Theatre legend Alvon Collison dies

The ‘King of Cabaret’ Alvon Collison, who played Pharaoh in more than 3,000 performances of the acclaimed theatre production Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, died on Saturday.

The 79-year-old was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards in 2018.

Collison was born in Woodstock, Cape Town, and broke into mainstream theatre in the then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) before touring across SA through Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat.  

In a Cape Talk interview with Baxter Theatre, marketing manager Fahiem Stellenboom said Collison struggled with diabetes.

He also survived the sinking of the Oceanos cruise ship off the coast of Coffee Bay in the former Transkei in 1991 when he was a performer on the ship.

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