MR JOHNSON PRESENTS Set for Albany Cabaret Club, 3-13 July

Mr Johnson Presents is the latest solo show from award-winning musician, composer, cabaret star, director and actor, Godfrey Johnson. Following a rave-reviewed run at Kalk Bay Theatre, KBT Productions brings this musical sit down comedy cabaret to the Albany Cabaret Club at the National Arts Festival from 3 to 13 July.

Armed with only his piano, his voice, and his wit, Johnson transports you to the cabaret houses of Europe, his local gym, the 80's, the most hipsterish of coffee shops, and the bottom of the ocean. Imagine Victor Borge meets Sid Vicious with a twist of Bach and Sinatra as Johnson entertains in his incomparable style, with songs about lovers, fanatics and noses. His dazzling range encompasses the work of Kurt Weill, Wolfgang Mozart, Tori Amos, The Sex Pistols, and maybe an Elizabethan Love Song or two.

His performances have been described as "... magnificently executed.."; ".... pleasantly unpredictable.."; "4 stars"; "remarkably admirable ..." and an "uncanny ability of mixing pathos with humour and a good dollop of sauciness".

Featuring a pianissimo, forte and popular audience-choice section, the line-up might also include his unique arrangements of Prince's When Doves Cry and Mariner's Revenge by The Decembrists, to Leonard Cohen's Famous Blue Raincoat. Johnson also impresses audiences with his own original songs such as Modern Man and I'm Not Gonna Sing.

Johnson has performed over twenty one-man shows nationally and internationally and has worked for many years as a musician, director, actor and composer. In 2007, he won the Fleur du Cap award for Best Performance in a Cabaret for his work in Kissed by Brel, and in 2009 was nominated for the same award for his performance in Flirting with Coward. He is well known for his interpretations of the music of Jacques Brel, and recently released the CD, The Shadow of Brel.

Johnson's illustrious career includes accompanying Pieter-Dirk Uys in numerous cabarets and also musical direction for F.A.K Songs and Other Struggle Anthems. Mostly recently they performed together at The Fugard Theatre and The Auto and General Theatre on The Square in Fifty Shades of Bambi. Other of his acclaimed one-man shows include, Alice sal Regkom, The Importance of Being Harnessed, Songs my Lover Forgot to Sing to Me and Stories of Crime and Passion. He has also delighted audiences in cabarets such as Minnie & Johnson, The Godfrey Johnson Showcase and Coward & Cole.

It's a busy 2014 National Arts Festival for Johnson, as he is directing Karen Jeynes in her one woman musical comedy Pineapples and Casual Racists and directing Tarryn Saunders in The Best or Nothing, which is written by Jeynes. He also creates the challenging role of Vaslav Nijinsky in the collaborative piece with Jeynes and director Lara Bye, in Vaslav, telling his remarkable story through an arresting combination of film, song, dialogue and movement.

Mr Johnson Presents will be performed at the Albany Cabaret Club on: Thursday 3 July at 10pm; Friday 4 July at 2pm; Saturday 5 July at 2pm; Sunday 6 July at 8pm; Monday 7 July at 12h30; Tuesday 8 July at 4.30pm; Thursday 10 July at 2.30pm; Friday 11 July at 10am and Saturday 12 July at noon.

Ages: 13+

Tickets cost R70. First performance on 3 July entrance is free. Bookings can be made at www.nationalartsfestival.co.za

Photo by Rob Kirsner

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