Alfie Boe and Lea Salonga to Lead Spotlight South Africa Safari Experience

West End and Broadway stars Alfie Boe and Lea Salonga will come together in South Africa for the first Spotlight event, a brand-new international series of destination experiences bringing together the world's greatest musical theatre performers and some of the world's most remarkable destinations.

Spotlight has been created by a team with a long history of producing exclusive destination retreats and live events around the world. Over the past six years, more than 500 guests have joined nine destination retreats across four continents. Spotlight has been created for an intimate group of attendees with a shared love of musical theatre. Every Spotlight journey is immersive and unique to its setting, guided by the philosophy to “go beyond the stage and into the extraordinary.” Attendance is deliberately limited, allowing each Spotlight journey to remain personal and unlike a traditional theatre event.

The first in the series, Spotlight: South Africa, will take place from 7th–11th August 2027 at the award-winning Kapama Private Game Reserve, in South Africa's Greater Kruger region. Over five days, guests will experience musical theatre in an entirely new way, combining private safari adventures and luxury hospitality with specially curated performances by Alfie Boe and Lea Salonga.

Alfie Boe, one of Britain's best-loved tenors, is internationally renowned for his performances as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, while Tony and Olivier Award-winner Lea Salonga originated the role of Kim in Miss Saigon and is known to generations as the singing voice of Disney's Princess Jasmine in Aladdin and Fa Mulan in Mulan.

By day, the guests head into Kapama's Big Five territory, with safari game drives in search of lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo. Conservation is at the heart of Kapama, with the reserve dedicated to protecting its wildlife and natural habitat through extensive research and anti-poaching programmes. By night, the focus turns to conversation and music, with performances from Alfie Boe and Lea Salonga unfolding against the backdrop of the African wilderness. Candid conversations about their careers will sit alongside intimate musical performances crafted specifically for the occasion, creating moments that could never be recreated in a conventional theatre.

At the heart of Spotlight is its connection. Spotlight: South Africa has been deliberately designed as a shared experience rather than a traditional large-scale event, creating a rare opportunity to experience music and the surroundings together as one group.

Adam Howard, music director of Spotlight, said: “Spotlight: South Africa isn't a concert with a safari attached. We wanted to create something that simply couldn't exist in a traditional theatre – five days where the music, the stories and the landscape are woven together, and where our guests become part of the experience. You might spend the morning watching elephants move across the reserve, the afternoon hearing Lea or Alfie share stories from an extraordinary career, and the evening listening to some of the greatest songs in musical theatre beneath the African sky. There will only ever be one group of people who experience these five days. That's what makes Spotlight so special.”

The Kapama River Lodge will become home to the Spotlight group for the duration of the experience. Performances and conversations with Boe and Salonga will be woven into the rhythm of safari life, alongside private safari drives, guided bush walks, sundowners in the reserve and candlelit dinners beneath the stars. There will also be personal time to relax and reflect on the experiences of the natural world and the memories created through the week.

Alfie Boe said: “I've performed in some incredible theatres around the world, but there's something exciting about taking the music somewhere completely unexpected. Safari by day and music by night, perhaps even with a lion roaring in the distance! There's a real sense of adventure to the whole experience, and I can't wait to be part of it.”