(Ramses, the Pharaoh,
played by Matthew Brown, surrounded by members of the cast. Pic by Val Adamson)
The Young Performers Project will be staging The Prince of Egypt, a sweeping epic of
a musical, over the mid-year school holidays in the Playhouse Opera from July
10 – 19.
Journey through the wonders of Ancient Egypt as Ramses and Moses, two young men raised together as brothers in a kingdom of privilege, find themselves suddenly divided by a secret past. One must rule as Pharaoh, the other must rise up and free his true people; both face a destiny that will change history forever.
The Prince of Egypt is directed by theatrical maestro Roberto Pombo, making his YPP debut, with choreography by Evashnee Pillay, music direction by Des Govender, sound design by Ant Govender, set and prop design by Nicolene Steyn, lighting design by Evan le Roux, and costumes by Kathy Singery.
The cast features 60 senior scholars, and 74 junior scholars from 42 different schools.
The Young Performers Project has, for the past 25 years, faithfully staged an annual musical theatre production with a youthful cast (with at least one professional performer) and a professional production team to provide the next generation of theatre practitioners with valuable experience of performing in a professional context. In recent years, to provide maximum experience for the youngsters, and theatre options for audiences, YPP has staged up to three productions a year: over the Easter, July and Christmas holidays. In recent years they have staged The Little Mermaid Jr, Annie, Shrek, Elf the Musical and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
The musical is a stage adaptation of the 1998 DreamWorks film, featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Shwartz, multi-Grammy winner and the writer of Wicked, Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and orchestral composition by the legendary Hanz Zimmer; book by Philip LaZebnik, and 10 new songs written by Schwartz, together with five of his songs from the DreamWorks Animation film. The production features Schwartz’s Academy Award-winning duet, When You Believe made famous by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.
Their first show is a special Relaxed Performance on Friday July 10 at 11h00 where theatre etiquette guidelines are relaxed and the performance is consciously calmed, where the auditorium lights are dimmed, but not dark and the audience meet the characters ahead of time. This is ideal for people with sensory issues and for children not experienced in attending theatre shows.
Performances:
Fri 10 – 11h00 and 14h30
Sat 11 – 11h00 and 14h30
Sun 12 – 14h30
Tues 14 – 14h30
Wed 15 – 14h30
Thurs 16 – 14h30
Fri 17 – 18h30
Sat 18 – 11h00 and 14h30
Sun 19 – 14h30 / final
Tickets through Webtickets.