The Naledi Theatre Awards #OutAndAbout

I was so privileged to attend the 11th annual Naledi Theatre Awards on Monday 17 March and celebrate with many fellow South African thespians and performing artists their wins or nominations for wonderful work done in the year of theatre 2013.
The Naledi's have been around for 11 years and this year it was held at the Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City. The Naledi's aim is to recognize and reward excellence in the performing arts and to raise the profile and awareness of live theatre on SA stages. It is great to see our industry and its passionate people celebrated in this way.

This pic of myself, Weslee Swain Lauder, Bongi Mthombeni (all from the Starlight Express cast) and his beautiful fiance, appeared on www.sowetanlive.co.za

I was blessed to be part of the cast of the musical production Starlight Express in 2013 and so I had lots of support for nominees from our production. Especially because adding the challenge of roller skating to the mix just takes it all to another level - trust me! (I'll share my Starlight journey with you soon) But there truly was great theatre happening all over the SA stages in the past year and lots of wonderful performances competing for recognition.
I'll share with you the results of some of the more prominent award categories and my personal notes on the speeches and category winners...
Follow this link below for the full results.
http://www.naleditheatreawards.org.za/

Best Supporting Actor Play/Musical

The nominees: Daniel Buys, Desmond Dube, Graham Hopkins, Hlomla Dandala, Kenneth Meyer, Mbulele Grootboom
And the winner is: 
Desmond Dube: (Nongogo)
Lovely to celebrate with Desmond after working together in Jack and the Beanstalk.




Best Supporting Actress Play/Musical
The nominees: Andrea Frankson, Bethany Dickson, Brenda Sakellarides, Jaci de Villiers, Nondumiso Tembe, Thoko Ntshinga
And the winner is: 
Nondumiso Tembe: (Race)

Best Male Performance in Musical
The nominees: Bongi Mthombeni, Elton Landrew, Emmanuel Castis, Grant Almirall, James Borthwick, Jonathan Roxmouth
And the winner is: 
Grant Almirall: (Jersey Boys)
So incredibly happy for my friend Grant who is truly deserving of this award, he has fought his way to recognition and has earned it every step of the way! So incredibly proud and happy for him. 

Best Female Performance in Musical
The nominees:
Angela Killian, Bianca Le Grange, Carly Graeme, Taryn Sudding, Ziyanda Yako
And the winner is: 
Bianca la Grange: (Blood Brothers)
Bianca and I went to school together and I still remember her giving Mariah a go in performance assembly. She has been someone who's career I've watched with admiration and I am thrilled for her to have won the Naledi. Her performance in Blood Brothers is sensational.

Best Male Performance in Play
The nominees: Atandwa Kani, Bongile Mantsai, Christo Davids, James Cairns, Mbongeni Ngema, Nat Ramabulana, Sello Sebotsane
And the winner is: 
Bongile Mantsai:  (Mies Julie)

Best Female Performance in Play
The nominees:
Brenda Sakellarides, Hilda Cronje, Janna Ramos-Violante, Mwenya Kabwe, Patricia Boyer, Sandra Prinsloo, Vinette Ebrahim
And the winner is: 
Vinette Ebrahim: (My Naam/Name is Ellen Pakkies)

Best Musical 
The nominees: Aladdin, Blood Brothers, Jersey Boys, Liefling, Starlight Express, Sunset Boulevard
And the winner is: 
Jersey Boys: produced by Showtime Management

Best Play
The nominees: Mies Julie, My name is Ellen Pakkies, Race, Rainbow Scars, Silent Voice, Soil
And the winner is: 
Mies Julie: written and directed by Yael Farber

Best Newcomer/
Breakthrough (Brett Goldin Award)
The nominees: Faith Busika, Joanna Abatzoglou, Kertrice Maitisa, Khayalethu Anthony, Marike Smith, Taryn P Louch
And the winner is: 
Khayalethu Anthony: (Solomon and Marion)



Executive Director's Award ~ Lizz Meiring
Lizz delivered such an incredible speech, noticably she highlighted studies done on the entertainment world's contribution to SA's GDP and stated that we as an industry are not just a luxury, we are not insignificant. 


Life Time Achievement Award ~ Fatima Dike and Mbongeni Ngema
Wow, two such awe-inspiring creatives with incredible career journeys with wise words.

It was such a wonderful evening with the only downside that my hubby, Ferdinand was working out of town and couldn't attend with me. (I realized it is in fact quite tricky getting into red carpet attire without someone to do your zipper!) But this gal flew solo and had a very special evening. There were magical performances by artists from the top theatrical pieces in 2013, as well as the Sweet Charity cast from The National School of the Arts and the beautiful soprano Zandile Mzazi and Cito performed the finale item Barcelona. 

 I love this quote about theatre by Patti LuPone...
"Anybody that goes to the theater, I think we're all misfits, so we ended up on stage or in the audience."
Patti LuPone
Chat soon guys,