A SHOW BUILT IN AFRICA, by the world...
At the heart of Calling Us Home is the eternal human quest for finding a place or a state of being, that we call ‘Home’…
The songs of ‘Calling Us Home’ are being sung all across Africa…
…on formal musical theatres stages, in churches and in village courtyards. By school children, iconic African Stars and Opera Singers alike!
Currently we are completing our (formal) recordings in Milestone Studios (Cape Town, South Africa).
In the meantime we share with you a collection of these Songs!
Each song below has its own section and often includes audio and video files. Some extracts, but mostly full songs. Some mastered, some demos and some straight from the stage with no mix on them whatsoever.
Songs are meant to be alive!
#CallingUsHomeFamily
Thank You
our story of love, hope and home…
Grace, an African Princess - fleeing a devastating war in her homeland, arrives penniless, in the freezing, grimy docklands of an American city.
The underworld of this city is ruled ruthlessly by the evil gang lord Ivan who, after an unexpected encounter, has set his sights on Grace - her spectacular beauty has dazzled him!
But another has already captured her heart...
The street smart Rafael, a young construction worker with bold ambitions, is determined to win her love. But will his dreams lead only to tragedy…
Forced to adapt to a very different world, Grace becomes friends with Rafael’s feisty and reckless twin sister Isabella. Together they must survive and keep their dreams alive until Grace can find a way to return to her beloved homeland…
“heart-wrenching!”
— Broadway World (2023)
“come from away’ meets ‘Les Misérables’!”
— peter flynn (2023)
“phenomenal”
you cannot decide which will be your favourite song!”
— blikpunkt (2023)
‘Calling Us Home’ Music & Show Extracts
Calling Us Home is scored for Full Orchestra (as well as a hybrid of African & Latin percussive elements, Guitars and a Jazz band) and a Cast of 24 (Ensemble in 6 parts). It consists of 39 Scores in total.
ACT I
‘Calling Us Home’
Act I, (Overture)
intro
At the very beginning of our story, Grace and Nelson's Mother calls us all home...
Audio (above): 'Mother' on this recording sung by Cindy-Ann Abrahams
Audio (above): A haunting Violin melody (‘Tomorrow Theme’) accompanies Nelson as he tells us of the war to come...
Video (alongside): Hear the ensemble sing the last Chorus of the Overture (LIVE Cape Town 2023)
‘OVERTURE’ - instrumental & Chorus
Prologue & Overture
Nelson is leaving to fight, Grace is fleeing her home and their Mother is overcome with grief... Will they ever be together again?
Audio (above left): Clip of the Opening Chorus.
Video (above right): Mother sung by Nobuntu Mpahlaza (LIVE Cape Town 2023)
‘Winds of war’
Act I, Scene 1
‘tomorrow’
Act I, Scene 2
Standing alone, just before sunrise, Grace find herself filled with longing and sadness that she must leave her homeland and everyone she loves behind...
Audio (above left): Sung by our originating ‘Grace’, South African Opera Star Lynelle Kenned.
Video (above right): Devonecia Swartz brings the character of Grace to life on stage. (LIVE Cape Town 2023)
‘Sunrise’ - underscore
Act I, Scene 3
Audio Extract (above): A short clip
Grace’s train journey across Africa begins…
‘FLY WITH THE SUN’
Act I, Scene 3
The irrepressible Lindiwe celebrates her freedom and the future to come! But then finds herself drenched in a storm as a smugglers boat drifts them ever further from home...
Audio Extract (above left): Ashley Scott
Video Full Song (above): Angolan storyteller Ernestina Dos Anja Tati sings this live concert version charmingly to life (LIVE In Concert 2025)
‘This ain’t your dream’
Act I, Scene 4
COMING SOON
‘hard men to break’
Act I, Scene 5
The day has been long, the future challenges are endless, but Rafael and his Construction Crew are hard men to break...
Audio Extract: Male Ensemble
‘when we were children’
Act I, Scene 5
Worried for his sister Isabella, Rafael shares his concerns with his best friend Ben. Ben does his best to comfort him... but Isabella is on a path into danger.
