The high-energy, crowd pleasing Big Boys Don’ Dance lights up the Kalk Bay Theatre stage for the festive season. It will be performed from 14 December until 8 January.
The production won a Standard Bank Ovation Award at the 2010 National Art Festival and is presented by Follow Spot Productions, creators of the acclaimed Big Girls Don’t Cry and Love @ First Fight , which played to sold-out houses earlier this year at Kalk Bay Theatre.
“It’s great to welcome the talented Follow Spot team back to Kalk Bay Theatre,” says owner Simon Cooper. “In keeping with the festive season spirit, our usual show schedule of Wednesday – Saturday has been extended to other days of the week, including Sundays, so guests can come and enjoy the entertainment most nights.”
Featuring Bradley and Ash Searle (of So You Think You Can Dance fame), Big Boys Don’ Dance is set at Ash’s bachelor party. The boys get into their fair share of trouble but from one ridiculous idea to another, they prove that true brothers watch each others’ back. Using a dazzling range of dance styles, from 80s hip hop to kwaito, Dirty Dancing to the Shuffle, they twirl their way through this unforgettable adventure of far-out farce and foolishness. Caught between braai tongs and tutus these two Pretoria boytjies challenge the cliché of the “male dancer”.
Cue described the production as “Big Boys is a South African version of The Hangover meets Flashdance with all the technical perfection of a Broadway musical.”
The show is presented by Follow Spot Productions, directed and choreographed by Vanessa Harris and is written by Ash and Bradley Searle.
Ash Searle is a technically trained dancer who has performed all over the world and locally in an array of shows including African Footprint, Chicago, Fame and We Will Rock You. He is a firm favourite in the corporate performance market and has danced and choreographed for many functions – Bidvest, the SAMA awards, Miss World and DHL to mention a few. With his wife Vanessa Harris, he runs Follow Spot Productions, developing a style of choreography and performance that brings comedy, theatre and dance together in a new off-the-wall genre of live entertainment. In addition to producing shows, the company also offers entertainment solutions such as MCs, aerial artists, singers and dancers, working with a wide range of performers.
After many years in dance training, Bradley Searle hit the professional stage in Peter Pan in his grade 11 year – getting special leave of absence from school to do so – and hasn’t looked back since. He has appeared in productions such as Footloose the Musical and Pinnochio, followed, by a country-wide run in Big Boys Don’t Dance and directing Love @ First Fight.
Director Vanessa Harris started dancing at the age of three and acting at ten. She qualified with an ATCL (Trinity College of London) in Musical Theatre, and has since worked non-stop appearing in many stage shows and musicals including; The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fangs – the musical, Fusion, the Buddy Holly Story and playing the part of Wendy in the pantomime, Peter Pan. In 2008 she spent six months performing in Asia with the touring cast of We Will Rock You – the Queen Musical. Vanessa was even seen on the South African movie screens as the female lead in the late Bill Flynn’s comedy Running Riot. Vanessa has directed, produced and performed in hits such as Big Girls Don’t Cry and Love @ First Fight. With Ash, she runs Follow Spot Productions and also choreographs and produces entertainment for corporate functions and events.
“Big Boys Don’t Dance is high-energy entertainment and fun for all the family during the festive season,” says Cooper. “Don’t forget that theatre tickets make a unique and special Christmas present, and with our easy-to-use new online booking system, tickets can be purchased in advance and sent to you or you can simply arrange for the recipient to collect them at the Theatre. Christmas gift problem sorted!”
Big Boys Don’t Dance will be performed from 14 December until 8 January at 20h30 except Sundays when the show starts at 19h30.
The full performance schedule is: December 14 – 17, 19 – 23 and 27 – 31, 2011 then January 02 – 08, 2012.
Don’t miss the incredible opening week special on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 December when tickets cost only R75. Tickets to all other performances cost R95 and can be booked on www.kbt.co.za
