CIRQUE DU SOLEIL - SALTIMBANCO @ Grand West Arena from March 23 to April 9
Classic Cirque du Soleil at its best, Saltimbanco is a thrilling and kaleidoscopic celebration of awe inspiring artistry and agility. With a cast of 50 high-caliber artists hailing from 20 different countries, Saltimbanco features breathtaking acrobatics and unbelievable athleticism during solo spotlights and epic ensembles. From the seemingly impossible balancing, jumping and spinning during the Chinese Poles orthe Russian Swing to the gravity defying Bungees and Trapeze,the crowd pleasing Juggling and Acrobatic Bicycle, to the celebrated and very unique Clowns. Technical expertise and extravagant design are woven together by uplifting spectacular costumes, amazing lighting, humour and enchanting music and magic. Full of colour, amusement and amazement, Saltimbanco is a fun not-to-be-missed show for the whole family to enjoy.Transporting the production to South Africa is a mammoth task. The equipment on tour, including the set and stage equipment and costumes totals 180 tons and is transported in 16 semi-trailers. The stage is 34 metres long and 20 metres wide and there is more than 183 metres of trussing to hold the acrobatic grid, the rigging and all the lighting elements above the stage.  The aerial acrobatic is suspended 14 meters above the stage. Its mainpurpose is to hold the trapeze and bungee rigs. All costumes, including headpieces and shoes, are custom-made for the each individual performer at the Cirque du Soleil workshops in Montreal, Canada. The artists wear three to five different costumes during each performance and more than 2,500 costume pieces including 250 pairs of shoes travel from city to city in 50 road cases. Saltimbanco is Cirque du Soleil  longest-running touring show and has performed since 1992 to wide-spread acclaim to sell-out audiences in Europe, North and South America, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand for more than 11.5 million enthusiastic fans. Click here for more information, online bookings and showtimesCall 083 915 8000. Visit www.cirquedusoleil.com 

LOVE AT FIRST FIGHT @ Kalk Bay Theatre from March 23 to April 9
Love at First Fight, the, fun rollercoaster ride through the trials, tribulations and titillations of relationships, is is written and performed by the dynamic husband and wife team of Vanessa Harris and Ash Searle, and presented by their company, award-winning Follow Spot Productions.  Love at First Fight sees them display their immeasurable talents as they sing, dance, (mis)communicate and negotiate about how to make love work. Searle (So You Think You Can Dance, Big Boys Don't Dance)  is a technically trained dancer who has performed all over the world and locally in an array of shows from African Footprint to Chicago, Fame and We Will Rock You.  He has danced and choreographed for many corporate functions including Bidvest, the SAMA awards and Miss World. Through Follow Spot Productions, he develops his style of choreography that blends comedy, theatre and dance to create a crowd-pleasing genre of live entertainment.  Vanessa Harris has been performing from a young age and has appeared in numerous productions such as  The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fangs - the musical, Fusion, The Buddy Holly story and playing the part of Wendy in the pantomime, Peter Pan. She spent six months performing in Asia with the touring cast of We Will Rock You - the Queen Musical and was seen on South African movie screens as the female lead in the late Bill Flynn's comedy Running Riot.  Director Bradley Searle is known in his own right as a dancer and entertainer with an effervescent style of performance.  Credits include Footloose the Musical   and, with brother Ashley, a country-wide tour in Big Boys Don't Dance,  a two-hander comedy and dance show which won them a Standard Bank Ovation Award at the 2010 National Arts Festival in Grahamstown.  Bradley says the show epitomises his pride in being a rugby-loving male dancer in South Africa and communicating this message to young and old.  "Vanessa and I wanted to write a new show and in the process of exploring ideas, found we were arguing a lot so thought that might be a good premise to create Love at First Fight!," says Ashley Searle.
*On Friday 1 April, there will be a special performance in aid of the Safer Together Community Safety Fund, which raises funds for equipment for neighbourhood watch groups and relevant projects to promote safety in the greater Muizenberg area. Tickets to the performance cost R150 which includes a finger supper from 7pm, with a bottle of wine or juice per couple  and cash bar available. The performance starts at 8pm for this evening. For bookings contact 073 220 5430 or visit www.kbt.co.za

