke Company (1948-1978)

The Brian Brooke Company was a theatre company founded in Cape Town by Brian Brooke and his wife Petrina Fry. The Brian Brooke Theatre Company utilized the Hofmeyr Theatre as its base (1948 to 1954), but also toured, notably to the Transvaal, under the auspices of African Consolidated Theatres. In 1955 they moved to Johannesburg where Brooke designed and built the Brian Brooke Theatre.

Musicals staged by the company include:

1956: Salad Days

1957: The Boy Friend

1958: Grab Me a Gondola

1960: Irma la Douce; Eldorado (a South African musical)

1961: Dingaka (a South African musical)

1962: Oliver!

1963: The Sound of Music

1965: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

1966: Listen to the Wind (co-produced with Taubie Kushlick); The Minstrel Show

1969: Cabaret

1974: Ipi Thombi (with Basil Rubin, a South African musical)

1977: Irma la Douce; Mzumba (a South African musical)

For more information, see Brian Brooke Company.

Union of South African Artists (1952-?)

The Union of South African Artists, often referred to simply as Union Artists, was founded in 1952 by Alf Herbert, Solomon Linda and Ian Bernhardt. With its headquarters at Dorkay House in Johannesburg, Union Artists was formed in response to the apartheid government’s restrictions on creative freedom for Black musicians. Union Artists also produced several original South African musicals, including:

1959: King Kong

1961: Manana the Jazz Prophet

1962: Back in Your Own Backyard; Sponono; Mr Paljas

1966: Sikalo

For more information, see Union of South African Artists.

Johannesburg Civic Theatre (1962-2009)

From 1962 to 1971, the Johannesburg Civic Theatre regularly presented musicals in association with Johannesburg Operatic and Dramatic Society (JODS). Productions include:

1962: The Most Happy Fella

1963: Showboat

1964: Showboat

1965: Guys and Dolls

1966: Around the World in 80 Days

1967: Kiss Me, Kate

1969: South Pacific

1970: Canterbury Tales

1971: Man of La Mancha; Applause

Productions staged in association with the Brickhill-Burke Company:

1982: Mame

1983: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Productions staged in association with PACT, CAPAB and NAPAC:

1992: A Chorus Line

Productions staged in association with Des and Dawn Lindberg:

1994: Godspell

Other productions:

2009: Aspects of Love

2010: The Boys in the Photograph

For more information, see Johannesburg Civic Theatre.

Hazel Feldman/Showtime Management (1970-1981; 1993-)

Hazel Feldman is a leading entertainment promoter and producer in South Africa. She began producing independently in 1970 until taking up a role at Sun International in 1981. When she left Sun International in 1993, Showtime Management was relaunched. Musicals produced by Hazel Feldman/Showtime Management include:

2003: Fame

2006: We Will Rock You

2007: Rent

2008: Mamma Mia!; Chicago

2010: Stomp

2011: Dreamgirls

2013: Jersey Boys

2017: Priscilla Queen of the Desert

2019: Chicago (in association with Barry and Fran Weissler and David Ian)

For more information, see Hazel Feldman/Showtime Management.

Brickhill-Burke Company (1974-1983)

The Brickhill-Burke Company was a production company run by Joan Brickhill and Louis Burke to produce large-scale musicals and extravaganzas. Over a decade, they produced a number of musicals, including:

1974: Minstrel Follies, Meropa (a South African musical)

1975: Gypsy

1976: The Sound of Music (produced with PACT); Follies Fantastique

1977: Winnie the Pooh; Grease

1978: I Love my Wife; Annie

1979: I Love my Wife

1980: They're Playing Our Song; Hello, Dolly!

1981: Bedazzled

1982: I Love my Wife; Mame (with Johannesburg Civic Theatre)

1983: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (with Johannesburg Civic Theatre)

For more information, see Brickhill-Burke Company.

Playhouse Company (1995-)

The Playhouse Company was founded in 1995 and launched on 11th February 1995 by Johan Zietsman, CEO of NAPAC, to be the resident productuion company for The Playhouse in Durban, following the closure of NAPAC. In 1997, Mbongeni Ngema became the Associate Director of musicals at The Playhouse. Asof 2024, the Playhouse Company is still operational.

Musicals staged by the Playhouse Company include:

1995: Mama; The Wiz

2006: My Fair Lady

2009: My Fair Lady

2013: Evita (with Durban University of Technology)

For more information, see The Playhouse and Playhouse Company.

