Dancing in the Street

The Barnyard Theatre at Gateway starts its 2012 programme off with a bang as Dancing In The Street gives audiences the chance to party at the world’s famous carnivals, celebrations and festivals, from January 31 to March 11.

The show criss-crosses the globe and visits exotic destinations like the Rio Carnival, the New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Cape Minstrel Carnival in Cape Town, St Patrick’s Day in Ireland, the Halloween Festival, the 20120 Soccer World Cup in South Africa and a New Year’s Eve celebration at Times Square.

The celebration starts with the sound of New Orleans and the Mardi Gras Festival with tributes to Louis Armstrong and Elvis Presley, and quickly moves to Brazil’s Rio Carnival with the sounds of Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin and Carlos Santana. Then it’s off to Jamaica with the Sun Splash Festival and the reggae sounds of Bob Marley’s Stir It Up, Could You Be Loved and Redemption Song. The party continues in Sydney, Australia to the Mardi Gras Pink Festival, where the disco tunes of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert take to the air with songs like It’s Raining Men, I Will Survive and I Love the Night Life to close the first half.

The cast of Dancing in The Street at The Barnyard, Gateway

St Patrick’s Day

The second half moves to Europe for the glorious sounds of Ireland’s St Patrick’s Day, with sing-along songs like Danny Boy, The Wild Rover and The Leaving of Liverpool.

From there it’s on to the scary celebrations of Halloween with Michael Jackson’s Thriller and, of course, Monster Mash and Time Warp!

Then it’s time to touch down on home soil with a tribute to two South African celebrations that are not only historical but show that we’re a nation that knows how to throw a party! First up is The Cape Town Minstrel Carnival that has been brewed for more than three centuries in District Six. The journey starts drawing to a close with the celebration of all celebrations, as it pays tribute to the month-long party that was the Soccer World Cup 2010, with the anthem Wavin’ Flag. Finally it’s time to celebrate New Year’s eve at Times Square, New York, where the audience will link arms and sway to Auld Lang Syne.

Dancing In The Street will be hosted by Clinton Philander, who is also joined on lead vocals by Richard Hala, Gavin Esterhuizen and Ruth Norris, plus singer-dancers Cheri De Bruyn and Jo-Anne Piers. The rock-solid band is made up of Devlin Horne (guitar), Chris van der Westhuizen (keyboards), Kelly Joubert (bass guitar), Colin Heaney (drums) and Kirsty Madgin (saxophone).

Info: Tickets R135 a person from Wednesday to Saturday, with discounted specials of R100 a person every Tuesday night and Sunday matinee show. Bookings and enquiries, phone The Barnyard Theatre at 031 566 3045, e-mail gateway@barnyardtheatres.co.za or visit www.barnyardtheatres.co.za