Local and International Guest Artists for
Finding The Light – An Evening With Musical Theatre Stars
The star-studded line-up of international guest artists and South African musical cast make-up a stellar line-up for Finding The Light – An Evening With Musical Theatre Stars at Artscape Opera House from 17th to 21st April 2024, with the Gala Night on Thursday 18th April 2024.
Accompanied by the full Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, and hosted by Cape Town’s very own Marc Lottering, Finding The Light – An Evening With Musical Theatre Stars promises a visual and auditory kaleidoscope in celebration of our humanity and our collective search for the light. This musical theatre showpiece will run
The FTL Foundation is proud to announce their debut on-stage offering as they assemble London’s West End and South African musical theatre Stars to take to the Artscape Opera House for a 2-hour Musical Theatre Event that will leave you breathless, while supporting a constellation of charities tackling some of the toughest challenges in South African communities.
For the first time, South African audiences will have the chance to savour performances by Broadway and West End luminaries Kim Criswell (Olivier-award nominated for Annie Get Your Gun; “Lucy” opposite Sting in 3 Penny Opera; Cats); Michael D. Xavier (Joe in Sunset Boulevard opposite Hollywood film star Glenn Close; Joe Bradley in Roman Holiday The Musical; ITV’s Grantchester); David Habbin, (West Side Story, Les Misérables, Amici Forever, and co-founder of the Finding the Light Foundation) and Broadway Star Nikki Renée Daniels (Company; The Book of Mormon; Les Misérables; Hamilton).
They join South Africa’s beloved music stars, who are no strangers to international stages themselves, Jonathan Roxmouth (Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Cats), Lynelle Kenned (West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Orpheus in Africa), Tshepo Ncokoane (Janice Honeyman’s Peter Pan Pantomine, Kinky Boots, We Will Rock You – The Musical World Tour) and Lucy Tops (Kinky Boots, Funny Girl, The Romantix).
Original visual elements and musical scoring link a programme of exceptional vocal performances and bring the best of the world’s musical theatre stages to Cape Town.
More about the international performers:
Kim Criswell’s career has taken her from Broadway to the West End to the international concert stage, resulting in a truly unique and exceptional career path with a specialty in the classic American theatre songbook.
She has performed at numerous opera houses, including La Scala in Milan and Opéra Comique in Paris, not to mention multiple appearances at venues such as London’s Wigmore, Royal Albert, Barbican, Cadogan Halls, the Purcell Rooms and even Buckingham Palace.
Ms Criswell has sung with many of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras, from the Berlin Philharmonic and BCMG orchestras conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, to the Lepzig Gewandhaus and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras, virtually all of the major UK orchestras to name a few; also many of Europe’s radio orchestras. She has appeared in the BBC Proms 4 times.
Her long and illustrious list of theatre credits include an Olivier-award nomination for “Annie” in Annie Get Your Gun at London’s Prince of Wales Theatre. Ms Criswell also won Washington DC’s Helen Hayes Award for Side by Side by Sondheim. Most recently in the US she starred in Call Me Madam at Goodspeed Opera House and co-starred with Joseph Fiennes and Charles Edwards in Happy Days in the Art World in NYC, while recent UK roles include Big Mama in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof at Royal Exchange and Carrie’s mother in Carrie at Southwark Playhouse.
Ms Criswell Broadway credits include “Lucy” opposite Sting in 3 Penny Opera, and the original production of Nine. She was “Grizabella” in Cats in the original LA production, and appeared as “Lalume” in Kismet/Opera Pacific, Michigan Opera, recently reprised for Vienna Volksoper.
She has also recorded more than forty albums, including four solo albums.
A distinguished star of stage and screen, Michael D. Xavier recently played the lead role of Joe Bradley in the European premiere of Roman Holiday The Musical and the lead role of Henry Higgins in the U.K tour of My Fair Lady. In 2017 he starred on Broadway playing the lead role of Joe in Sunset Boulevard opposite Hollywood film star Glenn Close shortly followed by a leading role in Prince of Broadway directed by the late, legendary Hal Prince and Susan Stroman.
Over the last few years he has been seen in ITV’s Grantchester; Gentleman Jack (BBC/HBO), as secret agent Chistopher Miles in The Blacklist (NBC) and as Lieutenant Hamilton Knox in Outlander (Starz). He’s also been filming ITV’s Grace with John Simm and The Chelsea Detective (ITV) with Adrian Scarborough.
