Sousatzka

A Limited Pre-Broadway Engagement

Toronto's Elgin Theatre plays host to a brand new, Broadway-bound musical this February. Based on the novel by Bernice Rubens, which was later adapted into a Shirley MacLaine-starring movie, Sousatzka is a vibrant blend of African and Eastern European culture and music. Set in 1980's London, it's the story of a gifted young musician who is torn between his mother's love and the unrelenting ambition of his piano teacher.

This strictly limited pre-Broadway try-out boasts a cast of top draw musical theatre talent. Leading the cast as Madame Sousatzka is Tony winner Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza, Gigi), Tony nominee Montego Glover (Memphis, Les Miserables) and Tony winner Judy Kaye (The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked). Former Royal Shakespeare Company Artistic Director Adrian Noble directs, and choreography comes courtesy of ten-time Tony nominee Graciela Daniele.

What is Sousatzka About?

A young musician of startling talent, Thema has the potential to be something truly special. A South African refugee, who lives with his mother Xholiswa in London, he is under the instruction of stern Russian music teacher Madame Sousatzka. Her life filled with tragedy and missed opportunities, Sousatzka recognises that Thema can attain the level of greatness that was so cruelly denied her.

Yet this greatness takes blood, sweat and tears to achieve, and Sousatzka's unrelenting pressuring of her student brings her into conflict with his mother. Xholiswa and Sousatzka embark on a war of wills for the boy's future, a battle waged across racial and cultural divides that theatens to turn Thema against both of them.