Starlight Express #FlashbackFriday

If someone had told me a few years ago that I'd be doing a musical on roller skates, I don't think I would have believed them. But in 2012 the big journey began for us when we auditioned for the musical produced by Bernard Jay for the Joburg Theatre and sponsored by Joburg City Power.

The early stages...

Our first auditions were off skates, where an initial and ideal cast was selected and approached. We then had to undergo a skating assessment, which led to a couple of changes to the original choices. It became clear that day to many of us that this was no ordinary musical process we were entering into and some just did not feel up to the large task at hand. After final negotiations, the official debut cast of Starlight Express SA was confirmed, the first non-replica production of Starlight in its 29-year history. (And even after that press release, some cast changes still occurred due to varying reasons, but mostly because many had a hard time attending the weekly skate training sessions required of us, midst their own busy working schedules)

As a Marshall and a Coach

The Coaches 

I won't lie, it may have been one of the most grueling theatre processes I have ever undergone. (And I have performed multiple shows of a 3 Act Swan Lake with festering blisters and a raging fever kept at bay with painkillers and anti-inflammatories) Day one of training, I was the one hunched over going around and around the perimeter 'stepping' forward on my skates and just attempting to keep moving in a 'forwardly' direction and not land on my cheeks or some other unfortunate body part. Needless to say, there was a loooong journey ahead of me. The toughest part of it was not the falls, the bruises or the re-learning of everything you've ever known as an artist in order to be able to do it all on wheels. It was the ridiculous mind struggle week after week, the frustration, the determination, the giving-up and getting-up again... that was the constant challenge, even once we entered into production. And I have to say, if it wasn't for the kind and encouraging mommy-nature of our skating coach Wendy May Gila mixed with the no-nonsense, say-it-like-it-is, tough-love treatment from our choreographer Karen Bruce, I may never have risen up to and conquered this challenge. And of course, I was lucky to have hubby, Ferdinand in the cast as - well playing Electra. And a few encouraging words from him went a long way. 

When it came to a month or two before rehearsals were meant to begin, it became crunch time for me... I still had a lot of progress to make to reach the level of the stronger skaters in our cast and I had the added responsibility of Dance Captaincy, so I really needed to up my game. So, I approached a guy called Frank Joubert who was also contracted to our Starlight cast as a trick skater and happens to be a coach and a pro on inlines. I started skating every day or as close to that as possible, and arranged sessions with Frank and a few other cast members that really helped me improve exponentially. Those became some of my favourite session where I could really push my own boundaries and feel my progress from week to week.

Opening Night 

But Opening Night came on 3 July 2013 on the completely transformed Nelson Mandela theatre stage at the Joburg Theatre complex and we did it, we got through it! The dreaded fall was something to conquer and realise that it wasn't a maybe but that somewhere along the season you WERE going to fall and it was just a matter of when, how and how well you were going to recover from it. As with anything, practice makes perfect and by the time closing night came our cast was looking so incredible I wished we could have had opening night all over again. We certainly bled and fought together and I think no other cast collective in SA has ever experienced this kind of added pressure and responsibility to deliver for a production.

Dance Captain mode...

I was both a Swing (covers multiple roles) and joint Dance Captain for the company. I also played the little boy conductor's Mother who opens the show. I thoroughly enjoyed my Dance Captaincy and felt a wonderful trust and rapport with my cast and company. It was a thrill to get to watch the production once weekly in order to take notes.

It's often a challenge to be a swing in a tough musical and even more so on skates, but I ended up really enjoying the learning of both the 'coaches'

Hubby as Electra with his Components - fierce! 

tracks and the 'components' (dubbed the 'electrolytes') tracks. All the swings had their own on-stage track for every show, but could easily be cut as they move to replace a cast member who is either ill or injured.
I was grateful to have had the opportunity to perform the role of Volta for a couple of shows. But we were blessed with a string and mostly healthy cast who kept on rolling right to the very end.

Dressing Room fun... 

Starlight was one of those shows that both terrified and delighted me (and I think the audiences too). I was drawn to it for the added benefit of learning a new skill and never imagined everything that it would involve, how far I would come and how much fun I would have doing it. I am so glad I braved it, that I stuck to it and that I now can add this feather to my cap. Our Starlight roller skates have been sitting in the garage for a while, I think it might just be time for hubby and I to dust off those skates and go for a 'roll' on a promenade somewhere.

Chat soon,