Cape Town Opera (1999-)

Cape Town Opera (CTO) is a professional opera company in Cape Town, run as a permanent section 21-company non-profit performing arts organisation. It was officially founded in 1999 by the management and staff of the former South Africa Arts Council Opera and the Cape Performing Arts Board (CAPAB) (although the theatre programme for the 1997 production of Into the Woods shows it was produced by Cape Town Opera). The company was formed, following the demise of CAPAB Opera, to ensure the survival of opera in Cape Town.

Musicals staged by Cape Town Opera include:

1997: Into the Woods

2015: Heart of Redness (presented with Magnet Theatre, a South African musical)

2017: Tiger Bay The Musical (a South African musical)

2018: Tsotsi the Musical (a South African musical)

2024: Orpheus Macadoo (a South African musical)

For more information, see Cape Town Opera.

Packed House Productions (2003-2014?)

Packed House Productions was a South African theatrical production company founded in 2003 by Deon Opperman, who was joined in 2004 by producer Paul Berning. The company specialised in large-scale musicals, well-known favourites as well as newly created local musicals, including:

2005: The Sound of Music

2006: My Fair Lady

2007: Fiddler on the Roof; Soweto Story; Dis Hoe Dit Was – Die Steve Hofmeyr Storie

2008: Ons Vir Jou; The King and I; OperaMania

2010: Jock of the Bushveld – The Musical; Shaka Zulu - The Musical

For more information, see Packed House Productions.

Eric Abraham and The Fugard Theatre (2010-2021)

The Fugard was a theatre venue in Cape Town, founded by South African born and UK based producer Eric Abraham and named in honour of South African playwright Athol Fugard. The venue produced several musicals, including:

2010: Aesop's Fables

2012: Kat and the Kings; Trouble in Tahiti

2013: The Rocky Horror Show

2014: Blood Brothers

2015: Orpheus in Africa; Cabaret; West Side Story (in ArtsCape)

2016: District Six – Kanala

2017: Funny Girl; King Kong

2018: Langarm

2019: Kinky Boots

For more information, see Fugard Theatre.

Hazel Feldman and Pieter Toerien

Feldman and Toerien have collaborated to present a number of popular musicals in South Africa. These include:

2006: Menopause - The Musical

2007: Menopause - The Musical

2008: Disney's Beauty and the Beast; High School Musical

2012/2013: Dirty Dancing - the Classic Story on Stage

2016: Annie

For more information, see Hazel Feldman and Pieter Toerien.

Bertha Egnos

Des and Dawn Lindberg/CAT Productions

Baxter Theatre

Blik Productions

Taubie Kushlick

Pieter Toerien: The Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Les Miserables, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, Chess

Academy Theatre

American musicals in South Africa

While the key elements of musical theatre (spoken dialogue, song and dance) are rooted in the theatre of ancient Greece, the origins of the modern musical in the 20th century lie in operetta and music hall. From these emerged an evolved, increasingly-popular art form that was pioneered largely by American composer/lyricists like Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, brothers George and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, and Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1943, Rodgers and Hammerstein collaborated for the first time with Oklahoma!, producing a piece of theatre that was to shape the nature of musicals for decades to come. This work is widely considered to be the first modern musical, primarily because of the musical's focus on character, plot and drama over novelty acts, speciality acts and witty songs - the conventions of earlier musical entertainments.

Details of known productions of American musicals in South Africa are included below.

Cy Coleman

Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman) (1929–2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist. In a series of collaborations, Coleman wrote the scores to thirteen stage musicals. He won several Tony Awards, as well as three Emmy Awards and two Grammy Awards. The works staged in South Africa are listed below:

Jerry Herman

Herman (1931-2019) was a New York-born composer and lyricist who created several revues and musicals. Those performed in South Africa include:

Hello, Dolly!

Jerry's Girls

La Cage aux Folles

Mame

Kander and Ebb

Composer John Kander (1927-) and lyricist Fred Ebb (1928-2004) collaborated from 1962 until Ebb's death in 2004, and produced 15 musicals together. Their works staged in South Africa include:

Cabaret

Chicago

Lerner and Loewe

The work of lyricist/librettist Alan Jay Lerner (1918-1986) and German-born composer Frederick Loewe (1901-1988) has also proved popular across South Africa. Of their nine collaborations (between 1942 and 1974), five productions have been staged in South Africa:

Brigadoon

Camelot

Gigi

My Fair Lady

Paint Your Wagon

Frank Loesser

Frank Loesser (1910-1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and music to award winning Broadway musicals, films and more. In 1962, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Musicals by Loesser produced in South Africa include:

