BIOGRAPHY
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
In Nov 2016 Joseph is doing 7 more concerts with the NNO in The Netherlands
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.
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
YouTube Links
- The Music Of Queen in Netherlands
https://youtu.be/NjYhirFvqDI - Gelredome Stadium Netherlands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXZsEucHJmA - The Queen Experience – Joseph Clark - Samevatting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnZDK03BrLo - Total Eclipse Of The Heart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwxjQHsOFMU - All By Myself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdEI7rTNcb8 - Barcelona with Sibongile Mngoma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml9VoOfW4Gw&feature=channel_page - Who Wants To Live Forever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSoFqGEvT6k - We Are The Champions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezz6C_djuM0&feature=channel_page - The Show Must Go On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl8filGbdho&feature=channel - We Will Rock You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxz30T-TxCI&feature=channel - Bohemian Rhapsody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_0InTPkTcI&feature=channel - Stone Cold Crazy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MggduvL1y7s&feature=channel - Guest Artist – TV SABC’s Strictly Come Dancing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O47tyKYFfCw&feature=channel