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Saturday, April 11, 2015

TJOONERS, CROONERS ‘N MOOVERS



(Some of the Durban performing artists who will appear in the show. Pic by Val Adamson)

The South African Community Arts Network (SA CAN), in association with The Playhouse Company, is proud to announce an exciting new live entertainment project titled Tjooners, Crooners ‘n Moovers.

This freshly conceived family show, which is set to run in the Playhouse Grand Foyer in Durban each Sunday between April 12 and May 24 from 15h00 to 18h00, will take the form of a popular variety show open to all race groups.

The two-pronged programme will include a weekly Super-Teen Voice Challenge talent contest, in which youngsters aged between 13 and 19 years who have successfully auditioned to be part of this exciting venture, will compete for a cash prize of R3,000 at the end of the run. Each week, the contestants will share the stage with seasoned professional acts.

The other feature of the afternoon’s weekly entertainment will be a competition titled Check Your Mate. This is a fun adult game where married couples test how well they know each other. Two couples will be chosen each week, by way of a ticket number draw, and will challenge each other for points. The winning couple goes through to the next round, and on the seventh Sunday the two finalists challenge each other for a R5,000 cash prize.

Says theatre veteran and Ethekwini Living Legend honouree Hamish Kyd, who is the mastermind behind Tjooners, Crooners ‘n Moovers: “One of the prime motivations behind this project is to help encourage families of all race groups to come together and share in each other’s creativity while we uncover and promote the tremendous amount of performance talent that lies hidden in our various communities. We want to do this by encouraging families and friends to spend time together, and to share in each other’s stories and performance skills.

“Furthermore, Tjooners, Crooners ‘n Moovers offers a prime opportunity to create work for artists in our industry,” Kyd adds, “And what better place to do this than at Ethekwini’s prime theatre organisation, The Playhouse Company, an agency of the Department of Arts and Culture? In this regard, we are thrilled to be partnering with KZN’s leading arts body in realising our dreams, which will be played out in the Grand Foyer at Durban’s renowned Playhouse centre.

“We have furthermore been greatly heartened by the interest we have encountered from leaders of the community, in preparing to get this project off the ground. From schools and churches to community centres, we have met with enormous good will and unwavering support. They all recognise this venture as a praiseworthy means of helping to unite family units in our society.”

Kyd is a long-standing and productive member of Durban’s theatre fraternity who has a string of highly successful theatre productions under his belt such as Jimbo, Taxi Jam and Knowing You.. Knowing Me, among many others,

Tickets for Tjooners, Crooners ‘n Moovers are R70 per person. Booking is through Computicket on 0861 915 8000 or online at www.computicket.com  Alternatively, call the Playhouse Box Office on 031-369 9540 (office hours).

SA CAN is a non-profit organisation affiliated to the Sydenham Community Association. The R3,000 cash prize to be presented to the ultimate winner of the Super-Teen Voice Challenge will be sponsored by NB Media and PR Company, while Adams Booksellers will sponsor intermediary prizes for participants of this section of the show. A R5,000 cash prize for the winning couple of Check Your Mate will be sponsored by Memorable Occasions.