Guys and Dolls (book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert)
The Most Happy Fella
Where's Charley? (book by George Abbott)

Alan Menken

Alan Menken (1949-) is a prolific and multiple award-winning composer, writing for stage and screen, including 14 stage musicals and the scores of several successful Disney animated movies. Productions staged in South Africa include:

Beauty and the Beast (lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice)

Little Shop of Horrors (lyrics by Howard Ashman)

Sister Act (lyrics by Glenn Slater)

The Little Mermaid (lyrics by Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater)

Laurence O'Keefe

Laurence Crawford "Larry" O'Keefe (1969-) is an American composer for Broadway musicals, film and television. He won the 2001 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Musical as composer for Bat Boy: The Musical. His work staged in South Africa includes:

Rodgers and Hammerstein

Composer Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) and lyrics Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960) are arguably the most significant creators of musical theatre in the 20th century. Their eleven collaborations over nearly two decades (alongside their work with other collaborators) produced some of the most successful and popular works in the musical theatre canon. Many of these have been staged in South Africa (and are still popular choices for amateur companies and schools). Works staged in South Africa include:

Carousel

Cinderella

Oklahoma!

South Pacific

The King and I

The Sound of Music

Productions of work from their other collaborations:

Show Boat (Hammerstein and Kern)

The Desert Song (Hammerstein, Romberg, Harbach and Mandel)

The New Moon (Hammerstein, Romberg, Mandel and Schwab)

Stephen Schwartz

Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (1948-) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written hit musicals such as Godspell, Pippin, and Wicked, and the scores to several successful animated movies, including Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Productions of his works staged in South Africa include:

Disney's Mulan Jr

Godspell

Pippin

Stephen Sondheim

Stephen Joshua Sondheim (1930-2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. Over a career spanning six decades, Sondheim co-created 20 musicals and won over ten Tony Awards, nearly 20 Grammy Awards, and an Academy Award for his work. Works by Sondheim staged in South Africa include:

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A Little Night Music

Assassins

Gypsy

Into the Woods

Side by Side by Sondheim

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

West Side Story

Other productions

A Chorus Line

Annie

Annie Get Your Gun

Crazy for You

Fiddler on the Roof

Grease

Kiss Me, Kate

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Tomfoolery

Nunsense

Rent

Spring Awakening

March of the Falsettos/Falsettoland

Singin' in the Rain

The Pajama Game

British musicals in South Africa

Apart from regular productions of Lionel Bart's Oliver! and the ever-popular works of Andrew Lloyd Weber, British musicals have not featured as regularly on South African stages as those from the American canon. What follows is a brief overview of British musicals produced in South Africa.

Lionel Bart

Lionel Bart (1930-1999) was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote seven musicals between 1959 and 1969, the most famous of which is Oliver!, the musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel, Oliver Twist. Bart's musicals produced in South Africa are:

Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be

Lock Up Your Daughters

Oliver!

Leslie Bricusse

Leslie Bricusse (1931-2021) OBE was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films Doctor Dolittle; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Scrooge; Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; and the titular James Bond film songs "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice". Musicals by Bricusse produced in South Africa include:

Pickwick

Stop the World – I Want to Get Off

Noel Coward

Noel Peirce Coward (1899-1973) was a renowned and multi-talented British playwright, composer, performer, producer and theatre personality especially celebrated for his caustic wit. Coward wrote the words and music for eight full-length musicals between 1928 and 1963. By far the most successful was the first, Bitter Sweet (1929), which he termed an operetta.

Coward visited South Africa in 1944 at the behest of "Ouma" Smuts, the wife of the Prime Minister J.C. Smuts, as part of her war effort charities. Coward arrived in Pretoria in early February 1944 and immediately started doing shows for the Union Defence Force Entertainment Unit. On 17 February, he went down to Cape Town for his opening night – attended by Jan Smuts, his cabinet and other luminaries – and toured the country, rounding his tour off with two performances at the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg on 17 and 18 April. He then left for Bulawayo at the end of April.

Musicals and revues of Coward's works staged in South Africa inlclude:

Bitter Sweet

Cowardy Custard

Oh Coward!

