13 February 2023
Kearsney College’s grade 10 and 11 drama and music boys welcomed David Kramer, one of the leading lights of the South African theatrical and musical scene, to the school this past week. His visit comes ahead of Kearsney staging Kramer’s and the late Taliep Petersen’s “Kat and the Kings” in early May.
It will be the first time that the show, which enjoyed successful runs on Broadway, in New York, and the West End, in London, has been put on by amateurs.
Providing insight
Kramer, now in his seventies, spent a couple of days at Kearsney to provide the boys with insight into his work and how he approaches theatre, providing them with a valuable understanding of his show.
“Kat and the Kings” is set in 1950s South Africa and follows Kat Diamond, a teenager who believes he is the best dancer in District Six, the cosmopolitan area of Cape Town that was later demolished under the apartheid government.
Kat forms an a capella group with some of his friends, which results in success for the youngsters, taking them from performing on the streets to performing in “whites only” clubs and securing a recording contract.
The show was inspired by the memories of Salie Daniels, who was the narrator in the original production of “Kat and the Kings”.
Awards
Among the awards it received was the Laurence Olivier Award for the Best New Musical in 1999. In the same year, remarkably, the entire cast received the Laurence Oliver Award for the Best New Actor.
On Broadway, where the show debuted in August 1999, it was nominated for the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Outstanding Choreography, and Outstanding Orchestrations.
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