……BILLY SUTER……
FORMER Durban-based singer and dancer Joseph Clark, globally noted for his stellar tributes to the music of Queen and Freddie Mercury, will return to the theatre where it all began later this month.
Now Gauteng-based, Clark will perform his The Music of Queen show at 7pm on Friday, July 31, and 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday, August 1 and 2, at Durban’s Playhouse Opera theatre. It was there that he first excited with the music of British band Queen when he starred in the legendary Queen at the Opera show and its sequel, The Show Must Go On, both directed by late visionary, Geoffrey Sutherland.
Clark, who last performed a Queen tribute at the Playhouse Opera theatre in 2024, will now share the stage with singer Lizzy Phisane, ace guitarist Axe Lourens and, only for the Friday performance in Durban, the Durban Girls’ College Choir.
This year’s show will have him alongside soprano Phisane for the rousing Barcelona – a big hit for Queen’s Freddie Mercury and opera star Montserrat Caballé – as well as Guide Me Home/How Can I Go On; duets originally performed by Mercury and Caballé at La Nit in 1988. The latter two songs are rarely performed live and will be a South African premiere.
The Music of Queen also features some new songs, adding to the extensive song list of iconic hits such as Somebody To Love, Another One Bites The Dust, Under Pressure, Bohemian Rhapsody and Made In Heaven. Also on the programme are high-energy classics such as Dragon Attack, Headlong and Tie Your Mother Down.
Clark’s charming style and vocal power has seen him as a crowd favourite not only in South Africa, but also the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the Middle East, America and across Africa, including Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi and, more recently, Freddie Mercury’s birthplace, Zanzibar.
With a career spanning more than 40 years, Clark has performed as a soloist with every major symphony orchestra throughout South Africa and with the Noord Nederlands Orkest. A firm favourite with Queen fans in the Netherlands, Clark’s career highlights include The Queen Experience, Zanzibar a sold-out show at the 30 000-seater GelreDome Stadium in Arnhem.
“I’m not a believer in impersonating great artists but giving an audience a taste of their music, as a humble tribute and compliment to their genius. I try to create an atmosphere of magic; nostalgia for some and a new discovery for others,” says Clark.
Tickets for The Music of Queen cost R250, R28Webr0 and R300, and are available at Webtickets.
.....SoSuterBill..... 