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,

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,

Shooting Range #MeMoments

So my neighbor across the road, happens to be an award winning veteran shot and is a member of the Gauteng Pin Shooting Association (GPSA). We have often chatted about going shooting, but a few weeks ago talking turned into an invitation. Uncle Percy took me to the shooting range in the area where we stay, and where he is also a weekly regular and something of a legend. Well, what an incredible experience!

I am so lucky to have experienced my first time handling a weapon with someone so incredibly skilled, both at shooting and coaching. I not only handled a weapon, I handled six different weapons and can't even begin to guess how many bullets we shot. Uncle Percy also makes his own larger caliber ammunition at home, so we collected and saved all the used casings for him.

I wish I could tell you the precise names and details of each weapon I shot with, but I would be doing a lot of guessing... The first hand gun I shot with was a .22 pistol with a wooden grip and I was allowed to insert the magazine...cool. I also shot with the larger .22 semi-automatic (on my knees) which made me feel really bad-ass! I was shown how to load the .22 bullets into its magazine. Uncle Percy has a personalized Smith and Wesson .45 pistol with his full name engraved on it, it's so beautiful and is the weapon he carries (unloaded) on his person at all times. It has the largest 'kick' of all the weapons I handled and wasn't as scary as I expected. There was also another black pistol of .357 caliber, a revolver (which is fun and tricky to hammer back every time) and a standard 9 mm pistol that I shot with.

For my first time we stuck to shooting pins mostly, which was such fun! It is the most rewarding thing to see those pins fall to the ground, and according to Uncle Percy I have a natural talent and I listen well to his instructions. I shot all of my pins first time with my first couple of rounds, and realised when I started missing and only hitting on the second shot, that it was generally when I doubted myself or took too long to aim well and take the shot. Fatigue is also a factor after a while, and Uncle Percy took the time to explain breathing, holds and stance to me. It's safe to say I am totally hooked!

I do not think I am someone who will ever own a gun or keep one in my home, BUT knowing how to handle and load a weapon in life is a great skill to have and I think quite important.

On top of that I have a huge interest in growing these skills for action acting and adding it to my skill-set as an actress.
I do think that I will find ways to continue my action, weaponry and combat training in the future. Think Evelyn Salt, Elektra or Aeon Flux... I wanna be bad-ass!!



I'll keep you all posted on my #actiongirl progress!
Chat soon,