Audio Full Song (above left): Sung Jun Chung (Rafael) & Joshua Human (Ben)
Video Full Song (above): Míchel Alejandro Castillo (Rafael) & Micah Stojakovic (Ben) (LIVE Cape Town 2023)
‘room of dreams’
Act I, Scene 6
The Mantis Club is a poisonous paradise, filled with danger... Don't be lured in!
Audio Extract: Sung by Amy Campbell
‘Handfuls of dragonflies’
Act I, Scene 6
Standing, frightened and frustrated, in the smashed up Mantis Club, Isabella refuses to accept her fate!
Audio Full Song(above left): Amy Campbell.
Video Full Song (above right): South African Theatre Star Isabella Jane sings ‘Isabella’ in concert in Botswana. (LIVE In Concert 2025)
‘Learn Some Respect’
Act I, Scene 6
COMING SOON
‘i LONG FOR YOU’
Act I, Scene 7
Ben, faithful and loyal, is always waiting for Isabella to notice... to notice how much he loves her.
Audio 2 x Extracts (above right): Jason Atherton
Act I, Scene 8
‘TRAIL OF STARS’
"Look up, and wherever you are in this world you will see a trail of stars to guide you home." Standing on a cold rooftop in a strange city at midnight, Grace sings this ancient African folktale for Rafael...
Video Extract (above): Devonecia Swartz (Extract LIVE Cape Town 2023)
Video Full Song (right): Marvellous Mahlangu (Full Song LIVE In Concert 2025)
‘Took My Breath Away’
Act I, Scene 8B
After bewitching him with her folktale, Grace runs away into the night leaving Rafael half in love already…
Video Full Song: Sung by Míchel Alejandro Castillo as part of his portrayal of ‘Rafael’ (Full Song LIVE Cape Town 2023).
LAND OF THE FREE’
Act I, Scene 9
Working in the Fish Factory is so much harder than either Lindiwe or Grace could have imagined...
Audio 2 x Consecutive Extracts (1st below): Ashley Scott
Audio Full Song (beneath): Ashley Scott and Cindy-Anne Abrahams
‘My Dreams Are Dying’
Act I, Scene 9B
Trapped by her deal with Ivan, and with the time window fast closing, Isabella will soon have to deliver Grace to the Mantis Club and into Ivans evil clutches. But that is becoming harder and harder to do as Isabella begins to know and love Grace as a friend….
Video Full Song (right): Sung by Monica Tulia as part of her portrayal of ‘Isabella’ in 2023. This song closes Act I Scene 9.
‘learn to love’
Act I, Scene 10
Rafael invites Grace for a walk through the streets of his city. This is his home and he is hoping that she might learn to love it… Hoping that she might learn to love him…
Audio Full Song (above): ‘Rafael’ sung by Sung Jun Chung, ‘Grace’ sung by Marvellous Mahlangu with ‘Officer Fred’ sung by Brighton Shumba (LIVE In Concert 2025)
‘not alone’
Act I, Scene 10
Closing Act I: Faced with the bitter reality that her country has been engulfed by a brutal war, that she and her friends and family must flee to stay alive... Grace, together with all those who long for home, sings her pain and her anger. |
Audio Full Song LIVE (above left) & Video Full Song (above right): Marvellous Mahlangu, Isabella Jane, Ernestina Dos Anja Tati, Sung Jun Chung, Brighton Shumba, Joshua Human (LIVE In Concert 2025)
ACT II
In the midnight hours, in the basement of the Mantis Club, Ivan plays poker with his henchmen. Isabella arrives, desperate to get out of her deal with Ivan… But nothing goes according to her plan.
Audio Extract (top left): Ensemble
Video Extract (above): Emkay sings Ivan (LIVE 2023)
‘The Game’
Act II, Scene 11
On a stormy night, in a rundown apartment, Rafael watches Grace as she sleeps…
Audio Whole Song (above): Sung for us by South African Musical Theatre star Jonathan Roxmouth.
‘wait’
Act II, Scene 12
All Songs from Scenes 13 & 14
COMING SOON
‘Fire In His Kiss’ Act II Scene (performed by Devonecia Swartz) is a short teaser single off the “Friends Of 'Calling Us Home' - The Album”.
