This multi-award winning musical is currently running at the Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg before opening at the Artscape, Cape Town, on 19 June 2013.
"I work extensively for Showtime Management productions, the SA Producer for Jersey Boys, on most of their productions," said Kilbee. "Showtime started talking about Jersey Boys three years ago... keep in mind that shows of this scale are always a couple of years in the making."
Kilbee kicked off Jersey Boys in Singapore in November 2012 and, over the 11 week run, the production received rave reviews. The performances in Johannesburg are enjoying similarly positivefeedback.
Gearhouse Splitbeam was awarded the contract to supply lighting equipment for the production .The entire cast, musicians and crew are all South African but the sound, LED, stage automation and rigging packages were all brought in from the USA. The show gear is transported in twelve 40 foot High Cube sea containers.
A crew of 40 have been handpicked by Kilbee to work on Jersey Boys, including Head of Lighting at Splitbeam, Clement Makama and Moving Light Technicians Simon Mashebane and Solly Thaane. "The team are all very professional; mostly freelancers, who have worked with me before and who have toured extensively." he said. "All forty crew members work at each performance, in a very controlled environment. The show is extremely intense with scenery changes every fifteen to twenty seconds."
Jersey Boys includes a Stadium wall comprised of 96 Source Four Pars, 25 x DataFlash, 30+ Egg strobes. Each Source 4 Par uses different sized doughnuts from City Theatrical to simulate the perspective of a stadium.
(Jim Evans)
