A Chorus Line
The Oakfields College Faculty of Dance and Musical Theatre presents the musical theatre classic: A CHORUS LINE
Image Supplied by Oakfields College
The annual production presented by The Oakfields College Faculty of Dance and Musical Theatre has become highlight for theatregoers and lovers of musical theatre.
This year, A CHORUS LINE is bound to captivate, delight and move audiences at the Joburg Fringe Theatre from the 9 – 19 August.
A CHORUS LINE is a magnificent concept musical capturing the spirit and tension of a Broadway chorus audition by presenting a true picture of what it’s like to be in the theatre world: glamorous, yes, but at times also tough and heart-breaking!
One Saturday night in January 1974, nineteen of Broadway’s best dancers gathered to share their stories. They sat in a circle; a tape recorder was turned on as they described the events that shaped their lives and their decisions to become dancers.
Choreographer Michael Bennet transformed these personal accounts into a series of songs and monologues which explore stories of disappointment, dreams and the plight of the professional dancer.
And so began the creation of A CHORUS LINE which became one of the longest running shows in Broadway history, winning nine Tony Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama!
The show features memorable musical numbers including ‘What I Did for Love’, ‘One’, ‘The Music and the Mirror’, and ‘I Hope I Get It’, to name but a few. With music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante, A CHORUS LINE is a brilliantly complex fusion of song, dance, and compellingly authentic drama, which has remained a musical theatre classic over the years.
Director and choreographer Timothy Le Roux has embraced the universal themes and timelessness of A CHORUS LINE in his creative approach to this musical theatre classic.
Timothy le Roux is a renowned industry creative who started working as a professional dancer 25 years ago and who has since forged a highly successful career in the theatre world.
Well known for his inspired choreography and (most recently) his direction on the highly acclaimed Avenue Q at the Pieter Toerien Theatre, Timothy’s accolades include a Naledi Theatre Award as well as a FNB Vita Young Choreographer’s Grant.
He has worked extensively as choreographer, resident director, director and company manager on a vast array of national and international productions including Showboat, Starlight Express, Sister Act, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Color Purple and many others, as well as more than ten of the Janice Honeyman pantomimes at the Joburg Theatre where he is currently the resident company manager.
‘Set in a theatre, about a group of performers auditioning for a musical, made the context of the work hugely accessible to the students and will appeal to any people who believe in the magic of theatre’
says Le Roux.
‘It is, after all, the world we inhabit. The world we love. We understand the universal struggles and insecurities performers experience as they are always chasing the next role’.
Over the past six years, the Oakfields College Faculty of Dance and Musical Theatre has established a solid reputation for setting the barre when it comes to quality student productions. This classic musical, promises to deliver yet another theatrical success, bound to have audiences captivated and enthralled as they explore the inner lives and poignant ambitions of the memorable, tragic and hilarious characters of A CHORUS LINE.
A CHORUS LINE will run at The Fringe, Joburg Theatre from 9 to 19 August in the evenings (excluding Mondays) at 20h00 with additional Saturday and Sunday matinee performances at 15h00.
Tickets cost R75 per person. Students and scholars pay only R65 per person.
Online bookings can be made on the theatre website at www.joburgtheatre.co.za or call 0861 670 670.
Please note:
Wheelchair access can be arranged given 24 hour prior notice.
There is no age restriction.
However, there is very occasional use of strong language and contentious subject matter.
MORE ABOUT OAKFIELDS COLLEGE
After a decade of successfully providing tertiary education in the creative arts, Oakfields College established a dance and musical theatre faculty; a faculty that is already able to boast some exceptional talent currently working across the world on professional contracts with 100% of final year students being signed with SA’s top agents in 2017.
The Oakfields College Faculty of Dance and Musical Theatre lecturers are practising professionals in their specialised fields with hands-on experience and are familiar with the current trends and demands of the performing arts industry. These lecturers have effectively trained a number of performing arts students who have subsequently forged highly successful and lucrative careers in the entertainment industry and have often dominated the stages in South African theatre as well as in all related spheres within the profession; including television, film, radio and corporate entertainment.
The course covers a multitude of disciplines including singing, dancing, acting, choreography and directing. It aims to cultivate a new generation of versatile professionals who not only demonstrate an academic understanding of the performing arts but who also display an exceptional level of cultivated talent, superior skills, immaculate work ethic and professionalism.
