The Magic Flute (musical)
Encyclopedia
The Magic Flute is a musical theatre
work adapted from the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
opera of the same title
by Mark Dornford-May
, with words and music by Mandisi Dyantyis, Mbali Kgosidintsi, Pauline Malefane and Nolufefe Mtshabe. Mozart’s score is transposed for an orchestra of marimba
s, drums and township percussion. The musical, set in contemporary South Africa, re-interprets the story from a South African perspective, telling of Prince Tamino's quest to rescue Pamina (both of them are Xhosa
-speaking teenagers), daughter of the Queen of the Night, from the Priest of the Sun.
The musical premiered in 2007 at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town
, South Africa, before beginning a tour to the United Kingdom. The production opened at the Young Vic Theatre in London over the festive season, 2007. The cast performed The Magic Flute and an adaptation of Charles Dickens
' A Christmas Carol
on alternate days for a nine-week run. The production won the Whatsonstage Theatregoers’ Choice Award for Best Off-West End Production. Its success led to a transfer to the Duke of York's Theatre
for a further run until 19 April, 2008. The musical won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival in 2008.
Following its West End
theatre season, the production toured to the Dublin Theatre Festival, the Chichester Festival Theatre and the Canterbury Festival. In November 2008, it returned to South Africa for a season at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg
. It then played in Tokyo and elsewhere, concluding its tour at the Singapore Arts Festival in June 2009.
The production, directed by Dornford-May and choreographed by Lungelo Ngamlana, starred Dornford-May's wife, Pauline Malefane in the role of the Queen of the Night. It featured performers from the township of Khayelitsha
in the Western Cape
of South Africa. The Irish Times said that the work "gets right to the heart of the opera's humanist message".
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
work adapted from the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
opera of the same title
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
by Mark Dornford-May
Mark Dornford-May
Mark Dornford-May is a British-born South African theatre and film director.-Early life:Mark Dornford-May was born on his Grandfathers farm near Eastoft in Yorkshire. His paternal Grandfather was a miner on the Yorkshire coalfields...
, with words and music by Mandisi Dyantyis, Mbali Kgosidintsi, Pauline Malefane and Nolufefe Mtshabe. Mozart’s score is transposed for an orchestra of marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
s, drums and township percussion. The musical, set in contemporary South Africa, re-interprets the story from a South African perspective, telling of Prince Tamino's quest to rescue Pamina (both of them are Xhosa
Xhosa language
Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said...
-speaking teenagers), daughter of the Queen of the Night, from the Priest of the Sun.
The musical premiered in 2007 at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa, before beginning a tour to the United Kingdom. The production opened at the Young Vic Theatre in London over the festive season, 2007. The cast performed The Magic Flute and an adaptation of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
on alternate days for a nine-week run. The production won the Whatsonstage Theatregoers’ Choice Award for Best Off-West End Production. Its success led to a transfer to the Duke of York's Theatre
Duke of York's Theatre
The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...
for a further run until 19 April, 2008. The musical won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival in 2008.
Following its West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
theatre season, the production toured to the Dublin Theatre Festival, the Chichester Festival Theatre and the Canterbury Festival. In November 2008, it returned to South Africa for a season at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. It then played in Tokyo and elsewhere, concluding its tour at the Singapore Arts Festival in June 2009.
The production, directed by Dornford-May and choreographed by Lungelo Ngamlana, starred Dornford-May's wife, Pauline Malefane in the role of the Queen of the Night. It featured performers from the township of Khayelitsha
Khayelitsha
Khayelitsha is a partially informal township in Western Cape, South Africa, located on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town. The name is Xhosa for New Home...
in the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
of South Africa. The Irish Times said that the work "gets right to the heart of the opera's humanist message".