Ivor Novello

Ivor Novello (1893-1951) was a Welsh-born composer, singer, actor, director, playwright. (Real names David Ivor Davies). Novello became one of the most popular British entertainers of the early to mid 20th century. He was imported, together with his full company by African Theatres, to tour his musical Perchance to Dream starring Vanessa Lee. It appeared at His Majesty's Theatre in 1947. He'd enriched the world of musical comedy with his wealth of melodies. He composed his last operetta, King's Rhapsody in South Africa. It was performed in London, making a star of Vanessa Lee. Muriel Barron took her role when the production came to South Africa in 1953. This production also starred Barry Sinclair, Olive Gilbert, Zena Dare and Anthony Farmer. Anthony Farmer directed Novello’s The Dancing Years for the JODS in 1961.

The productions staged in South Africa include:

King's Rhapsody

Perchance to Dream

The Dancing Years

Andrew Lloyd Webber

British-born Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-) is one of the most successful composers of musical theatre in the 20th century. His works have been popular in South Africa and have been regularly performed by professional companies and amateur theatre groups across South Africa. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was first presented in South Africa in 1974, just a short while after the production debuted in London. Tim Rice, the librettist, played the role of 'Pharoah' during a short run in 1975. It has been produced many times since. His second major success, Jesus Christ Superstar, premiered in 1971, but was banned in South Africa as it was considered blasphemous. The work was subsequently unbanned and first staged in South Africa in 1991. Performances during the run of the first production in Cape Town in 1993 were disrupted by protesters who objected to the show's portrayal of Jesus. Evita was first staged in South Africa in 1981, and has also been staged several times since. Although first staged in London in 1981, Cats was first presented in South Africa 20 years later. Several members of the South African cast subsequently toured the production internationally.

Works by Andrew Lloyd Webber staged in South Africa include:

Aspects of Love
Cats
Evita
Jesus Christ Superstar
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Sunset Boulevard
The Boys in the Photograph
The Phantom of the Opera

Other productions

The Rocky Horror Show

Return to the Forbidden Planet

Honk!

Saturday Night Fever

Musicals from across the Globe

Australian musicals

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

European musicals

Les Miserables

Mamma Mia!

Chess

South African musicals

Since the 1950s, original musicals exploring South African themes, socio-political issues and cultural identities have regularly featured on South Africa's stages. Often these works have celebrated or explored the language and music of particular regions in South Africa, such as the Cape-set works of David Kramer and Taliep Petersen or the Township musicals of Gibson Kente and Mbongeni Ngema, or the shows have targeted particular audiences, such as the Afrikaans musicals of Deon Opperman, or have presented white-washed versions of black community life in productions like King Kong and Ipi Tombi (both with predominantly white creative/production teams).

There appear to be very few examples of original South African musicals written in English by/for/about white South African communities. This is, no doubt, due to the popularity and accessibility of American and British musicals and the potential returns at the box office for such productions versus the risks associated with producing local and unknown work by unfamiliar artists.

A few original South African works have toured internationally and have had successful runs on Broadway and in London's West End. Arguably, the most successful exports have included African Footprint, Ipi Tombi, Sarafina and Kat and the Kings.

What follows is a brief overview of original South African musicals, including the works of:

The first South African Musical - King Kong

King Kong is a South African musical, with music by Todd Matshikiza, book by Harry Bloom and lyrics by Matshikiza and Pat Willams. This overview would suggest that the musical, King Kong, (written in 1957, and first performed in 1959) is the first South African musical. The musical is about the rise and fall of heavyweight boxer Ezekiel Dhlamini, nicknamed "King Kong". The production was to become one of the key theatrical events in the development of South African theatre, and it contributed powerfully to the development of the so-called “township musical” tradition utilized by Gibson Kente, Sam Manghwane and others, and even the eventual style and form of so-called “black theatre” and “protest theatre”.

For more information, see King Kong: An All-African Jazz Opera.

Bertha Egnos

Bertha Egnos (1913-2003) was a dramatist, musician, composer, piano teacher, and entrepreneur. Through several collaborations, she co-wrote a number of successful South African musicals performed by black performers. The stage version of Ipi Ntombi went on to become an international legend – praised by many, performed all over the world in one way or the other by multiple companies. Egnos' musicals include:

Bo Jungle (with music by George Hayden) (1959)

Dingaka (the musical) (written with Eddie Domingo) (1961)

Eureka (with a text by Percy Baneshik) (1967)

Ipi Ntombi (created with her daughter the lyricist Gail Lakier) (1974)

Lulu-Wena (with Gail Lakier) (1977)

Ipi Tombi - The Now Generation (1989)

For more information on her biography and career, see Bertha Egnos.

