The ballet, featuring 24 dancers and three vocalists, tells the story of British rock band Queen’s frontman Freddie Mercury and the intricacies of his life and relationships.
“This is my tribute to the fascinating life of one of the world’s greatest icons,” said director Bovim.
“The show centres around Freddie, his male lover, Jim Hutton, who embodies the primary male loves of Freddie’s life, and the female loves of Freddie’s life; Rosemary Pearson, Mary Austin and Barbara Valentin.”
The lead role is played by Henk Opperman, while Devon Marshbank plays Hutton, Tanya Futter plays Austin, Nicola van der Merwe plays Pearson, and Faye Dubinski plays Valentin.
One character, MasterTime, played by Steven van Wyk, was described by Bovim as “the personification of Freddie’s conscience, reminding him that he is mortal, yet still urging him to live life to the fullest”.
The ballet is set to some of Queen’s greatest hits such as Killer Queen, Under Pressure, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, Who Wants to Live Forever, We Will Rock You, Take My Breath Away, Radio Ga Ga, and Bohemian Rhapsody.
The audience sang along and cheered on the dancers who performed pirouettes, arabesques and pas de deux across the stage.
Explaining the use of two male vocalists, namely Cito and Daniel Fisher, Bovim said, “As Freddie has such a unique voice, including a four-octave range, we made use of two singers, each with distinctly different voices, to cover the range and essence of Freddie’s voice.”
Cito was joined by songstress Angela Kilian for the grand finale, Barcelona; a song that audience member Mandi Friedman said brought tears to her eyes.
Queen at the Ballet is at Joburg Theatre, Loveday Street, Braamfontein, until 13 April.
Details: 0861 670 670; www.joburgtheatre.com
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