David Kramer and Cape Town Opera present 'Orpheus McAdoo'

Brandon Leigh speaks to David Kramer about his latest project, Orpheus McAdoo. 

Listen below.

Kramer takes us back to the 1890s to bring on an epic musical, Orpheus McAdoo.

David Kramer, for the first time ever in collaboration with Cape Town Opera, presents the new musical after the successful run of Orpheus in Africa in 2015. It tells the little-known story of an African-American choir, The Virginia Jubilee Concert Company, that visited South Africa in the 1890s. 

This group came to Cape Town at the invitation of the Governor's wife, Lady Loch. Singing in the style delivered by McAdoo's company had never been heard in the Cape before. 

They were an overnight sensation and went on to tour the country for the next two years.

Orpheus McAdoo introduced jubilee singing to South Africa and this musical recreates the way his choir sang the old spirituals more than 120 years ago. In addition to the traditional songs, Kramer has created new music inspired by early American folk music, a pastiche of minstrel songs, early ragtime and opera.

With an all-local cast, this is set to be an epic production. 

Keen to watch?

Orpheus McAdoo is on at The Artscape until 4 November.

Book your tickets at Webtickets or call 021 421 7695.

"It's like a time capsule musical set in Cape Town... a story I knew nothing about and at the time had such a big impact in terms of music in this country."

- David Kramer 

"I want to capture the history and the experience of what it would've been like to capture the singing at that time... we have trained operatic voices which we have blended with contemporary performances... It's also about how fashion changes, words, music and a mixture of all sorts of things with lovely comedic threads running through it."

- David Kramer 

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.