Curro Create learners perform their way to Fiesta nomination

15 February 2021

For 22 exceptionally talented young Curro performers, long hours of rehearsals have certainly paid off, as the show-stopping Curro Create production, From Broadway to Bird Street, has been nominated for a prestigious kykNET Fiësta award.

This musical, conceived, produced and directed by award-winning theatre makers Hennie van Greunen and Pedro Kruger, alongside musical direction by their long-time collaborator, Melissa van der Spuy, has been recognised in the Best music-driven production: theatre category. The national kykNET Fiësta awards have been honouring exceptional performances in the performing arts since 2010.

The production’s learner cast was selected from 360 auditions received from Curro schools nationwide. These learners had to excel in not just one but three areas of performance – dancing, singing and acting. Once selected, their talent was refined and mentored by five of South Africa’s celebrated singers – Timothy Moloi, Corlea Botha, Lynelle Kenned, Germandt Geldenhuys and André Terblanché, who all took part in the show. With choreography by the internationally acclaimed Trudy Fredericks and Lee Sophia Piedt, and costumes by Rouvé Hattingh, local theatre-goers were treated to a rare spoil: a Broadway show in Stellenbosch.

From Broadway to Bird Street features showstopping hits from a number of diverse musical classics such as Les Misérables, Chicago, Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray and Hamilton. “It is no surprise that South Africa boasts astounding young talent, however, we didn’t realise how much we would be blown away when the learners took these international classics and performed them like true seasoned triple-threats,” says director, Hennie van Greunen. 

Curro Create is part of Curro Holdings’ creative initiative in partnership with Wordsmith’s Theatre Factory, which aims to align creativity and the performing arts at an equally strong level as academics and sport.

From Broadway to Bird Street was initially performed in front of a rapturous audience at the Toyota US Woordfees in Stellenbosch in March 2020. The production received a national audience late in December 2020, as kykNET scheduled the filmed version as part of their Christmas weekend programming and broadcast the production to its subscribers. During lockdown, the production was also streamed on the Mothership platform, selling tickets to theatre fans across the globe.

“We are extremely proud of our learners who are all immensely grateful to have been part of a professional theatre production of this magnitude,” says Marí Lategan, Head of Marketing and Communications at Curro Holdings. “To now be nominated for a kykNET Fiësta award, is just the cherry on top,” concludes Lategan.