Tracy Cahill Creative Comms and Strategy

04/08/2026

It's here! THE 2026 OPERETTA COMPETITION!

Celebrating its 5th year, the Aviva Pelham Operetta Competition returns on Tuesday 18 August, inviting audiences and performers
alike to share in the joy of operetta.

Young singers are introduced to a specific repertoire and style that is technically demanding and wonderfully entertaining. We want to ensure that this music continues to live and inspire - and that our singers are equipped to carry it to stages around the world.

Requiring a singer’s full artistic range - vocally, musically, and theatrically - the evening is a golden opportunity for emerging singers to showcase their work.

Solo arias and duets from the German, Viennese, French, and Spanish Zarzuela traditions will be performed, with themes ranging from comedic satire to romantic entanglements and touching human experiences.

Prizes are offered in three categories:
Aria Prizes: First - R10 000 | Second - R 6 000 | Third - R 3 000
Duet Prize: R10 000 shared by the duet partners
Audience Prize: R 1 000

Take along someone who has never experienced the magic of operetta. You might inspire a lifelong love of this timeless art form!

THE 5TH AVIVA PELHAM OPERETTA COMPETITION
The Baxter Theatre Concert Hall
18 August 2026 @ 19:00
Book at or at the Box Office

Yours in sublime song.

25/06/2026

Stephen Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC revolves around a famous quote by Madame Armfeldt: "the summer night smiles three times - once for the young, once for the fools,
and once for the old."

Over the course of a magical, never-ending midsummer night, romances untangle and realign. Misunderstandings are resolved, duels are staged, and characters pair off with their true, well-suited partners. And the summer night does indeed smile three times.

A stellar cast includes Aviva Pelham, Samantha Peo, Jonathan Roxmouth, Brittany Smith, Marcel Meyer, Kate Normington, members of Cape Town Opera, and more ...

“Heady, civilised, sophisticated and enchanting."
New York Times

"Brilliantly witty lyrics and mesmerising music, crowned with the iconic song SEND IN THE CLOWNS - you simply can't miss the opportunity to see this wondrous piece of theatre."
Aviva Pelham

30 JUNE - 12 JULY 2026
Tue, Thu & Fri @ 19h30
Wed & Sat @ 14h00 &19h30
Sun @ 14h00
THEATRE ON THE BAY
Book through

27/05/2026

They're back with one of Cape Town's most popular concerts, The Variety Gala!

Brandon Phillips is on the podium | Directed by Aviva Pelham
Musical Direction by Stefan Lombard | The host for the evening is radio presenter Africa Melane

Featuring a fabulous line-up:

Jimmy Nevis . Tarryn Lamb . Cape Town City Ballet . Tollie Parton .
Zip Zap Circus . Moegammat Zayd Damon . Oleksii and Michèle . Cape Town Opera . Craig Lucas . Anna Davel . Sasha-Lee Davids . Amara Voices . Jazzart

Appearing for the first time in the Variety Gala is the Tygerberg Children's Choir, recently returned from another successful tour in Europe

Saturday 06 June @ 19H30
R100 - R200
Artscape Opera House

Book through or Dial-A-Seat on 021 421 7695 (a limited number of tickets @ R55 to mark Artscape’s 55th anniversary are available only by calling Artscape Dial-A-Seat)

TAKE THE WHOLE FAMILY! Book Early! (the Gala is always packed to the rafters)

14/05/2026

... talking about wonderful stories ...

The AMY FOUNDATION employs passionate FACILITATORS to empower youth in Cape Town’s vulnerable communities through after-school programs and vocational skills training.

Facilitators specialise in areas such as the arts, sewing, design, hospitality, beauty, marimba & brass ensembles, greening & environmental education, and HIV/AIDS & substance abuse awareness.

The impact of having people who care for each child and young adult who attends is immeasurable. As the great Nelson Mandela said, "There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children."

After a workshop for the performing arts facilitators, run by Aviva Pelham, here they are in all their fabulosity!

The history of the foundation: Amy Elizabeth Biehl was a 26-year-old Fulbright scholar and activist working with the ANC to support South Africa's transition to democracy. On August 25, 1993, she was murdered by a mob in Gugulethu township. Amy's parents, Linda and Peter, supported the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's amnesty for her killers, two of whom later worked with the foundation. The trust was formalised in 1998 to tackle the root causes of violence by providing education, arts, and skills training to youth in challenged communities.

12/05/2026

I love inventive ways of getting things done. In this post, two friends have put together a musical programme to raise funds for new brass instruments for kids! Check it out:

MUSIC TO FUND INSTRUMENTS
for the AMY FOUNDATION's Brass Ensemble.

Friends since the age of five, AARON WOODMAN and DREW BURTON have sung together as members of the touring band, House Rules, and as a duo since 2022.

DREW is the new Brass Facilitator for the AMY FOUNDATION's After School Programme, and he and AARON have planned this event at Erin Hall to raise funds for new instruments for the foundation's Brass Ensemble. How cool is that!

The evening will combine original songs with an eclectic mix of music by Callum Scott, The Beatles, Bruno Mars, Olivia Dean, and others ... as well as a fateful love story.

ERIN HALL
8 Erin Road, Rondebosch
This Saturday, Saturday 16 May @ 7pm
R170pp

Book with Webtickets for an evening of heartfelt music and a story that will move you. Booking Link: www.webtickets.co.za/v2/event.aspx?itemid=1590256088

12/03/2026

Grab your tickets. It's on for one night only, and will raise your a hundredfold!

What better way to celebrate HUMAN RIGHTS DAY on Saturday, 21 March, than to join performers, both legendary and new, to honour the desegregation of our society and theatrical stages!

Beloved stage legends AMANDA STRYDOM, THEMBI MTSHALI-JONES and LOUKMAAN ADAMS, together with NUUR LEEMAN, will take you on a journey of South Africa’s theatrical and musical heritage - from the segregated stages of the past to the vibrant, multicultural present.

A special guest appearance by inspirational dancer and Britain’s Got Talent finalist MUSA M***A is not to be missed.

With musical direction by well-known STEFAN LOMBARD and a live band led by BLAKE HELLABY, the evening will pulse with the sounds of Ghoema, Marabi and Cape Jazz, as well as African, Afrikaans and folk influences.

Produced by ELVIS SIBEKO, whose recent production Kingdom Of Ubuntu played to standing ovations, and co-directed by creative icons AVIVA PELHAM and BASIL APPOLLIS, this rich tapestry of songs and stories remembers the past and sings to the future.

What a joyful, celebratory evening it's going to be. Catch one of the songs below.

Booking is through Webtickets.
SATURDAY 21 MARCH @ 7.30pm
R180pp
Joseph Stone Auditorium
Protea St & Klipfontein Rd, Athlone
(Near the Rondebosch Golf Club)

02/03/2026