The Pitch

4.41 (22)

The Pitch

8 performances between March 7, 2016 and March 19, 2016
Musical Play
Direction by Callum Tilbury • Score by Roland Perold • Musical Arrangements by David Lubbe.
50mins
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When the Afropol Corporation decides to commission a new musical about Africa, they make the mistake of employing the “talents” of Aria Grey and Gary Gershwin, two washed-up theatrical has-beens desperate to make a quick buck. Forget Lion King, forget Sarafina 1, 2 and 3! THE PITCH is a new pseudo-musical-super-comedy about corruption, greed, and what happens when capitalism meets theatre. 

From creative team Roland Perold and Callum Tilbury comes THE PITCH - A play with music about a pitch for a musical play! Yay! The show features an original score and lyrics by Perold, with book and additional lyrics by Tilbury. Musical arrangements and live piano accompaniment by David Lubbe.

Callum Tilbury is an actor / writer / drag queen / voice artist / whatever-he-needs-to-be-to-pay-rent-except-prostitute-hopefully. After graduating from UCT, where he studied Theatre & Performance (Theatre Making), he has been cast in Fred Abrahamse’s Hamlet as Gertrude, as well as in The Incredible Journey as Tommy. His writing credits include Doctor Godenstein’s Man, showing at the Galloway Theatre in February, and Uhm… which he co-created as part of The Papercut Collective, which won the Best Student Theatre Writing Award at the National Arts Festival in 2014 and was subsequently published by Junkets. Lady Aria Grey is his drag persona, and this is her first featured production. She was born from Callum’s desire to critically challenge society in a humorous, fabulous manner, and also as an excuse to wear heels. Prepare your bandwidth… her YouTube series is coming. 


Roland is a composer / actor / theatre maker and outreach educator involving himself in all things musical within the exciting world of theatre. This is Roland’s 4th original musical work, the most recent being You Bet Your Life! which ran in 2014/15. Roland is a graduate of the Waterfront Theatre School and also holds a MMus Degree in Songwriting (with distinction) form Bath Spa University. Roland has huge admiration for the wonderful composers who have come before and whose work he showcases in his one-man cabaret performances. At Cape Town Opera Roland is the Outreach Composer in Residence and works with the team bringing the love of opera to a new generation of school children as they mount mini versions of well-known operas alongside original works embracing storytelling in local communities. 

David is a pianist and teacher in the Cape Town area. Having won the prestigious Edgars Baby of the Year Award in 1983, he was destined for great things. Graduating from the University of Stellenbosch, David took a leave of absence to make money in the doll-drum accounting sector for many years but has recently returned to the wonderful world of music, working as an accompanist, teacher and performer. As a student, David won the Hugo van der Spuy Cup for best accompanist, was first runner up in the inaugural Nina Schumann Overseas Bursary Competition and performed with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the Youth Music Festival. David performs, accompanies and teaches in and around Cape Town, mainly involving himself with the development of young musicians.


Audience Responses

Utterly hilarious!

Ariella • Attended March 15, 2016, 9 p.m.
5.0

Hilarious! Cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling for an hour! Really well done!

Lara • Attended March 15, 2016, 9 p.m.
5.0

Fantastic! Had a great laugh, while I also learnt a lot about myself and South African society.

Benjamin • Attended March 15, 2016, 9 p.m.
5.0

Gloriously absurd and thoroughly entertaining!

Matt • Attended March 15, 2016, 9 p.m.
5.0

Brilliantly funny - must see!

Grant • Attended March 7, 2016, 9 p.m.
5.0

Cleverly put together and sparkling performances all-around! And I love Aria Grey!

Anna • Attended March 16, 2016, 9 p.m.
4.0

Brilliant and uniquely South African! LOVED IT...and so did our foreign guests :) P.S. Not for the politically sensitive.

Jael • Attended March 14, 2016, 9 p.m.
5.0

I really enjoyed the show. It was really fantastic. So entertaining. It was creative. Very smart, can't get over how smart it was. In other people's hands it could have gone completely wrong, but because of the comedic timing and the "play" on well known stereotypes, we were all in on the joke. And so camp, fabulously camp. I love camp, especially when done right.

Lwando • Attended March 17, 2016, 9 p.m.
5.0

Fun show to watch catchy, fun down.to.earth realism comedy with astoundingly handsome and passionate actor Raymond, truly.worth every.blink,time and laughter...

Markus • Attended March 19, 2016, 9 p.m.
5.0

We had a good laugh. Lady Aria was brilliant. Loved the music! Good evening out

Mandy • Attended March 17, 2016, 9 p.m.

Most entertaining. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Johann • Attended March 19, 2016, 9 p.m.
4.0

provocative, almost in bad taste, entertaining, dangerously close to stereotypes, would be interesting to see the response from a black south african audience given the current volatility/sensitivity, but creative nonetheless.