Performer: Cape Town Opera

Good singing, incisive production and colourful choreography in The Mandela Trilogy make for many entertaining moments though inherent flaws in libretto and music fail to make it a satisfying, coherent whole. 

The seldom-seen opera musical Lost in the Stars found prominence Friday night, enrapturing a full house at Glimmerglass Festival in New York, moving some of the actors themselves to tears, and stirring the audience to its feet for curtain call.

Whatever I was expecting from the European première of Mandela Trilogy, a musical tribute to the life of the iconic Nelson Mandela, it certainly wasn’t humour. Yet it is to writer and director Michael Williams’ credit that he has managed to convey what could have been extremely tense and serious subject matter with vibrancy and flair.

As part of our music education month, we caught up with Christine Crouse of the Cape Town Opera to discuss how the company brings music to disadvantaged areas in South Africa.