Video Full Song (above): Devonecia Swartz
Grace has just witnessed Rafael, being unfairly arrested for a murder he did not commit. Shocked she tries to tell the police that they have the wrong man, but they refuse to listen. Suddenly he breaks free from the policemen and pulls Grace into his arms and passionately kisses her. Moments later he is wrested away and Grace is left stunned and alone… It is in this moment that she realises she is in love with him.
‘fire in his kiss’
Act II, Scene 15
‘ASHES TO ASHES’
Act II, Scene 16
Isabella watches as a priest, leading Ben's Funeral procession, emerges from the mist.... It is a sad and sombre affair, and Isabella, follows his coffin deeply regretting that she had not appreciated his kindness and love when he was still alive.
Audio Whole Song (above left): Ensemble
Video Whole Song (above): Isabella Jane sings Isabella with live Ensemble. (LIVE In ConcertEndler Hall 2025)
‘calling us home’
Act II, Scene 16
In the show (as above) this song is sung as a Quartet (Mother, Nelson, Grace, Lindiwe) with Ensemble and has full orchestral and percussion accompaniment. It is sung for us here by the legendary African singer Zolani Mahola. Zolani is an icon in her own time and we love this stripped back a’capella version that she has done for us.
Standing on a freezing city street, Nelson beseeches his sister Grace to listen: “Our country is calling us. Can't you hear?” And from far away their Mothers voice calls them home.
Video Extract(right): South African Super Star Zimbini performing this song live In Concert.
Audio Full Song (below) a’capella version: Iconic African performer Zolani Mahola
Audio (above left) & Video Full Song (above right): Grace sung by Devonecia Swartz, Míchel Castillo sings Rafael and Monica Tulia Ramirez sings Isabella.
'Do You Think About Me?' (Act II Scene 17) is a moment in Calling Us Home where all three lead characters, Grace, Rafael and Isabella have been forced apart and are filled with longing for something lost...
One night all three of them are connected across space and time: Isabella, still grieving Ben and so frustrated that her brother is unfairly trapped in jail, Rafael is watching the moonbeams slowly drift across the floor of his prison cell and Grace is on her own in the village courtyard - and as she has done many times before she looks up into the sky...
‘Do you think about me?’
Act II, Scene 17
‘caged’
Act II, Scene 18
Rafael has been falsely accused of a murder he didn’t commit… Isabella cannot understand why he won’t fight to redeem himself and get released!? The tension between the siblings finally explodes and at the end of a vicious fight Rafael bitterly explains his devastating reasons…
Video Full Song (above): Míchel Castillo
‘In All My Glory’
Act II, Scene 19
ISABELLA: And now? What do I do?
Do I lie down, do I just accept our fate? Do I let fear crush me into submission... into silence?
I can't do that! I can't watch as Rafael's spirit breaks, as he staggers under the weight of his lost hope. I can't do nothing as all our dreams blow away - like trash on the wind... Are you listening?
Audio (above): Amy Campbell sings Isabella
‘NOT THE SAME’ & ‘Shine In THe Light’
Act II, Scene 20 & 21
COMING SOON
Back in Africa... Grace is working as a junior doctor in a health clinic. She has changed, she is stronger and wiser, but she is also heartbroken... What does it mean for her to be home? Everything feels different.
In her white Doctors coat, a stethoscope hanging around her neck, Grace finishes attending to a young mother and pauses, she stands for a moment lost in her thoughts...
‘lead me home’
Act II, Scene 22
COMING SOON
Our story ends with a twist…
TRAILER 2023
A Sold Out Run! A Full House Standing Ovation every night! And most importantly: The beginnings of a Musical Family!
Hope | Love | Home
#CallingUsHome
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The Music, Lyrics and Libretto of Calling Us Home are written, composed, arranged and orchestrated by Alice Gillham
Calling Us Home original story by Alice & Antonia Gillham.
Copyright (c) 2011 - 2025 Alice Gillham, Antonia Gillham, Sony Music Publishing, Calling Me Home (Pty) Ltd
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