The South African musical Sarafina! opened Jan. 28, 1988, at Broadway’s Cort Theatre and ran for 597 performances. The show was inspired by the 1976 Soweto Riots, led by black high school students protesting the white Afrikaner government’s decree that Afrikaans and English be used for classroom instruction. About 20,000 students took part in the protests, with some 200 to 700 being killed by police. The show was first presented at Johannesburg’s Market Theatre in June 1987. Lincoln Center brought the show to Broadway. This journey was chronicled in the documentary feature Voices of Sarafina!, which you can watch below.
The musical was conceived and directed by Mbongeni Ngema, who also wrote the book, music, and lyrics. The show presents an uprising similar to that in Soweto, led by schoolgirl activist Sarafina, played by Ngema’s wife, Leleti Khumalo, who received a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of the title character. The production was also nominated for four other Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Original Score (Ngema and Hugh Masekela), Best Choreography (Ngema and Ndaba Mhlongo), and Best Direction of a Musical (Ngema). Below is the cast at the 1998 Tony Awards.
The show was later adapted as a 1992 film directed by Darrell Roodt and written by Ngema and William Nicholson. It stars Leleti Khumalo (reprising her role of Sarafina), Miriam Makeba (Angelina), John Kani (School Principal), Ngema (Sabela), and Whoopi Goldberg (Mary Masembuko). Below is the film cast in “Freedom Is Coming Tomorrow.”
https://youtu.be/Q_T2Fx77QbM