POETRY IN MOTION 2 @ Artscape Opera from March 26 to April 6
After a very successful season of Poetry in Motion in May last year, this sequel highlights the beauty of ballet, interwoven with music and the spoken word - a production that transports the viewer into the realm of fantasy in movement. Taken from a range of beautiful poetry, including South African, the themes of the vignettes will include the journey of life, love, loss and celebration. This production includes new additions to the original series of dance vignettes created by 5 choreographers,  Erica Brumage, Kirsten Isenberg, Veronica Paeper, Lindy Raizenberg and Robin van Wyk, to enhance and showcase the Poetry that is ballet. Nine performances will be presented in the Artscape Opera House. The entire company, together with guest artists, will appear at every performance. Book your tickets at Computicket or Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695.

SMOKIE: TAKE A MINUTE WORLD TOUR @ Grand Weast Arena on April 5
The internationally successful British pop group Smokie will be touring South Africa from 3 to 10 April as part of their Take a Minute World Tour.   With chart-topping hits like Living Next Door to Alice, Lay Back in the Arms of Someone and If You Think You Know How to Love Me, and constant tours, Smokie is one of the most popular bands in the world today.  Look at the Guinness Book of Hit Singles and you could be forgiven for thinking Smokie's success story was a 1970s phenomenon. After all, 11 of their 14 British hits came in that eventful musical decade. However, their massive success story has continued to flourish around the globe including Scandinavia, South Africa, Germany and even China. Smokie is a band which has sold out tours and gained platinum records in four decades - the 70s, 80s, 90s and the present day. Terry Uttley, the founder member of SMOKIE, said they cannot wait to come to South Africa.  "This is our favourite country and it has always been a wonderful experience to come to South Africa.  The people of South Africa like our music and it is such a warm feeling to get such wonderful support.  We have just recorded TAKE A MINUTE and people around the world like our new material and songs and we are very confident that South Africans will also like our new show."  Book now at Computicket Groups and hospitality packages at reduced prices: Zena (011) 815 3000 The SA tour:  April 3 (KKNK Festival, Oudtshoorn), April 6 (NNMU Indoor Sports Arena, PortElizabeth), April 7 (Sand du Plessis, Bloemfontein), April 8 and 9 (Carnival City, Brakpan)

LOVBORG'S WOMEN @ Intimate Theatre fom April 13 to May 31
Christopher Weare's production  is a hilarious take on 20th Century reactions to the theatre genres of realism and naturalism and is on at the Intimate Theatre from April 13 until May 31 (with no performances over the Easter Break) in The Intimate Theatre.  Lovborg's Women accentuates and discloses some of the absurdity and comedy of famous theatre forms. The Mechanicals' "Summer Theatre Season" includes selected dates for attendance at rehearsals,pre show introductions by directors and post show discussions with casts. The season is a feast forlearners presently studying.Tickets cost R80 per ticket, per show (with concessions of R60). Preliminary bookings are now open.For more information please see our website www.themechanicals.co.za


JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR @ Artscape Opera from May 8 to 28
he ground-breaking smash-hit musical Jesus Christ Superstar will be staged at the Artscape Opera House from May 9 to 28. The original production team of Paul Warwick Griffin as Director and Charl-Johan Lingenfelder as Musical Director return to work their magic again, as does Wonderboom frontman Cito in the role of Jesus. He will be joined on stage by Jonathan Roxmouth (Grease, Cats, Beauty and the Beast, A Handful of Keys) as Judas, Anton Luitingh (Cats, Beauty and the Beast, Evita) as Pilate, TV soap star Terence Bridgett as King Herod and the singer Nadine as Mary. It tells the story of the last seven days of Jesus of Nazareth, highlighting the political and interpersonal struggles between Judas Iscariot and Jesus. Jesus Christ Superstar was the first Tim Rice/ Andrew Lloyd Webber work to be professionally staged. Tim had been fascinated by the short shrift given to the stories of Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate in the Bible since his school days, and so the duo chose to examine the last seven days of the life of Christ for their third collaboration. Just like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the story is told entirely through song. With Lyrics by Tim Rice and Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, the musical features the chart-topping hit songs "Superstar" and "I Don't Know How to Love Him". Following the huge success of the original concept album in 1970, Superstar opened on Broadway in 1971 and in the UK the following year. By the time it closed, after eight years and 3,358 performances, it had become the longest-running musical in West End history. The recording of the score of the show topped the American album charts three times. Jesus Christ Superstar has since played all over the world and been filmed twice.
The 2006 production of Jesus Christ Superstar broke all box office records at the Theatre on the Bay in Cape Town and at his Montecasino Theatre in Johannesburg. It was then expanded and with a bigger set, redesigned costumes and a larger ensemble, it toured to Athens in Greece and to Korea where it played spectacular stadiums and created an international sensation.  This bigger version will now be staged at the Artscape Opera House and at the Teatro for the very first time, giving South African audiences an opportunity to see the production larger than life. Book now at Computicket You can also book through  Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 0214217695. For more information regarding discounts, special offers and group bookings call Tracy Cahill on 0214383301.

DAVID KRAMER'S BREYANI @ Baxter Theatre fom May 18 to 29
In Breyani, Kramer celebrates rhythms, instrumentation, vocal styling and language, to create music that is unmistakably and uniquely from the Cape.  It will be on at the Baxter Theatre from May 18 to 29. David Kramer is a musician and songwriter with a passion for exploring the roots of Cape Afrikaans folk music. In this show, a 10-piece band includes the well-known jazz keyboard player Camillo Lombard, who plays piano accordion in this show. The incredibly versatile Gammie Lakay, who has played on numerous Kramer recordings, is on acoustic lead guitar, as well as showing off his skills as a moppie vocalist. Don-veno Prins, who wowed audiences in The Kramer Petersen Songbook and 3 Wiser Men, plays saxophone. Banjo virtuoso Nielen Prinsloo joined Breyani for the first time in December and former member of DNA Strings, Jacques Steyn plays mandolin and bass. Veterans of klopse bands Howard Links and Charlie Rhode on banjo, mandolin, and guitar, take the moppie, the vastrap, the ghoemaliedjie and the tiekiedraai to new heights. From the stages of musical theatre and Malay Choir competitions, Loukmaan Adams sings and beats the ghoema drum and completing the stellar line-up are the much loved Sonskyn Sisters, Ruth Hector and Elspeth Davids who have an opportunity to show off their fine vocal talents. Kramer keeps the pot simmering throughout, taking the audience on a journey that explores the individual flavours of music unique to this part of the world. For this limited season of Breyani at the Baxter Theatre, there will be two matinee performances on a Sunday afternoon, which will satisfy patrons who live beyond the city limits. Performances run nightly from Wednesdays to Sundays with an early Bird Special of 10% off all seats booked before 15 April for performances on the 18 and 19 May only. 10% discounts are also available for Senior Citizens, Students and Block Bookings of 10 or more. Tickets cost from R90 to R135 via Computicket.

THE SCRIPT @ Grand West Arena on June 26
The phenomenal Irish band The Script will be performing for the first time ever in South Africa on 24^th June at the Coca-Cola Dome Johannesburg and 26^th June at Grand Arena, GrandWest Cape Town. It's been a rags to riches glory ride, an emotional rollercoaster, an all action, all star blockbuster. Three young Dubliners took on the world with music fashioned from the emotional detritus of their own lives raised up by love of pop, rock, hip hop and soul. In two years they notched up a handful of hit singles including 'We Cry', 'Breakeven' and 'The Man Who Can't Be Moved'. Their 2008 debut album 'The Script' went to number one in the UK and Ireland and has sold over 2 million sales world-wide.Highly passionate, sincere and poetically articulate The Script have fielded numerous requests to write for other artists preferring instead to focus on each other. Having caught the eye of Paul McCartney who personally asked The Script to support him on a series of his American stadium shows. They recently won Best Live Performance at the Meteor Awards (beating their mentors U2) who they have also supported on their stadium shows.Tickets available from computicket, www.computicket.com/ 0839158000


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