Gibson Kente

Gibson Kente (1932-2004) was a South African playwright, actor, director, musician, composer, impressario/manager and teacher.

Fondly known to many as "Bra Gib" ("Brother Gib") he was widely recognised to be the foremost black playwright ("the father of township theatre") and one of the leading cultural icons of his time. His seminal role in the development of a distinctively personal style of musical theatre and theatrical production has come to be known as the “township musical”. He created over 30 original theatrical works. Some of his musical works include:

Manana the Jazz Prophet (1963)
Sikalo (or Sikhalo) ("The Lament") (1966)
Lifa (1967/68)
How Long? (1973)
Beyond a Song (1975)
Can You Take It? (1977)
La Duma (or Luduma) ("It Thundered") (1978)
Taximan and the School Girl (1978/79)
Mama and the Load or The Load (1979)
Lobola (1980)
Bad Times Mzala (also known as Things Are Bad Mzala, 1982)
She Fears the Night (1985)
Sekunjalo (1987) and Sekunjalo, the Naked Hour (a musical) (1988)
Give a Child (1989)/We are the Future, 1990)
Mgewu Ndini (1990)
Mfowethu - Songs and Dance (1993)
Touch My Heart (1994)
Ezakithi ("It is us") (2001)
How Long 2

For more information on his biography and career, see Gibson Kente.

David Kramer and Taliep Petersen

David Kramer (1951-) and Taliep Petersen (1950-2006) were a successful team creating original, Cape-inspired South African musicals. Kat and the Kings was a particularly successful production abroad, winning several prestigious theatre awards.

Their works are listed below.

Crooners (1992)

District Six - The Musical (1987)

Fairyland (1990)

Kat and the Kings (1995)

Poison (1992, 1994, 2000)

Klop Klop (1996)

Ghoema (2005)

Ghoema - Spice Drum Beat (2006)

For more information on their biographies and careers, see David Kramer and Taliep Petersen.

David Kramer

David Kramer has produced several other original works, and these are listed below.

The Eyes of their Whites (1990) (a review with Paul Slabolepszy)

Die Ballade van Koos Sas (2001)

The Kramer Petersen Songbook (2007)

Some Like It Vrot (2011)

Blood Brothers (2013) (adaptation of Willy Russell's musical)

Orpheus in Africa (2015)/re-worked as Orpheus Macadoo (2024)

District Six - Kanala (2016)

Langarm (2018)

Ver In Die Wêreld Kittie (2024)

For more information on his biography and career, see David Kramer.

Todd Matshikiza

Todd Matshikiza (1921-1968) was a musician, composer, lyricist, journalist and broadcaster. Matshikiza collaborated on new South African musicals, including:

King Kong (1959)

Mkhumbane (1960)

For more information on his biography and career, see Todd Matshikiza.

Mothobi Mutloatse

Mothobi Mutloatse (1952-) is a writer, adaptor, director and theatre administrator.

His musicals include:

Lakutshon Ilanga (Music is a healer) (1989)
Baby, Come Duze (1990)
Bloke (1994)
Sell-Out! The Musical (1994)
Kippie - the Legend is Remembered! (a musical about jazz musician Kippie Moeketsi, 1997)
Nkosi: The Healing Song (2003)

For more information on his biography and career, see Mothobi Mutloatse.

Mbongeni Ngema

Mbongeni Ngema (1955-2023) was a playwright, director, actor, composer and impressario. Ngema's most famous work, Sarafina, was created in June 1986 and opened at the Market Theatre in June 1987, directed and choreographed by Ngema, with music by Ngema and Hugh Masekela. The play became enormously successful, going on to America, opening in January 1988 to run on Broadway for two years, then undertook a five-year tour of the United State of America. A second cast, which opened at the Market Theatre in 1988, went on a world tour for four years which included the UK, Europe, Australia, Japan and West Africa. It was nominated for and won numerous awards over the years. A famous film was made of it in 1992, directed by Darryl Roodt and produced by Anant Singh, featuring Leleti Khumalo and Whoopi Goldberg.

Ngema's musicals include:

Sarafina (1986)

Township Fever (1990)

Magic at 4 am (1990)

Mama (1995)

Sarafina II (1995)

Maria-Maria (1996)

The Zulu (2000)

For more information on his biography and career, see Mbongeni Ngema.

Deon Opperman

Deon Opperman (1962-) is a prolific and influential playwright, director, actor and entrepreneur. Several original musicals by Opperman have been staged in South Africa. These include: