Author Archives: David Fick

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About David Fick

teacher + curator + writer + director + performer = (future maker + ground shaker) x (big thinker + problem shrinker) x (go getter + detail sweater)

The Saturday List: 5 Songs That Turn Youthful Anthems Into a Movement

Posted on September 20, 2025 by David Fick

It’s a tough time in the world right now. When it feels easier to keep your head down, musical theatre reminds us how powerful it can be when we speak up, find each other and take a stand. Continue reading →

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The Saturday List: All the Things Oscar Hammerstein II’s Lyrics Are

Posted on July 12, 2025 by David Fick

Today, we celebrate the birthday of musical theatre legend Oscar Hammerstein II. Born into a family who were already notable in theatre history, he would become the most renowned of the Hammerstein clan, not only because of his contributions to musical theatre as a lyricist and librettist but also as a practitioner who pushed the boundaries of what musical theatre could accomplish as an art form. Continue reading →

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The Saturday List: Four Robot Musicals to Reprogramme Your Soul

Posted on July 5, 2025 by David Fick

After seeing MAYBE HAPPY ENDING on Broadway, I started thinking about robots in musicals – and why there are so few of them. This week’s Saturday List explores four rare shows where machines don’t suppress emotion, but reveal it, proving that even robots can sing with heart. Continue reading →

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The Saturday List: Four Early Steps on the Road to Decolonising Gilbert and Sullivan’s Operettas

Posted on May 24, 2025 by David Fick

Today marks the anniversary of MEMPHIS BOUND!, an often overlooked detour in the diverse highway of musical theatre history. To celebrate the 80th anniversary its Broadway opening, we’re listing four African-American adaptations that took the topsy-turvy world of G&S and turned it inside out and upside down. Continue reading →

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The Saturday List: JOSEPH and the Amazing Technicolor “Show” Coat

Posted on May 17, 2025 by David Fick

To celebrate the new South African revival of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT we’re running through shows that feature the famous list of colours in Joseph’s coat that Tim Rice set to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music in this week’s Saturday List. Continue reading →

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The Saturday List: Without a Hurt, the Heart is Hollow – or, Five Things I Learned from THE FANTASTICKS

Posted on May 3, 2025 by David Fick

Today marks the anniversary of THE FANTASTICKS opening Off-Broadway in 1960. It became the world’s longest-running musical – and, for me, a creative turning point. In this week’s Saturday List, I reflect on five things I learned while assistant directing and choreographing a 2002 production of the show at UCT – lessons that still shape how I make theatre and live life. Continue reading →

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The Saturday List: 5 Reasons COMPANY Still Says “I Do” – and 5 Why It Could Head for Divorce Court

Posted on April 26, 2025 by David Fick

To celebrate the anniversary of its opening on Broadway, we’re proposing five reasons COMPANY still says “I do” to its audiences — and another five that might just see it headed for divorce court. Continue reading →

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The Saturday List: 5 Ways FUN HOME Still Rings True at 10

Posted on April 19, 2025 by David Fick

Ten years ago today, Fun Home opened on Broadway. Although it had already hit a home run Off-Broadway, the transfer of this memory-fuelled chamber musical to the Main Stem reminded us of something important: an innovative and intimate musical could … Continue reading →

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The Saturday List: A Space Race for Yuri’s Night!

Posted on April 12, 2025 by David Fick

April 12th is the International Day of Human Space Flight, the annual celebration of the first human space flight by Yuri Gagarin established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2011. As such, we’re going to get into the spirit of Yuri’s Night and list a veritable solar system of musicals – actually, just five – which take place in space or directly involve space travel. Continue reading →

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The Saturday List: Top 10 Musicals That Explore the Human Conscience

Posted on April 5, 2025 by David Fick

Today is the International Day of Conscience, the fifth anniversary of this global day of awareness established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2019 and first observed in 2020. In honour of this remarkable day, Musical Cyberspace is curating a list of ten musicals that delve deep into the moral and ethical dilemmas that individuals and societies face. After all, if we accept that musical theatre is a medium capable of exploring complex themes, is any theme more profound at this moment in history than the human conscience as people worldwide grapple with their own values and the complexities of what’s right and what’s wrong. Continue reading →

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