Message from Lebo M

LEBO M AND PIETER TOERIEN PUSIIT YISHS,'S 10TH ANNIVERSARY MONTICAJINO TIATIO LEBO ItA AND PIETER TOERIEN PRESENT THE AWARD-WINNING BROADWAY MUSICAl! ONLY AT THE TEATRO, MONTECASINO, FOURWAYS Telkom is proud to be part of this exciting production and came on board so that tl1lis experience can be shared with our disadvantaged communities. reikoms sponsorship will ensure that our disadvantaged families can share in this wonderful experience, by allowing 40 000 tinder-privileged cHildren to view the production. ~. THE PROUDLY SPONSORED BY LION www.telkom.co.:za K~ Touch tomorrow T .. ' ........ U.-w", .. "" .... 0 .. 0"' ..." ... U"U,l MESSAGE FROM LEBO M In November of 1997, I was on stage as a cast member, choral and vocal arranger, co-composer and portner to Mark Mancina for the music of the Broadway show of The Lion King. Little did I know that 10 years later, The Lion King would have a prestigious globol platform and position, as one of the world's most successful and inspiring Broadway productions to date. However, what I knew and what I started dreaming of was that one day we would open this show for the deserving audiences of South Africa. Approximately seven years ago, I started annoying Thomas Schumacher of Disney Theatrical and director Julie Taymor and anyone who had enough energy to listen to my dream and vision. Little did I know that it was just as real to Tom and Julie and everyone at Disney as much as it was to me. I then decided to shut my life down and focus on bringing the show here, unedited and presented exactly the way I lived it in New York and the world over. It toak an extraordinary amount of local support to make this happen. Tsogo Sun led by Jabu Mabuza joined the dream and built the magnificent Teatro Montecasino; then Telkom recognized the business value of association with the show and came on as the principol sponsor which secured our ability to produce The Lion King. I am eternally grateful to Disney, Telkom, T509o, SABC, British Airways, my family and portners at Till Dawn Entertainment, Gauteng MEC Finance Paul Mashatile, Gauteng MEC Art and Culture Barbara Creecy, Gauteng Economic Propeller Percy Sithole, and my co-producing partner Pieter Toerien, for your loyalty to a vision that has now opened a new era in the theatre environment with a proudly South African presentation of The Lion King. May the journey bring memories that will forever shape the future of our great democracy in South Africa, plant a seed of bigger visionaries and set the stage in moulding the future dreams of those who come after us. LEBO M - SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCER MESSAGE FROM PIETER TOERIEN About three years ago, I got a call asking me if I would like to co-produce The Lion King with the Disney Theatrical Productions and Lebo M. No prizes for guessing what my answer was! The next step was a visit by the Disney peaple and a trip around our country to confirm what I Feared. That is that until now we had no theatre anywhere in South Africa big enough for The Lion King. So, without Jabu Mabuza and Ron Stringfellow leading T5090 Sun into the decision to design and build this wonderful new theatre The Lion King would not be happening here. We thank them deeply for their vision. As a producer I can't tell you how exciting this is. Great artistes are born not made, then they need to be trained and then they need stages to perform on. Here at Montecasino we already have two small theatres with 150 and 350 seats, there's the Market with 500 seats and the Civic with 1050, the State Theatre with 1350 and there are others and now Teatro Montecasino with 1900 seats. Now we have enough theatres in Gauteng to produce any show we want. We have wonderfully talented actors in our country but not enough, we have superb musicians but not enough and we have excellent technicians but not enough. The work opportunities now available directly as a result of this new theatre are enormous. The Lion King, for example, employs 120 peaple, on stage, in the orchestra pit and bockstage. Add to that the theatre staff and crew and catering team and there are more than 200 new jobs on offer. So just think of the many nights of triumph to come. 100 years from now producers like Lebo and I will still be announcing great shows to grace this stage. The journey begins now and as the house lights dim and the curtain rises on the truly magnificent musical The Lion King, home at last, theatre in South Africa has really come of age and Montecasino is undoubtedly THE Entertainment Capital of Africa. PIETER TOERIEN - SOUTH AFRICAN PRODUCER MESSAGE FROM THOMAS SCHUMACHER Dear Theatregoers, It is with great pride and joy that I welcome you to the Teatro at Montecasino for this landmark event. After 10 successful years of perfonnances around the world, Disney's The Lion King has at long last come home to South Africa. I congratulate Leba M and Pieter Toerien on turning this long-held dream into reality. All of us at Disney are proud of their achievement, and we loak forward to sharing the joy of The Lion King in South Africa for a long time to come. We are also honoured to be the first production to perjorm in this beautiful w theatre. The management and staff of T5090 Resorts are to be congratulated for their vision and dedication in bringing such an inspiring performance facility to Johannesburg. Beginning with its opening night in 1997 at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, The Lion King has been enjoyed by over 45 million people worldwide, from London to Tokyo, Sydney to Shanghai, and Hamburg to Amsterdam. However, it is here in South Africa that The Lion King comes full circle, for it is here that the story truly begins. I wish you great pleasure as you experience the rhythm of the pridelands. THOMAS SCHUMACHER - PRESIDENT, DISNEY THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS MESSAGE FROM REUBEN SEPTEMBER A number of reasons underpin Telkom's decision to sponsor The Lion King. The obvious one is that we want people to experience what this award winning production is all about, especially as it emphasises lessons in authentic leadership, forgiveness and overcoming adversity - the kind of moral regenerative messages that we identify with. • The fact that Disney Theatricals will train South Africans in various aspects of the theatre business also appeal to us, as does the potential of the production to bolster tourism. We furthermore believe that a production of this magnitude will contribute significantly in bringing the restorative power of performance art to communities that have traditionally been excluded from its benefits. Telkom hcis long held the belief that companies do not function in isolation from the society around them, but that the business community affects the lives of literally millions of peaple. It is therefore incumbent upon the corporate sector to mobilise their resources for the betterment of society. It is far this reason that we have agreed with Lebo M and Pieter Toerien that The Lion King should not become the domain of the privileged, but be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible. We are especially eager for schoal-going children from previously disadvantaged communities to be exposed to the production's positive messages, as well as the sheer joy of viewing world-class theatre. From the very beginning the producers shared this vision of ours, and they must be congratulated for going all-out to deli~er tangible results. A collaborative approach has resulted in an in-school media campaign that will enable some 38,000 learners from 45 schools to become part of the globol Lion King audience. In addition, lessons taken from The Lion King will be incorporated in a study guide and taught to learners as part of a broader life Skills programme. In essence, Telkom's sponsorship of The Lion King is about doing good. It is about positive transformation and the upliftrnent of communities. Tomorrow belongs to the youth. If We are to leave our country in safe hands, we have to provide the children of today with a moral compass. Enabling children to imlllerse themselves' in The Lion King experience is a step in the right direction. Telkom is proud to be associated with such an endeavour. We know The Lion King, in all its facets, will be a roaring success! . REUBEN SEPTEMBER - ACTING CEO, TELKOM NEW VISIONS FOR PRIDE ROCK While conceiving and creating The Lion King for - THE FIRST VISUAL IMACiES - Broadway, Julie Taymor wrote a book about her As I began to visualize The Lion King, the dominant theme and image to emerge was the circle. "The Circle of Life", the song that opens both the film and the musical, ongoing experiences and her vision for the show. The establishes this symbolism. In addition to being a tale about a boy's personal growth, following four excerpts are taken from various The Lion King dramatizes the ritual of birth, death, and rebirth. Nature's cycle is evident throughout the work. sections of The Lion King: Pride Rock on Broadway by In addition to incorporating circles, RichardHudson's design satisfied my desire for an JULIE TAYMOR. essentially stylized version of Pride Rock. I had decided early on that I would not do a realistic rendition of the Pridelands. I wanted audiences to be released from their memories of the film right from the start, to take a leap of faith and imagination.

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