African music extravaganza to savour

The four-day musical showcase will start next Wednesday at the 7 Arts Theatre in Avondale and will feature 10 vocalists, all local performers, including Samantha Tirivacho, Zeena Beins and Kirby Chipembere.
According to Mark Robbins, who is the managing director of Eclipse Productions and is also the director of the production, “songs included in this production will come from Africa’s musical extraordinaire with songs from such artistes as Miriam Makeba, Juluka, featuring the versatile white Zulu, Johnny Clegg, Salif Keita, Brenda Fassie, Zimbabwe’s own superstar, Oliver Mtukudzi, South African group hit wonders, Clout, and Mango Groove, just to name but a few”.
Speaking to journalists last week, he said after the overwhelming success of “The Mamma Mia Story” musical production in June this year, they have come up with yet this production.
“Though The Mamma Mia Story, which proved to be the most well-organised and locally successful event in recent years and was compared favourably to the West End version by many punters who saw both versions, this time Songs Out Of Africa will again prove to be another great production.
“This show once again will prove that there is an abundance of talent within Zimbabwe and potential to match international standards.”
Robbins said the show aims to bring enjoyment to people from all walks of life “regardless of race and religion towards the twilight of the year, hence, setting the pace for a happy Christmas spirit”.
He said that due to public demand, however, the last day of the event will be a matinee and expects that the whole production will provide the platform and instil confidence in the local artistes to face the world with determination and pride.
There are three or four more similar shows planned for next year, but this show is surely going to set the tone for Christmas.
Tickets are already on sale at the Rainbow 7 Arts box office — advance tickets are going for US$15 while those who would want to pay at the door will have to fork out an additional US$5. Meanwhile, Robbins revealed that part of the proceeds of the musical showcase will be channelled to the Vimbai Gakanji Fund.
Vimbai is a bursary student at The Dominican Convent High School in Harare, and is in desperate need to undergo an urgent and delicate surgery to remove a malignant tumour in her head.
The touching story of Vimbai was chronicled by Sister Catherine Jackson, who is a teacher at the school and is also the director of the Dorothy Duncan Braille Library. She said Vimbai’s parents are peasant farmers in Bindura who have sold all their cattle and other assets to help their child, but there is virtually nothing they can do further to help the situation, hence, the school has been obligated to offer a helping hand.
She said that the girl should be given hope and that if the operation can be done, she has potential to do greater things in life. The operation will cost US$12 000, but this figure does not include incidentals and medication and hospitalisation or care.
The headmistress of the school, Mrs Ann Glover, said that Vimbai, who has lost sight due to her worsening condition, may regain sight if she is operated on.
“She is very bright, but it’s a tragedy she never wrote her A-levels because she lost her sight due to the tumour. The tumour is growing and pressure on the brain is growing and she is in a lot of pain. We are confident that the prognosis after the operation will be good and we just need to give her hope,” she said. “She actually wants to be a doctor.”
The school has so far raised nearly US$5 000.
Mrs Glover said donations can be deposited in the school accounts, but must be made payable to the “Vimbai Fund”. The two accounts to make deposits are Stanbic Bank: “Minerva”, Sort Code 3125, account number 0222099814701; and Barclays Bank: Sort Code 2144 and account no. 103887. The accounts are audited by the Kingdom Bank.
She appealed to well-wishers to forward a copy of any deposits towards the fund to the school for accounting purposes.