Mr Xavier recently finished playing the leading role of Jeremy Zenner in futuristic feature film Utopia and stars in the feature film Hammarskjöld as Hellemans and The Isle Tide Hotel, an exciting feature-length interactive film in which Michael stars as the lead, Josh.
He received two concurrent Olivier Award nominations in 2011 for his performances in Into The Woods at The Open Air Theatre and Love Story at The Duchess Theatre & Chichester Festival Theatre.
His numerous other theatre credits include: Sam in Sleepless (Wembley Park Theatre), Joe in Sunset Boulevard (ENO/Coliseum), Suffolk and George Of Clarence in Shakespeare’s trilogy The War of the Roses directed by Trevor Nunn (Rose Theatre), Charlie/Vittorio Vidal/Oscar in Sweet Charity (Cadogan Hall), John Wilkes Booth in Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory), Sid Sorokin in The Pajama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre – Broadway World Award nomination), Captain Von Trapp in The Sound Of Music (Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park – Broadway World Award nomination), Raoul in The Phantom Of The Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre), Sky in Mamma Mia! (International Tour Original Cast), Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Miss Great Plains in Pageant (Vaudeville Theatre and King’s Head Theatre), Nankipoo in The Mikado (UK Tour) and Chris in Miss Saigon (Original UK Tour) among others.
Mr Xavier’s many film appearances include Paris, Wine & Romance, Never Let Go, The Muppets Most Wanted! and Gnomeland while his radio credits include recordings for BBC Radio 2 such as Tony in West Side Story and Artie Green in Sunset Boulevard.
Recordings include: The Phantom of the Opera’s The Phantom (Music Of The Night) and Company’s Bobby (Being Alive) in Prince Of Broadway (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Oliver in Love Story (Original Cast Recording), Laurie in Little Women (Pelion Productions), Thank You For The Music (West End International), Soldier in Toys (MiltonMorrisey Productions), Unwritten Song (Michael Bruce), Chance In A Lifetime (Tim Prottey-Jones) and Therese Racquin and Lift (Craig Adams).
David Habbin’s diverse career includes performing in the London cast of Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre, playing Combeferre and Marius; Young Scrooge in the musical, A Christmas Carol at Nottingham Theatre Royal and Tony in the West End revival of the original West Side Story production, directed by the show’s co-creator Arthur Laurents. Other recent stage productions include Carrie, the Musical, Closer to Heaven and Funny Business.
Mr Habbin trained operatically at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, following which he joined the company of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, performing roles in operas such as Die Fledermaus, Don Pasquale, Falstaff, Madama Butterfly and La Traviata.
He was one of the five original members of Sony BMG ‘classical crossover’ group, Amici forever. Their debut CD album ‘The Opera Band’, achieved gold status in the UK, double platinum in Australia, triple platinum in New Zealand and was named as the number 2 Classical Crossover album for 2004 in the United States. They recorded and performed the BBC’s theme music for the 2004 Olympics and performed on tour in some of the most prestigious concert halls around the globe. Their follow up album ‘Defined’ was released in 2005 with combined album sales of 2 million worldwide.
Mr Habbin has also performed extensively in concert including as lead soloist for the Raymond Gubbay White Christmas shows in the Royal Albert Hall, the Birmingham Symphony Hall and Glasgow Concert Hall and with John Wilson and the RTÉ Orchestra playing Tommy Albright in Brigadoon at the National Concert Hall, Dublin.
Nikki Renée Daniels has performed extensively across stage and screen. Her debut solo CD, Home is available on iTunes.
She played Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton at the CIBC Theater in Chicago and Ms Daniels’ Broadway credits include Company (Jenny), The Book of Mormon (Nabulungi), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Clara), Les Miserables (Fantine), Anything Goes, Promises, Promises, Aida, Nine, Little Shop of Horrors, Lestat, and The Look of Love. She has performed as a soloist with numerous symphony orchestras across the country and in Canada, and at Carnegie Hall.
On screen, Ms Daniels has appeared in The Other .Woman, Billions, Chappelle’s Show, Madam Secretary, The Equalizer, and The Sound of Music: Live.
More about the South African performers:
Jonathan Roxmouth (Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Cats) has graced national and international stages, dazzling audiences with his velvet voice, captivating on-stage charisma and all-round, consummate talent. As part of the world tour of Phantom of The Opera, Jonathan made history as youngest English-speaking Phantom yet and won the Philippines’ Broadway World Award for his performance. This will be the last time, in some time to come, that South African musical theatre fans can catch Jonathan on home soil!
