Posts tagged Her Majesty’s

RAW Mother Africa @ Her Majesty’s until 15 Aug 5K

Mother Africa opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre Wednesday night to a full house with the crew just returning from a two week break after having performed at Jupiter’s Casino on the Gold Coast for 4 months.  Adelaide is the second Australian stop for Mother Africa, performing until the 15 August, before moving on to New Zealand.

From the start to finish, what calls itself a circus is what I would rather label a journey of energy as it goes way beyond circus. So, from start to finish it is a two way performance between the artists and audience. The energy on stage is reflected by the energy of the crowd’s response.  It is a pleasure, a joy to be part of this electrifying experience. The energetic, enjoyable, entertaining and enthralling show takes us on a journey of music, traditional dance and powerful acrobatics with a mixture of mesmerizing colour of the traditional looking costumes.

The world touring show which promotes itself as 100% African, 100% Joy and 100% Party. I must say I 100% agree. It is a party of music, dance and acrobatics. And it is a joy to see the artists enjoying themselves while doing their performance and soaking up the audience’s joyful response. The 40 artists are 100% African, from many different countries of the second-largest continent such as Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and South Africa. Let me add 100% energy and 100% entertainment.

Thank you Mother Africa. Not often that I would give a full 5K, but this must see show deserves it. With ticket prices starting at $59.90 for adults there is no excuse to miss Mother Africa.

Kryztoff Rating  5K

RAW: Mother Africa – Her Majesty’s – Aug 4 – 15 – Preview

Created in Germany by producer / director Winston Ruddle, Mother Africa arrives in Adelaide this week for a twelve day season at Her Majesty’s, somewhat surprisingly perhaps, without having ever been staged on their home continent.

Included in the cast is 12 year old, Yonas Teka, who has created an unofficial Guinness World record of 30 continuous somersault flips, surpassing the previous record of 25. He, like all the other cast members, came through an exhaustive audition process by Ruddle to choose Africa’s most talented. The exception perhaps to that is MC, Bongi Mtshali, who got that particular role because she could best pronounce German when required to at short notice!

Mother Africa has already enjoyed an extended sell-out season on the Gold Coast and this should provide a warming relief to Adelaide circus lovers during the next fortnight as well.

RAW: Tex Perkins in The Man In Black – Her Majesty’s

When people talk about The Man in Black, everyone knows to whom they refer. In this case however, it’s not just to Johnny Cash but also to Tex Perkins, who provides a wonderful tribute to him in this pleasurable and condensed serving of his life and music. In addition to renditions of many of Cash’s best known hits, such as A Boy Named Sue and Fulsome Prison Blues, it included several duets and some lesser known pieces, interspersed with snippets of personal history.

Perkins is an experienced and charismatic front man and he held the audience’s attention throughout. His vocals were beyond impressive, capturing the essence and emotion of the originals. Filling the role of June Carter in the duets and helping Perkins to tell the story in between songs, Rachael Tidd was likeable and did a pleasing job of her vocals. Supporting the singers were the cheekily named Tennessee Four, who provided skilled musical backing, adding to the fullness of the sound.

There was never a lapse in the popularity of Cash, but the success of the 2005 biopic Walk the Line can perhaps be credited with bringing the music, and the man, back to the forefront of the public consciousness. The audience crossed many demographic boundaries, showing the wide appeal of this show, and reacted with great enthusiasm. As good as the above film was, there’s something about hearing the music played live that really gets the heart soaring and this production certainly did that.

Kryztoff Rating 4K