King David alumni take musical ‘Mandela’ to the global stage

It was the dream of two King David Victory Park brothers. And, on Monday night, Greg and Shaun Borowsky, brought their dream, Mandela the Musical, to fruition on the international stage. By all accounts, their production at the Young Vic in South London is about to become a huge hit.

There were ups and downs over the 17 years it took these visionaries to bring the show about South Africa’s icon of peace to the stage. Some questioned whether it was ever going to happen, but there were those who had no doubts.

“I knew it from the moment I met them,” says Raelene Tradonsky, the director of the King David Schools Foundation, who has been keeping an eye on the show over the past few years of its brewing. “They were bound for stardom, and I was overcome with emotion watching the show after the years of it [being] in utero.”

At the premier, Greg told the SA Jewish Report, “Shaun came up with the idea in 2005 when I was doing articles at PWC in Johannesburg and he was living in London.

“I came to visit him, and we saw some shows on the West End, but wondered why Madiba and South Africa’s story had never been told through a musical. There are so many books, movies, and documentaries, but never a musical,” he said. They recognised that the story lent itself to musical theatre because song was critical in the anti-apartheid struggle, being central to protests and getting integral messages across.

“So, we began to research as much as we could and once we started, we just couldn’t stop. It was a passion project for the first few years, but then we focused ourselves and partnered up with Nandi Mandela and Luvuyo Madasa in 2014 as well as Shaun Hurwitz, Ronen Zekry, and Ron Goldstein, who became our producers.”

In 2014, Greg moved to New York to begin working on the show, and Shaun arrived in 2016. “We’ve spent the past eight years in New York writing the show and building our team. In 2019, we were invited to do a showcase at the Lincoln Center as part of its monthly series called “Broadway’s Future”. The Young Vic Theatre caught wind of it, and here we are.”

They took their proposition to Madasa, Mandela’s great-grandson, and asked him to listen to their demo tapes, according to an article in The Sunday Times in Britain. The Borowskys were nervous about doing this, but the response from Madasa was encouraging. He and his mother, Nandi, become producers of the show.

Nandi, who was in London for the premier, told the SA Jewish Report, “The theme of the Mandela musical is love and commitment, pain and endurance, and ultimately, the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. This isn’t Mandela the icon, it’s Mandela the husband, the father, and grandfather.

“On his first day at school, my grandfather wore his dad’s trousers which were cut at the knees because he didn’t have a school uniform. In spite of his humble beginnings, he lifted himself up by his bootstraps to become an icon loved by many throughout the world. The message of the show is relevant to us all. We can all overcome adversity.”

Greg tells how their love of musical theatre was inspired by their days at King David Victory Park where they took part in school plays.

Barbara Wolf, former King David High School Victory Park deputy headmaster, remembers this well, and says the Borowsky boys and their sister, Robyn, came from a very musical family. “Their grandfather, Jules Borowsky, and great uncle, Bob, were founding members of the renowned Johannesburg Jewish Male Choir and Bob, a baritone, performed in La Traviata, Aida and other operas, in South Africa and after he emigrated to Sydney some years ago,” Wolf told the SA Jewish Report.

“Greg, Shaun, and big brother Wayne were highly motivated and extremely talented young students who involved themselves in many areas of school life. They all participated in the musicals we staged at King David Victory Park in the 1990s,” Wolf said.

She said Wayne, a good drummer, was a member of the school band, while Shaun always played straight acting roles and was part of the Sound and Light Team. Greg, however, she referred to as “drama’s triple-threat young man” because he could sing, act, and dance so well. Because of that, “while still young, he was cast as the talented, dyslexic Tyrone in the musical, Fame, and while only in Grade 11 he carried off with aplomb the extremely difficult role of the master of ceremonies in our production of Cabaret”.

Wayne, an acclaimed chiropractor in Johannesburg, was King David’s deputy head boy in 1994, and received provincial colours for cricket. Shaun, who was also a member of the school’s public speaking team, was head boy in 1997 and showed his musical ability by composing the music and lyrics of the official school song.

“Although Shaun and Greg live in the US, South Africa is still ‘home’ to them, and a musical version of the life of Mandela is something they have dreamed about doing for a long time,” Wolf said.

Says Hurwitz, “I grew up with Greg and Shaun. Not only are they super talented musically and stars in the performing arts, they are among the most humble people I’ve ever known. I’ve loved working with them and am delighted that the show has finally made its debut. Watching it on the stage with a packed audience has been a real moment for us all.”

Tradonsky agreed that all who know the Borowskys describe them as humble and modest with big dreams. “It takes a whole lot of grit, stamina, and money to stage a musical production in London, far from the high school musicals of their youth,” she said. “It takes years to put on a big production, and they wanted an international audience.

“The protocols involved are mindboggling, and then came the COVID-19 pandemic, and all theatres shut down. But this didn’t stop the brothers from pursuing their dream, they just kept going and waited it out,” Tradonsky said.

Opening night teemed with South African friends, who flew in from near and far in a display of camaraderie in keeping with the Davidian energy that has spread its wings across the globe.

A former Victory Park head boy, Gideon Valkin, who was at the premier said, “It’s not uncommon for proud families and close friends to support the ones they love when they build, create, produce and launch. But only out of the King David community is it possible to witness what we did this week at the Young Vic.

“The Boro brothers are something else,” said Ariel Zadikov, who made the journey from South Africa for the show. “Hard work is the catalyst for making dreams come true, and the Borowsky brothers exemplify this. They have worked for 17 years to bring this show to the stage. It’s an uplifting and inspiring story that will no doubt attract the masses.”