Other international credits include Chicago, Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, a reprise of Phantom of the Opera and Grease. His most recent success has been Swingle Bells at The Teatro at Montecasino, in December 2023, where over 12 000 audience members revelled in the Christmas spirit. To date, Jonathan has released 11 studio albums that are now available for download and is in constant demand on local and international stages across the globe.
Lynelle Kenned (West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Orpheus in Africa) has become one of the most popular and sought-after cross over musical theatre performers. Performances include Maria in West Side Story, Maria in The Sound of Music, Mattie Allen in Orpheus in Africa, Musetta in La Boheme, Julie in Showboat, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, and Grace in the world premiére of Calling Me Home.
Her list of awards include a 2023 Fiësta for Best Classical Music presentation, 2022 Woordtrofee, the Kunste Onbeperk YOUNG VOICE 2019, a 2018 Naledi Award, a Fiësta Award in 2017, and a Fleur du Cap Award in 2016. Since 2012, she’s been a television presenter on Pasella, and subsequently hosting other shows on KykNET and VIA respectively.
Recording artist and seasoned performer Lucy Tops (Kinky Boots, Funny Girl, The Romantix) enchants audiences with her electrifying presence in productions such as Another Day, You Should Be Dancing, Bar None (Fleur du Cap nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), Bon Soir and Woman On Top. She has performed in many large-scale productions such as Soul Classics’ Black Ties & Friends at the Baxter Theatre, the Fugard Theatre’s The Rocky Horror Show, Shakespeare In Love, Significant Other and many more.
Tshepo Ncokoane (Janice Honeyman’s Peter Pan Pantomine, Kinky Boots, We Will Rock You – The Musical World Tour) is a singer, actor, dancer and choreographer. His extensive list of credits include Showtime’s Priscilla Queen of The Desert The Musical which earned him Fleur de Cap, Broadway World and SAT Mag award nominations in the Male Featured Role categories. Other productions include Sarafina, Legally Blonde the Musical, various Janice Honeyman pantomines, Shrek, The Musical, The Colour Purple, The Musical and the roles of Lola Alternate and Angel in The Fugard Theatre’s production Kinky Boots.
In 2023 Tshepo was Associate Choreographer for Janice Honeyman’s Peter Pan Pantomine at Joburg Theatre.
They are joined by an ensemble of 15 brilliant young talents featuring student performers from Cape Town’s Waterfront Theatre School and LAMTA. From the Waterfront Theatre School, we welcome William Young, Asanda Mngadi, Jamie Peters, Phiwe Ngqangweni and Saskia Bormans. From LAMTA, we welcome Benjamin Wood, Euan Frankim, Matt Blerk, Peta Duckitt, Alessia Gironi, Grace Brown, Nikita Latimer, Sash Duffy, Keely Crocker and Michiel Bester.
The evening will be staged by the UK’s Paul Robinson (Singing In The Rain – Olivier Nominated), with Musical Supervision by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder (West Side Story, King Kong), Musical Direction by Dawid Boverhoff (Kinky Boots, Funny Girl, Sound of Music), Producers Daniel Galloway (The Rocky Horror Show, Cabaret, Funny Girl, West Side Story, King Kong and Kinky Boots) alongside Jessica Ross and Creative Director David Habbin (West Side Story, Les Misérables, Amici Forever, and co-founder of the Finding the Light Foundation) – to bring audiences in Cape Town a wonderful evening out, among the stars.
Siya and Rachel Kolisi founded the Kolisi Foundation with a vision to use their influence to change the stories of inequality in South Africa, to see thriving communities. The Foundation works alongside others to make a difference, by “remembering the one, one by one” to impact the nation.
Finding the Light Foundation helps unite and mobilise South Africans and Africans in the UK and in South Africa in support of those addressing frontline challenges in South Africa.
The two organisations, in their own right, were both founded with the common desire of making an enduring difference in South Africa.
Show Information
Finding The Light – An Evening With Musical Theatre Stars
Venue:
Artscape Opera House, Cape Town
Dates & Times:
17 to 21 April 2024
Wednesday – Friday at 20h00
Saturday at 15h00 and 20h00
Sunday at 14h00
Tickets:
Tickets from R190 – R420
Bookings:
Can be made through Webtickets
*VIP experience packages are available and include welcome sparkling wine and prime seating
No babies on laps, no under 5s
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Connect with Artscape on social media:
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Connect with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra on social media:
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Connect with Kolisi Foundation on social media:
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Connect with Marc Lottering on social media:
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