Hunt on for vibrant ‘Moana’ cast for upcoming musical
Disney film’s celebration of culture inspires Sakuba to produce local production
The Sonwa Sakuba Institute of Performing Arts is in search of its very own Disney princess, Moana.
The school will be presenting Disney’s Moana Jr musical production in July and will be hosting auditions on April 23.
The production’s entire cast is to comprise children aged 18 or under, making it the institute’s first children’sonly production.
Director of the institute, Sonwa Sakuba, said he fell in love with Moana Jr the first time he watched the film.
“I was surprised there wasn’ ta production of it yet, until I found out that there was a Disney version of it and I just had to do it!” Sakuba said.
It was the beautiful story of Moana that inspired him to bring the production to life for East London audiences, he added.
“The main thing about it is that it embraces culture. It’s so interesting how Moana’s culture, or bits of her culture, are kept from her in a way, but at the same time it frees her and frees the community.
“That’s what I really like about it: That everything is restored and she finds out the full story of her culture.
“It’s definitely a celebration of culture which is a very important thing and something I think we all should be doing in our daily lives,” Sakuba said.
Obtaining the rights to use the script and score of Moana Jr through the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (Dalro) and Music Theatre International (MTI), New York, Sakuba said the production followed the same trajectory as the 2016 animated film, and that is would require a large cast.
“The storyline is the same, the script has already been written and the music is absolutely gorgeous. The difference is that it is performed live.”
He said the casting also included
the ocean as a “character”. “We have the ocean that will be played by actual people, so we then see the turbulent waters played by children in the cast.
“You can imagine the amount of choreography that has to be put in throughout the production, because a lot of the show is based in water.
“The ocean plays a huge role in this production and everything will be done or performed by the kids,” Sakuba said.
He said audiences were in for a vibrant, colourful treat.
Sharing advice for those wanting to audition, Sakuba said the first and most important thing was to have fun and be prepared.
“They must prepare one joke, as well as any of the songs that are on our website. The kids must bring their
energy and confidence,” Sakuba said.
“It’s going to be a nice, fun day of us all getting to know each other.
“For the lead role of Moana, this young lady needs to be able to sing, act and dance.
“She needs to be able to do all three at a high level and she needs to be able to command a stage, exude confidence and be ready to take the story to the next level. We need to be able to see that this person enjoys performing and we need a lot of confidence, because she’ll have the weight of the entire cast on her shoulders.
“Playing the role of Moana is a lot of work. She’s got to be a strong young lady that is energetic and willing to share her talents and awesomeness.”
The production is a collaboration
with Hemingways Mall and is set to be staged at the end of July.
Sakuba said he was excited to see the production come to life.
“All I do, all day, every day, is listen to the songs and they are just so inspiring and powerful, especially How far I’ll go, because it just takes you somewhere where you believe anything is possible.
“It’s such a typical Disney song and it’s just wonderful.”
Auditions are open to five- to 18year-olds and will take place on April 23 from 10am at the Sonwa Sakuba Institute at Hemingways Mall.
For audition material and to view a character breakdown, visit www.sonwasakuba.co.za.