YOU BET YOUR LIFE! Coming to National Arts Festival, 3-13 July

You Bet Your Life! is a witty, new, all-South-African musical comedy that's set to rock Vicky's at the National Arts Festival from 3 to 13 July.

Presented by ROLKSA Productions, the Ovation-award winning team behind crowd-pleasing hits such as I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and EDGES, You Bet Your Life! is a rib-tickling ride on a TV game show with a twist, featuring catchy original show tunes that are guaranteed to get feet tapping.

Performed by fresh young talents Amy Trout (Kat and the Kings); Roland Perold (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change; EDGES) and Steven van Wyk (Dirty Dancing; Queen at the Ballet), the show is directed by Cape Town based dramaturg, performer and teacher, David Fick. Fick and Perold are both committed to driving the agenda of new musical theatre writing in South Africa, having each created two original musicals before their collaboration on the book, music and lyrics for You Bet Your Life!. Choreography for the show is by van Wyk.

BANG! Poor recently deceased Jonny (van Wyk) finds himself trapped in a rather unconventional gameshow where scenes from his life are replayed with purgatorial relish. Hosted by the charming Timothy Radcliffe (Perold), the audience is introduced to Jonny's neurotic mother, his crazy ex-girlfriends, a ferocious Russian drag performer and a host of other characters who all seem bent on keeping Jonny in limbo as Timothy tries to manipulate things to secure his own redemption.

"You Bet Your Life! is a musical comedy of devilish delight," says Perold. "Will Jonny be able to convince the audience that he was a good guy? Or will he be stuck in afterlife TV reruns forever? Only a trip to You Bet Your Life! can answer these questions!"

Amy Trout plays all of the female roles in the musical, showcasing her versatility and honey-gold vocals. Her star rose overnight when she was cast as Lucy Dixon in the much acclaimed revival of David Kramer and Taliep Pietersen's Kat and the Kings. Her performance in the show (at The Fugard Theatre in Cape Town and at Montecasino in Johannesburg) earned her award nominations on both sides of the country: a Fleur du Cap nomination for Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Musical, and a Naledi nomination for Best Newcomer.

Roland Perold has crafted a solid niche for himself in popular musical theatre with productions such as I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and EDGES. He has a MMus Degree from Bath Spa University in the UK, and has written two original musicals - Tweet: The Musical, with dramaturgy and direction by Paul Griffiths, and The Last Note, which played in Cape Town, Grahamstown and Bath in the UK. As the founder of ROLSKA Productions, he produces new South African musicals and cabarets.

Van Wyk is a classic all-round performer with boy-next-door appeal. As well as appearing in musical theatre productions such as West Side Story, Dirty Dancing and The Sound of Music, he has performed as a soloist with Bovim Ballet and has danced extensively with the Cape Dance Company. He is a sought-after choreographer and his host of awards include a Special Silver Ovation at the National Arts Festival last year, for Skoonveld, which was a collaboration with Thalia Laric.

David Fick is a writer, performer, director and educator. He has worked as an assistant director to acclaimed theatre-makers Geoffrey Hyland and Janice Honeyman, and has also written and directed two musicals, Over the Rainbow and House of Shadows as well as several musicals for young audiences and performers. Earlier this year, he ran scriptwriting workshops for PANSA Eastern Cape's Youth Theatre Project, and David is one of the compilers of two volumes of Junkets Publishers' Now I Am Alone South African monologue books, which will have a National Arts Festival launch at their Think Fest this year.

To listen to a taster of this exciting new South African production, visit http://www.rolandperold.com/you-bet-your-life

You Bet Your Life! will be performed at Vicky's at the following times:

Thursday 3 July at 4pm (entrance free); Friday 4 July at 2pm; Saturday 5 July at 12 noon; Sunday 6 July at 4pm; Tuesday 8 July at 2pm; Wednesday 9 July at 6pm; Friday 11 July at 6pm and Saturday 12 July at 6pm.

Tickets cost R65, with free entrance to the performance on Thursday 3 July. Age advisory is PG

Bookings can be made at https://www.nationalartsfestival.co.za