Kat & the Kings comes home to District 6

Olivier Award-Winning Kat and The Kings set for the Fugard Theatre.

More than a decade after its double Olivier award-winning run in London’s West End and on New York’s Broadway, Eric Abraham and the Fugard proudly present a new production of David Kramer and Taliep Petersen’s hit musical Kat & the Kings at the Fugard Theatre this May.

This high energy, smash hit musical will be performed for the very first time in the heart of District 6 with a combination of award-winning soloists and a dazzling new young cast from Cape Town.

Set in Cape Town’s District 6 in the 1950s, Kat & the Kings explores the journey of teenager Kat Diamond (played by Dean Balie), from singing outside the Westminster Café to recording a seven single record and performing at The Claridges Hotel in Durban. Young Kat, who is convinced that he is the best singer and dancer in District 6, forms the a cappella group the Cavalla Kings with his friends Ballie (Carlo Daniels), Bingo (Grant Peres) and Magoo (Zak Toerien). When Magoo’s sister Lucy Dixon (Amy Trout) decides to take them under her wing, the quintet, with their American doo wop and rock and roll influences, becomes a sensation in the District. Danny Butler who played the older Kat Diamond in London, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Vienna will reprise his role at the Fugard Theatre. Audiences can look forward to a full live band, led by the talented musical director and saxophonist Don-veno Prins, who will accompany the action every night.

Award-winning company members Alistair Izobel and Loukmaan Adams will join director David Kramer as they take on new roles in the production of Vocal Coach and Choreographer respectively. Saul Radomsky, who designed Kat & the Kings for the West End, will design the new production at the Fugard Theatre. Illka Louw who designed the costumes for District Six, Ghoema and Koos Sas, will be responsible for costumes on this new production of Kat & the Kings

After touring South Africa, the original production of  Kat & the Kings was invited to the Tricycle Theatre in London in November 1998 and then owing to public demand transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End. Kat & the Kings won the Olivier Awards for Best New Musical and the entire cast won the award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1999.  A first for a South African production. The production then transferred to Broadway and was nominated for a Tony, a Drama League and 3 Drama Desk Awards. The New York run opened on August 19, 1999 at the Cort Theatre and ran for half a year.

Prior to each show, patrons can enjoy dinner at the Diamond Café which will open for the run of the show across the road from the Fugard Theatre. The café, situated in the recently refurbished Fugard Theatre Annex Diamond House, 23 Harrington Street (across the road from the Fugard Stage Door) will offer a simple, delicious menu of traditional Cape Town dishes such as bobotie, bredie, breyani en blatjang, cooked by those who grew up eating and cooking it and have family links with District 6. The Diamond Café will be open from 6pm until 9pm and the Fugard Bar will be open nightly from 6pm to 11pm.

Kat & the Kings previews start from the 1st May with tickets from R90 to R150 via the Fugard Theatre box office on 021 461 4554, Computicket.com and 0861 915 8000, with generous discounts available for the Friends of the Fugard. Patrons who are not yet signed up members of the Friends of the Fugard program can do so by clicking onto www.thefugard.com or by calling the theatre’s box office. Reservations for both the production and for a pre-show dinner at the Diamond Café are via the Fugard Theatre box office. Performances run Tuesdays to Fridays at 8pm and on Saturdays at 5pm and 8:30pm