L&S America Online   Subscribe
Advertise
Home Lighting Sound AmericaIndustry News Contacts
NewsNews
NewsNews

-Today's News

-Last 7 Days

-Theatre in Review

-Business News + Industry Support

-People News

-Product News

-Subscribe to News

-Subscribe to LSA Mag

-News Archive

-Media Kit

Theatre in Review: Sing! (Theatre at St. Clement's)

Mthakathi, Mar Gueye, Thuli Dumakude. Photo: BaltoPhoto.

If you're looking for a different sort of holiday entertainment, you might consider Sing! The South African singer and actress Thuli Dumakude, probably best-known in these parts for a stint in The Lion King but also the possessor of an impressive resume that includes an Olivier Award, leads a concert of songs from near and far. Subtitled, "A South African and American Musical Holiday Celebration," the program covers the holiday theme from many angles. Among the South African offerings, there are songs of homecoming, of exile in the city, and tributes to the great Miriam Makeba.

Each of these numbers is delivered by Dumakude and her colleagues, Silindile Sokutu, Tanya Nomaziko Zondo, and Nomthi Langa, working with vocal arrangements that make for the closest of close harmony. Dumakude, a formidable presence, delivers rich, warm, penetrating vocals; even when singing in Zulu, she sets the scene for each number so vividly that one feels transported to the KwaZulu province, from which she hails.

Also on offer are a lovely rendition of "Silent Night" in both English and Zulu a number that gradually develops into "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." The show's dynamic musical director, Mthakathi, produces a Zimbabwean instrument, a kind of thumb piano, that makes a stunningly melodious sound, allowing him to present the most original arrangement of "Jingle Bells" you've ever heard.

Mthakathi is something of a show in himself, racing around the room to supplement the dynamic drummer Mar Gueye and demonstrating the looping technology that allows two men only to create such layered musical arrangements. He is also a sunny presence who adds much to the evening's charm.

Dumakude enjoys interacting with the audience, for example encouraging young and old to join the cast on stage for a group dance during "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." (At the performance I attended, it was enchanting to see a boy and girl, each around five, so joyously joining in.) And when it comes time for the inevitable rendition of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" -- the version used is Makeba's -- everyone joins in, singing phrases variously spelled as "Wimoweh," "Wimba Way," or "Awimbaw." If you attend and are seated in one of the first three or four rows, there's a good chance that Dumakude will, sooner or later, aim her mic at you.

Simply presented, Sing! offers a truly joyous night for audiences who may feel that the world is too much for them lately. It is not all escapism, however. The show ends with a tribute to Nelson Mandela and his Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which played such an important role in South Africa's transition to a true democracy. Dumakude's voice is at its most passionate here, and she sends us out on a much-needed note of hope, which may be the best Christmas present of all. -- David Barbour


(23 December 2016)

E-mail this story to a friendE-mail this story to a friend

LSA Goes Digital - Check It Out!

  Follow us on Twitter  Follow us on Facebook

LSA PLASA Focus