SOUTH Africa's longest-running musical in post-apartheid South Africa, Umoja: The Spirit of Togetherness, seems to be appealing more to tourists than local audiences.

The producers agree that the show, disturbingly, seems to be enjoyed by tourists.

"This is worrying. Umoja is not just a performance, it is a heritage since it tells about an important part of the history of the country from a musical perspective," said Hope Ndaba, chief narrator of the musical and one of the key people behind the show.

The fact of Umoja being enjoyed by overseas audiences, with locals ironically shunning it, was illustrated by last weekend's performance at the Victory Theatre in Orange Grove. The majority of the audience were tourists, with a sprinkling of local fans.

The 12-year-old musical has travelled widely across the globe.

When Sowetan was there on Saturday one could mistake the Victory Theatre for a theatre somewhere in Europe.

One could easily have been in London or Spain, judging by the plethora of mainly foreign languages in-between breaks, that is, had it not been for a sprinkling of isiXhosa, isiZulu and other South African languages being spoken in between breaks.

The South African part of the audience were mainly those of Soweto social networking Club Life@40 'n Beyond, who had been bussed in for what was meant to be a special performance for those aged 40 and above.

One of the criticisms against Umoja is that since its inception the script has not changed much, making it difficult for the audience to see it more than once without getting bored.

What has changed are the actors, now fielding younger dancers and singers.

"We know that and I think it is a valid reason. We need to introduce new elements, especially those that are lacking in the script in the narrative of South Africa's musical evolution. Umoja is not the end of of it all when it comes to telling the South African history," Ndaba said, inviting those with new ideas to approach them.