Broadway comes to Africa
While most people have already started making plans for the Bushfire Festival beginning on May 25, Broadway will be coming to town through Brigham Young University’s Young Ambassadors.
The Young Ambassadors will, for the first time since 1998, be returning to perform throughout South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland.
This will be a fundraising effort for the SOS Children’s Home.
Young Ambassadors will be in the country on May 9 and will be performing at the Royal Swazi Convention Centre. The show is scheduled to start at 7:30pm.
They will be presenting their newest show ‘Harmony: The Music of Life’ a 90-minute performance full of bright costumes, creative choreography, and favourite Broadway and radio tunes.
If you know the theme songs from movies such as ‘Dream Girls’, ‘The Prince of Egypt’, ‘Hairspray’ and ‘Carousel’ then this show should be a musical journey not to be missed.
Through song, dance, and theatrics this high energy show depicts special life moments on the journey from childhood to growing old.
Musical
Harmony captures the playfulness of youth, the romance of a first love, and the rewards of starting a family. More than just another musical production, Harmony shares the message of the importance of family and good friends during every stage in life.
Award winning songs from musicals such as ‘Hairspray’, ‘Dream Girls’, ‘Carousel’, and ‘The Prince of Egypt’ will be featured in the production along with popular hits as seen performed by Miley Cyrus, Benny Goodman, and Michael Bublé.
A live 10-piece band will accompany the Young Ambassadors to bring each piece to life. These songs, enhanced by choreography and costumes, make this a riveting show for audience members of all ages.
As part of the Young Ambassadors’ Southern Africa tour, they will participate in several cultural exchanges and performance workshops.
"I’m looking forward to getting to know the people and the culture in Southern Africa," said Michele Ringer, a member of Young Ambassadors.
"We love watching them perform. It’s amazing to get to know another culture through performance!"
To express their appreciation of support the Young Ambassadors will give back to the communities they visit by having proceeds from each of their tour performances benefit a local non-profit organisation.
The Young Ambassadors have shared their love for musical theater in over 70 countries and have performed for government leaders in Australia, India, Great Britain, Jordan, Egypt, Japan, and the United States. While on tour, the Young Ambassadors will have the opportunity to perform for South African government officials as well as other international ambassadors.
The Young Ambassadors represent the School of Music in cooperation with the Department of Dance from the College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. BYU is one of America’s largest private universities with 30 000 students from all over the United States and 120 foreign countries.
BRIEF BACKGROUND YOUNG AMBASSADORS:
The Young Ambassadors are a song and dance performing group from Brigham Young University. Since their first international performance at world exposition 1970 in Osaka, Japan, they have performed throughout the United States and over 56 other nations. Their audiences have included the prime minister of India, the queen of Thailand, and the king and queen of Jordan. Live and televised appearances in major concert halls and impromptu performances in hospitals, orphanages, town squares and government palaces reach millions of people each year. The Young Ambassadors company consists of 26 performers (13 men and 13 women), a 10 piece show band (keyboard, drums, guitar and bass guitar, etc.) and 9 technical personnel. Prior to 1970, the group was known as Curtain Time USA. In the 1960s, their world tour stops included Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq.
The Young Ambassadors have been directed by Randy Boothe since 1978.
TOUR HISTORY:
This tour history beings in 1970 and continues up to present day
l 1970 - Japan (Osaka World Exposition)
l 1971-1972 - California, Eastern United States, Germany, Netherlands
l 1972-1973 - New Mexico, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, El Salvador
l 1973-1974 - Midwestern United States, Southern California, South Africa
l 1974-1975 - Northern California, Utah, Eastern United States
l 1975-1976 Alberta, Southern United States, Central United States
l 1976-1977 - Arizona, Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland
l 1977-1978 - New Mexico, Midwestern United States, Eastern United States, Montana, Wyoming, Russia, Poland
l 1978-1979 - Arizona, Central Canada, Northern United States, Canada, Poland, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Guam, Hawaii, California
l 1979-1980 - New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Hong Kong, Southern United States, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka
l 1980-1981 - Colorado, Wyoming, Northern California, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Romania (twice), Russia, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Greece
l 1981-1982 - Northwest United States, Arizona, Southern California, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, New York, Tennessee World Exposition, San Diego, California (Holiday Bowl)
l 1982-1983 - Utah, Southern California, Idaho, Washington, California (twice), Nevada, Japan, People’s Republic of China, Republic of China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii
l 1983-1984 - Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Southern California, Northeast United States, Southern United States, Louisiana World Exposition
l 1984-1985 - Northern California, Southern California, Nevada, Yugoslavia, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Greece, Jerash
l 1985-1986 - Nevada, Northern California, Montana, Alberta, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Japan, People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong
l 1986-1987 - Arizona, Northeast United States, Canada
l 1987-1988 - Northwest USA, United Kingdom, Ireland
l 1988-1989 - Northern California, Southeast United States, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
l 1989-1990 - Southern California, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway
l 1990-1991 - New Mexico, Russia, Berlin, Germany
l 1991-1992 - Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Berlin, Germany
l 1992-1993 - Northern California, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia
l 1993-1994 - Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia
l 1994-1995 - Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota
l 1995-1996 - California, Vietnam, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China, Philippines, Malaysia
l 1996-1997 - Arizona, Morocco, Tunisia
l 1997-1998 - Northern California, Nevada, South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana
l 1998-1999 - Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand
l 1999-2000 - Southern California, Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia (U.S. State), Louisiana
l 2000-2001 - Arizona, Far East Russia, Japan
l 2001-2002 - Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alberta, Canada
l 2002-2003 - California, Northern Nevada
l 2003-2004 - Southern Nevada, California, Brazil, Argentina
l 2004-2005 - Colorado, New Mexico, Hong Kong, China, South Korea
l 2005-2006 - Montana, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nauvoo, Illinois
l 2006-2007 - Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, China
l 2007-2008 - Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, California, Australia
l 2008-2009 - New Mexico, Texas, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland
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