Kearsney College brings us the 7th Upbeat Festival, with an eclectic programme of comedy and dance, music and song, featuring top international entertainers and showcasing the amazing talent to have come out of Kearsney over the years.
And new this year – a food, arts and craft market along Founders Avenue on the Friday night. What a great chance to embrace local produce and stock up before heading into a show.
Bookings can be made through Computicket or by phoning 0861 915 8000.
Here’s what you can look forward to:
Friday, 12 August
Marshall Music Battle of the Bands – Top school bands compete for glory in what has become a sought-after platform for emerging talent within the community. Prizes for the winning bands include over R40 000 worth of musical equipment from Marshall Music and a place on next year’s Splashy Fen stage. Last year, the band ‘New Hysteria’ from Westville Boys’ High won the 3rd Upbeat Battle of the Bands competition.
amaZING! is a celebration of rhythm and song, borne from early roots at Kearsney College, highlighting four decades of Old Boys who have made music their life. When famous British rock band Dire Straits found themselves without a front man for their first performance in 20 years, they called on South African musician and Kearsney Old Boy Terence Reis.
Now 48, Terence will perform with his former Pembroke dorm-mate Paul Basel. In celebration of Kearsney’s 90th anniversary, the programme will also include a line-up of Old Boys who have succeeded on South African stages as vocalists, instrumentalists and in bands.
Saturday, 13 August
Hip-hop and street dance competition – a vibrant competition for hip-hop and street dance, which highlights everything positive about the youth of KZN. Organised by the SA Society for the Advancement of Dancing. Competing for cash prizes from Illovo Sugar and shoes from K-Swiss, solo and group dancers perform nu and old school styles, break-dance, krumping, popping, locking and tutting. Warrior Knights won the advanced Hip Hop group at last year’s Upbeat Festival.
Key Strokes… 4 hands, 2 pianos, 1 spectacular – The Westhuizen Duo comprises two astounding professors of piano from the Heidelberg University in Ohio, USA. The musical chemistry between touring husband and wife pair Sophia Grobler and Pierre van der Westhuizen will set the Kearsney stage alight with magnificent piano masterpieces. Come and enjoy a few hours of musical bliss, as the two South African-born piano prodigies perform works by Schumann, Brahms and Rachmaninov.
Widely recognised as SA’s premier mimic, Aggrey Lonake’s impersonations have become legendary. Spiced with his own brand of delightful satire, his subjects include Zuma, Mandela, de Klerk, Tutu, Mbeki, Malema and a host of international characters. From Madiba’s birthday to Mbeki’s inauguration, Microsoft to Mercedes Benz, Lonake has entertained audiences on stage and through numerous TV appearances.
The one man show ‘Dekaf’ is a black, white comedy about blacks who think like whites, as told by a black guy who sounds white. The show stars the up-and-coming stand-up comic Siv Ngesi, directed by comedian David Newton. Contrary to popular belief there is a new generation of black people who don’t bitch about the ‘struggle’, can swim, aren’t hated by dogs and didn’t vote for Jacob Zuma. In Dekaf, Ngesi takes you into the world of a black man who was raised in the suburbs, schooled in the public school system, dates white women and listens to Josh Groban!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3SMXZpWzdQ&w=425&h=349]