Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and the Darling children will transport theatregoers to the magical Neverland to be amazed by all its wonders during the winter holidays this year. The young, and the young at heart, will be entranced by the mysterious mermaids from Mermaid Lagoon; the beautiful Indian Princess Tiger Lilly and her brave Panther; the fun loving Lost Boys and the oh-so-evil Captain Hook and his band of pirates aboard the Jolly Roger, who will lower the anchor for a sojourn at the Canal Walk Shopping Centre (CWSC) Theatre from 1 July – 23 July 2017.
J.M Barrie’s much loved classic, Peter Pan, returns to Centre Court at CWSC in a spectacular showcase with original musical by award winning duo, Fred Abrahamse and Marcel Meyer, who regularly have their work presented to critical and public acclaim on stages across Europe, America and in South Africa.
A talented, star-studded cast, together with breath-taking sets, magnificent costumes and a gathering of beautiful puppets, will bring Peter Pan to life:
Leading the line-up of stars is Grant Almirall in the title role of Peter Pan. Almirall’ s numerous stage credits include the lead role in Singin’ in the Rain in South Africa, Australia and Japan and an award-winning performance as Frankie Vallie in the Broadway hit, Jersey Boys.
The award-winning and ever youthful Jenny Stead stars as Wendy. Ms Stead has won praise for her performances both in musical theatre and dramatic roles. Recent stage credits include Janet in the Fugard’s hit production of The Rocky Horror Show and Maid Marian in Canal Walk’s 2016 production of Robin Hood.
Marcel Meyer stars as the evil Captain Hook. Meyer, regarded as one of the top classical actors of his generation, has many credits including acclaimed performances as Hamlet, Lago, Romeo, Oberon and other classic roles both abroad and at home.
The supporting cast features an equally impressive line-up; the multi-talented Dean Balie [Kat and the Kings, Blood Brothers] as Smee; Bianca Flanders [Orpheus in Africa, Blood Brothers, District 6 – Kanala] as the Princess Tiger-Lily, Kyle Jardine [Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Cabaret] as John Darling, Luke Tyler as Michael Darling, Roberto Kyle [Twelfth Night] as Panther, Stuart Brown [Snow White] and Roland Perold [The Pitch, The Great American Songbook] as the Lost Boys.
Rounding out the cast, in the magical role of Tinkerbell , is effervescent newcomer, Raine Waring.
The annual CWSC Theatre is recognised as one of the finest family entertainment shows in the country. “Over 320,000 children have had their first experience of the magic of live theatre at one of our performances,” says Canal Walk Shopping Centre Marketing Manager Vanessa Herbst, “and we hope to open the door to many more this season, especially as this event is all about providing joy and supporting those in need.”
Marketing Manager for Toys R Us, Nicole Annells is as excited as Vanessa Herbst, saying: “Being the biggest and favourite toy and baby retailer in Canal Walk, we are thrilled to be the key sponsor for this fantastic production and have no doubt Canal Walk and the team will put on a fabulous month full of excitement for our beloved Toys R Us families. We look forward to providing the crowds of families with new, fun and exciting product during our BirthYAY celebration, which falls during this period, to add to the experience.”
Peter Pan has always been affiliated with the spirit of giving since author J. M Barrie bequeathed the rights to Peter Pan to the Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London to help raise funds for the hospital. Keeping with tradition, CWSC, which has raised hundreds of thousands of Rands for charity over the 17 years it has hosted the theatre, will donate proceeds from this production to the LEAP Science and Maths Schools initiative. This is in addition to the sum of R250 000 that will be donated by the Hyprop Foundation.
Further to the donation of theatre funds, extra support for this worthy cause will be generated through the building of a giant mosaic made out of tins of food. Once again celebrating Madiba’s legacy, members of the public are invited to help transform the Food Court at Canal Walk Shopping Centre with the building of this mosaic artwork on 18 July 2017. Theatregoers and shoppers are also invited to donate-a-can to the cause, by dropping off one or more tins of food at the Toys R Us store in Canal Walk.
Merlin Norman, Marketing Manager at Rhodes Food Group, a sponsor for the Mandela Day festivities, commented: “Rhodes Food Group is committed to giving back and making a difference in our communities. We are therefore proud to participate again in the upcoming Mandela Day at Canal Walk by contributing Rhodes canned food products to the Mandela Mosaic Project.”
Make a date to escape to Neverland by booking tickets through: www.computicket.com or at the venue.
Reminder: Every tin counts – so bring a tin of food along and the organisers will add it to the mosaic building kit to make the image bigger and better than ever. Tin donation point will be at the Toys R Us store, near the Centre Court at Canal Walk Shopping Centre.
Dates: Saturday, 1 July to Sunday, 23 July 2017
Show times: Tuesday to Sunday at 11am, 12.30pm and 2pm
Venue: Canal Walk Theatre – Central Court
Ticket price: R80 – Book at Computicket
Based on the classic play by: J. M Barrie
Music and lyrics by: Marcel Meyer
Directed by: Fred Abrahamse
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