Joseph Clark

Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Joseph Clark left his ballet career in New York and Salt Lake City when brought to South Africa by the PACT Ballet Co. where he won immediate acclaim for the leading roles in Swan Lake, Papillion, Romeo & Juliet and Witchboy. He soon moved to musical theatre and when offered contracts as dancer, actor and singer, decided to stay, making him the only performer in South Africa to have been nominated and/or to have received national theatre awards for acting, singing and dancing.

The highlight of his career was when he had the honour to sing for Mr Nelson Mandela at his 85th Birthday Celebration. In 2004 he toured Italy and Germany with his all South African band performing the music of QUEEN. In 2008 he did two performances in Hamburg of African Crossing, a vibrant production with a 12-piece cast, featuring the Gaabo Motho Tenors, soprano Yollandi Nortjie and the Amakhono We Sintu Traditional Dancers.

In September 2009 & 2010 Joseph shared lead vocals with Syb van der Ploeg (singer of the band “de Kast”) and Ellen Evers with the NNO (Northern Netherland Orchestra) in 13 concerts of Symphonic Queen throughout the Netherlands. 27 Sep – 1 Oct 2011 he performed the music of Queen with his band at The Madinat Jumeirah Theatre in Dubai.

On 18 Nov 2011 Joseph as lead vocalist and his band performed the stadium concert, The Queen Experience to a sold-out audience of over 30,000 in The Gelredome Soccer Stadium in Arnhem, The Netherlands. In December 2011 a three week run of the theatre version of The Queen Experience followed in The Hague and at The Rai Theatre, in Amsterdam.

The Queen Experience was also performed at The Atterbury Theatre in Pretoria in 2012 and at The Joburg Theatre in 2013. In December 2013 Joseph returned to Amsterdam to star as guest artist in The Tina Turner Experience at the Gelredome Stadium in Arnhem. In March 2015 he returned to The Netherlands for more performances in The Hague and in Amsterdam. On 8 July 2016 Joseph and his all South African band performed in the gardens of the Royal Palace in The Neherlands, and did 7 more concerts with the NNO in The Netherlands that year.

Joseph has been privileged to sing with some of the best symphony orchestras all over South Africa, USA and Europe. Since 1994 he became a regular soloist with the popular Jo’burg Pops concerts. Highlights include singing in the Miss South Africa Pageant, sharing the opening song Break The Silence with the late R&B singer TK at the very first International AIDS Conference hosted in Africa.

Musical theatre roles include Buddy in The Buddy Holly Story, Riff/Bernardo in West Side Story, El Gallo opposite pop star Jason Donovan in The Fantasticks, Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, the narrator in Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Anthony in Sweeney Todd and Whizzer in March Of The Falsettos/Falsettoland.

In 1990 he appeared as lead vocalist in the successful production QUEEN At The Opera which toured South Africa intermittently until 1997, playing The Durban Playhouse, The Standard Bank Arena, The Johannesburg Civic Theatre, The SA State Theatre, The Artscape Theatre and The Sand du Plessis Theatre, Bloemfontein.

In 2002, Joseph performed with the JPO (Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra) in QUEEN in Concert at the Sandton Convention Centre, The Durban Playhouse Theatre (with the KZNPO), the Spier Festival (with the CPO) and at the Feather Market Centre in Port Elizabeth (with the ECPO)

In 2013 at The Sand du Plessis Theatre (with the Bloemfontein City Orchestra).

With his extensive ballet and musical theatre background, Joseph mainly does corporate entertainment in South Africa and overseas and enjoys singing with major symphony orchestras all over. He also does voice overs and jingles for cinema, radio and television.

THE MUSIC OF QUEEN/Media Release

Being regarded by many as the world’s number one performer doing justice to Queen’s music, Joseph will thrill you with his magical and individual style by taking the iconic group’s music to another level. 

Joseph and his band tour internationally with The Music Of Queen, a powerful tour de force and played in The Gelredome Stadium in The Netherlands in 2011 to over 30,000 Queen-fans. They followed up with European theatre runs and outdoor concerts till November 2018. Three more European tours for 2019 are lined up.

Queen crossed all musical genres and the line-up of songs in Joseph Clark– The Music of QUEEN is like no other Queen tribute. Apart from classics like We Will Rock You, Another One Bites The Dust, We Are The Champions, I Want To Break Free, Killer Queen, Fat Bottomed Girls, Bicycle Race, and Bohemian Rhapsody, they also cover songs not normally performed live, including Innuendo, You Take My Breath Away, Is This The World We Created, Too Much Love Will Kill You, Mother Love and In My Defence.

Says Clark; “I’m not a believer in impersonating great artists. But to pay tribute to their music, to keep it alive and new and fresh, is the greatest compliment to their genius.” 

He continues; “To give an audience a taste of their music live, onstage, creates an atmosphere of magic and nostalgia for some and new discovery for others.”

Joseph Clark – The Music of QUEEN has all the elements to make for an eventful, memorable time out and audiences will enjoy an unforgettable 2-hour journey of pure nostalgic rock delight! 

AWARDS

DALRO for Best Performance by a male dancer 1984 (the Witchboy)

Friends of the Ballet Award for Swan Lake 1983 (the Jester)

Friends of the Ballet Award Romeo & Juliet 1984 (Romeo)

Nederburg Award for Outstanding dance performance in Natal 1988

VITA Award for March of the Falsettos (Whizzer)

VITA Award for Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Narrator)

VITA Award for Queen at the Opera (Lead Singer)

NOMINATIONS

Naledi Award: Best performance in a musical: Joseph Clark – The Music Of Queen

Vita Award: Best performance in a comedy: The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron?

Vita Award: Best Performance in a musical: Concert Fever

Vita Award: Best Performance in a musical: Hello Dolly