''Kat and the Kings'' is a South African
musical with a book and lyrics by
David Kramer and music by
Taliep Petersen
Taliep Petersen (15 April 1950 – 16 December 2006) was a South African singer, composer and director of a number of popular musicals. He worked most notably with David Kramer, with whom he won an Olivier Award.
Career
One of "South Africa' ...
.
Set in late-1950s
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, it focuses on teenager Kat Diamond, who believes he's the best singer and dancer in
District Six
District Six (Afrikaans ''Distrik Ses'') is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed during the 1970s by the apartheid regime.
The area of District Six is now ...
, a multi-racial slum in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
. With his friends Ballie, Magoo, Bingo, and Lucy, he forms the
a cappella group the Cavalla Kings, and the quintet - emulating the American
doo wop and
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
they adore - becomes a sensation, graduating from street corners to "whites only"
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
s (where the dictates of
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
force them to use the rear entrance) and a recording contract.
The show was inspired by the memories of Salie Daniels, the real-life Kat who appeared as the narrator in the original production. After touring South Africa, the show was invited to the
Tricycle Theatre
The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as ...
in
Kilburn in November 1997, and returned to that venue prior to its opening in the
West End. Directed by Kramer and
choreographed by Loukmaan Adams and Jody Abrahams, it opened on March 23, 1998 at the
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...
, where it ran for slightly more than four months. In addition to Daniels, the cast included Abrahams as the young Kat, Adams as Bingo, Junaid Booysen as Ballie, Alistair Izobel as Magoo, and Mandisa Bardill as Lucy.
''Kat and the Kings'' won the
Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical and, in an unusual move, the entire cast was named Best Actor in a Musical. The show also was nominated for Best Theatre Choreography. An
original cast album
A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...
was recorded live during the June 6, 1998 performance and released by First Night Records.
After fifteen previews, the
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
production opened on August 19, 1999 at the
Cort Theatre
The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. It was built in ...
, where it ran for 157 performances. Terry Hector and Kim Louis replaced Daniels as the elder Kat and Mandisa Bardill as Lucy, respectively, but the remainder of the cast and the director and choreographers were from the
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
production. It was nominated for
Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Alistair Izobell), Outstanding Choreography, and Outstanding Orchestrations.
Song list
;Act I
* Memory
* American Thing
* Lucky Day
* Mavis
* Boetie Guitar
* Cavalla Kings
* If Your Shoes Don't Shine
* Dress to Kill
* Shine
* The Tafelberg Hotel
* Lonely Girl
* Josephine
* Wild Time
;Act II
* Happy to Be Nineteen
* Lonely Girl (Reprise)
* Oo Wee Bay Bee
* Only If You Have a Dream
* The Last Thing You Need
* Stupid Boy
* Cavalla Kings (Reprise)
* The Singing Sensation
* The Bell Hop
* Blind Date
* Lonely Girl (Reprise)
* The Invisible Dog
* Hey Baby
* Cavalla Kings (Reprise)
* Skeleton Dance
* Lagunya
* Lucky Day (Reprise)
* The Singing Sensation (Reprise)
* Hey Baby (Reprise)
* We Were Rocking
* Lagunya (Reprise)
* Wild Time (Reprise)
References
External links
Internet Broadway Database listing
{{OlivierAward Musical 1976–2000
1997 musicals
West End musicals
Broadway musicals
Laurence Olivier Award-winning musicals
South African musicals