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The Boys in the Photograph

The Johannesburg Civic Theatre is proud to announce its core attraction for the FIFA World Cup 2010 on the stage of the Nelson Mandela Theatre.

The Boys in the photograph is adapted by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton from their award-winning 2000/01 West End musical hit The Beautiful Game.

Their completely original story is about young people on the verge of adulthood; young people wanting to love, to play soccer and lead normal lives in a city dominated by violence and hatred. The musical is set in Belfast, Ireland, between 1969 and 1972, but could just as easily be set in Kosovo, Beirut, Jerusalem or the South Africa of not so many years ago. The themes of The Boys in the photograph are universal: all over the world, communities are challenged by hatred.

The young people in the musical have the misfortune to come of age at the beginning of a terrible trouble in Northern Ireland and the musical follows their lives against a backdrop of ever increasing sectarian division. Some of the characters are drawn into the conflict; others stand aside wanting only to be allowed to get on with their lives in peace. Whether Catholic or Protestant, whether black or white, no child was ever born to hate.

This powerful and passionate musical is also a joyous celebration of the freedom that love can bring. Audiences have risen to their feet, cheering, screaming and tearful as the game of soccer - the ballet of soccer - is recreated on stage with some of the most originally exciting choreography ever seen in musical theatre. And South Africa will rise to its feet nightly at the Nelson Mandela Theatre to celebrate its triumphs, its sport, its youth....and its creative abilities.

The Boys in the photograph is full of the heart searing ballads and stirring anthems of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Super Star, Evita) and the extraordinary wit and compassion of author Ben Elton (Blast from the past, The Thin Blue Line, Popcorn, Blackadder).

With a multi-racial, one-hundred-percent South African cast and creative team behind the production, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton have given their approval for The Johannesburg Civic Theatre to create a completely original production of The Boys in the photograph. It is a compliment to both The Johannesburg Civic Theatre itself and the recent success of globally successful musicals staged by South Africans.

The Boys in the photograph will be produced by The Johannesburg Civic Theatre in association with Real Theatre and presented by the City of Johannesburg as a Host City Parallel Event during the FIFA World Cup 2010.

Bernard Jay, Chief Executive Officer of The Johannesburg Civic Theatre, will serve as Executive Producer of the musical, with Simon James and Claire Pacariz as Associate Producers. The lead creative team will be announced shortly.

The Boys in the photograph will have its official opening night at the Nelson Mandela Theatre on Sunday May 23rd 2010 and run until Sunday August 8th 2010. The initial booking period of May 25th to June 6th 2010 is now open for ticket sales at Computicket. Visit www.computicket.com or call 083 915 8000. Tickets are priced from R280, exclusive of booking fee.

Special discounted group sales rates are available by calling the theatre’s VIP Ticketing on (011) 877 6853.

For more information
please contact Claire Pacariz
(011) 877 6805
082 335 5721
claire@showbusiness.co.za