We Will Rock You - A Tribute #FlashbackFriday

I recently learnt that We Will Rock You UK will be playing to its final house on 31 March 2014. So I decided to reminisce and pay tribute to my own seasons of performing in this epic musical, in South Africa.
From the We Will Rock You FB Page:
"GOODBYE EVERYBODY...WE'VE GOT TO GO"
#WeWillRockYou to close on the 31st May 2014 at London's Dominion Theatre after a victorious 12 year reign! More Info & Tickets: http://bit.ly/wwryclosing
Co-creators Brian May, Roger Taylor and Ben Elton had this to say: "We want to thank every one of the many hundreds of incredible musical theatre artists, musicians and crew with whom we've had the privilege of working at the Dominion since 2002. And of course the incredible audiences who have rewarded them with over four and a half thousand standing ovations!”

It's truly special to be acknowledged by Queen and the creators in this way.
I was very blessed to be a part of the debut cast in South Africa in 2006, when we performed seasons of the production in Johannesburg's Civic Theatre (now Joburg Theatre Complex's Nelson Mandela Theatre), Cape Town's Artscape Theatre and Durban's Playhouse Opera. I also joined the New Zealand tour at the end of 2007. We Will Rock You happens to be the musical in which my husband and I got engaged (on top of Table Mountain, Cape Town) and also toured NZ together shortly after our wedding and honeymoon. So it is such a mile marker for me with many incredibly happy memories.
Here is a Wiki link if you would like to read more about the musical:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Will_Rock_You_(musical)

That's me far right next to Galileo,
this was a press photo taken at
Auckland's Civic Theatre.

.

Here are the SA Galileo's Francois (1st cast Gal),
Ferdinand and Shaun. 

In the first SA season, Ferdinand (hubby) was one of the two Galileo understudies. He was lucky enough to perform the role for a whole month and later twice weekly, when our lead struggled with some vocal chord trouble, and he made a wonderful Gal.

Our SA Scaramouche's were Helen (1st cast Scarra),
Talia and Sivan (understudies).

My Bohemian character was called Jackson 5 and I was an ensemble member playing everything from a Gaga Kid to a Bohemian and a 'Yuppy' as they were dubbed - basically one of the Killer Queen's underlings.  I remember learning the Yuppy numbers for the first time and thinking - 'will my hamstrings ever be the same again?' My favourite number to perform was Fat Bottomed Girls, getting out of hand with a pink feather duster is always fun and I loved listening to the character Oz (or Meat) perform a Hand Above The Water every night. 

In the touring version I also played one of the 'Find Me Somebody To Love' Gaga Girls and even went on as a Gaga teacher a couple of times. 

Here are some 'behind the scenes' show pics..

The Gaga Girls who give Scarra a hard time...  

    ...and my Bohemian character Jackson 5.

The Alto's in the booth singing live along
with Oz and Brit on stage..
check out my stocking cap...sexy!

The Gaga kids during the costume
fitting (thus no make-up), those wigs are 
sooooo uncomfortable!   

...And a group of Bohemians in the dressing
 rooms at the Auckland Civic, such epic times!

                     

                                             

Baby and I, 

he was called Cliff Richard 

and Ferdinand was hysterical as Cliff... 

what a privilege to have been able to do so 

many shows together and tour 

to other countries, so blessed.

    

      

Me as teacher & hubby as student Gal..
 role-play?

       We Will Rock You will be a special show for many of the artists who were lucky enough to be cast in this show, to work with the creatives involved and to feel part of something that celebrates not only the theatre piece but all of the work created by Queen and the message it holds. It truly feels like you're part of something bigger than yourself and honouring the memory of Freddie and those lost along the way. Theatre has that power, to make you feel something significant - not only for audience members but sometimes even more so for those in the production of it, on stage and off.

With our touring Galileo Mig Ayesa on closing night in NZ. 

New Zealand was such an amazing tour, I loved the city of Auckland! In SA we don't walk anywhere, purely for safety and distances traveled. In Auckland hubby and I would go and do our grocery shopping at midnight after the show (because there places do in fact stay open that late) and we'd walk all the way there from the theatre through town. We lived on Burger Fuel burgers and sweet potato chips, (right around the corner from the theatre) oh my word yum! We even thought of bringing a franchise to SA at one stage. Another indulgence was TimTams of all flavours, it became like a cast ritual to drink hot coffee through the ends of a TimTam.

A couple of us were lucky enough to travel to Taupo on a day off and go bungee jumping! What an experience, I'd do it again in a heartbeat! We also got to see more of Auckland in a small aircraft flight and visited the Orakei Korako Geyserland, a valley of geysers and hot springs.

Getting ready to jump!

Travelling is such a love and indulgence for me and really is one of the incredible benefits of travelling in our line of work. I really hope to be offered (or create) more touring opportunities whilst doing what I love, and with the pre-requiste of having my hubby with me of course!

Here's to the fun of #FlashbackFridays and to building happy memories in life.. Never settle for less.
Love,

Ukraine Commercial #BehindTheScenes

Last week I had such fun on set, shooting my first commercial for the year. As with most of these projects we are committed to confidentiality requests, but I guess I can tell you that the ad is for a bottled water brand and to be aired in the Ukraine. (Apparently I qualify for a Slavic look) We were only 4 cast members, one male lead and 3 featured extras and filming two small scenes that will ultimately form part of a larger adventure for the lead male.
I always have super amounts of fun on set as an actress, and this experience did not disappoint.
First off at the wardrobe fitting the day before, I was basically playing dress up and had to model about 10 different outfit combinations and options. And not just any clothing, think Zara, Forever New, Mango and so on... yes please! And then, the Director asked for a make-up and hair test to be done on me... So what to do if you just got all made up by a top make-up artist... lunch with your man of course!

At the stylist's home playing at being a mannequin...

My call-time on set in Braamfontein was 4.30am, ouch. It was pouring torrential rains in Jhb and I had to arrive with my hair wet, naaaaice. At least that saved me a few extra minutes of sleep not having to blow dry at home, not that I got much sleep knowing what time I had to get up again. But somehow I find all of that exciting and agreeable for the sake of being able to do what I love and enjoy.

This is a pic of where we shot in a very misty Joburg with the Nelson Mandela bridge in the background. 

The hurry-up-and-wait factor is always very much a reality and perhaps even more so on a commercial set. So David, also one of the 3 featured extras, began teaching us his on-set games to pass the time. One of which was 'the movie link' game. It works like this: the first person mentions a movie title, then the next person should pick a movie title that contains an actor from the movie just mentioned. Then the next person does the same but may not use the same actor again. And so on and so on, until someone is stumped. Which then means the person who gave the movie title that stumped the next person, receives a point. You can also keep score of these points to finally pick a winner. (If you are ever able to stop, it's quite addictive) Eg. Person 1: Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Person 2: Se7en (from Brad Pitt) Person 3: Kiss the Girls (from Morgan Freeman) Person 4: Olympus has Fallen (from Ashley Judd) etc. It certainly passes the time, but is much more entertaining (and educational) if you are playing with some serious movie buffs! Gonna try it at my next dinner party :)

Sneak peak of me getting my make-up done.

It's such a great feeling being on set, it always lifts my spirits and energizes me. So once the commercial is out and online, I'll try to post the final product for you guys!

Chat soon,

Starting Over #MeMoments

So in 2012 I discovered that blogging isn't for 'sissies' and that consistently posting as part of a busy schedule can be a challenge and a half. My blog YouHadMeAtHello started off with a bang but pretty much ended with one too and it has taken me this long to muster the courage to get it going again. Because the thing is, getting something going is never the problem, but rather the seeing through of it is.
So why now? I think that I finally find myself in a place where I can accept that I do not have to fit into a certain mold in life or in who/what my blog should be about. Actress, presenter or voice artist; company manager, choreographer or director; cast coordinator, production manager or film AD, it doesn't really matter. Having been blessed to experience such a varied multitude of industries and arenas, I finally realised that it is quite a gift and a strength to be able to easily adapt and apply myself to very different roles and job descriptions. I now proudly own my chameleon skill, both on stage or on screen, in front of the lens or behind, creative or corporate - wherever the work or world of artistry takes me, that's where I'll go.

And with this blog as with so many things (think eating plans, exercise regimes or giving up bad habits), I need to take a deep passionately motivated breath and start all over again. Each Monday of each week, we re-do, re-think, re-plan and then take on the next week (or chapter) with even more gusto and a few learnings in our pockets.        Maybe this time round, YouHadMeAtHello will help me with just that.

So, here's to starting over.