Chicago the Musical #FlashbackFriday

The very first musical theatre production I was ever a part of was Chicago the Musical, and what a musical to enter the world of musical theatre with!

It is certainly my favourite musical and the one that holds my fondest memories (not excluding the fact that I met my now-husband on this production). When I first auditioned for Chicago, I was one among about 900 candidates in Johannesburg alone (auditions were held in Cape Town as well) who fought to be a part of the debut cast of Chicago the Musical's first ever South African production. I was 22 and had never had any vocal training. So I went for a crash course in song preparation and the basics with an SA vocal coach called Kevin Feather, (forever in his debt) and decided to give it a go, never expecting to really be considered. I was blown away and so grateful to be confirmed as part of the cast.

I was chosen as one of the two female swings (covers), which meant that I got to learn all of the cell-block tango characters as well as Kitty (Lucy Liu character from the 2002 film). I was lucky enough to perform 4 out of the 6 ensemble parts: Hunyak (the Hungarian girl), Liz ('I fired two warning shots'), June ('he ran into my knife') and Kitty, whom I played regularly as the girl playing her part happened to be booked off often. I enjoyed playing all of them, but I guess at the time Kitty was my favourite as I knew her track the best ...AND she got to slide down the banister of the large band stand on the stage (closet adrenaline junkie).

The gentleman who taught us the skill was in fact a trainer from Cirque de Soleil and I felt so privileged to have worked with him. Damn, I loved sliding down that banister.
The jist of the Kitty 'slide' moment is this: you climb up a ladder to the top level of the band stand where the band's brass section are seated, you present yourself 'gymnast-like' and then basically (note in an extremely sexy manner) climb onto the side banister to sit with your bum on your leather-gloved hands leaning back slightly and your long legs crossed in front of you. Once settled you slightly release your grip on the banister which allows you to slide all the way down on your hands to the bottom. Once down there is an elaborate side-split/back-bend/sexy-vibes moment that leads into Kitty's scene.

What I found most unnerving was that Ferdinand (now-hubby) was seated in a chair on the side of the stage exactly opposite where I had to do 'sexy-vibes' at the end. (Must have been doing something right *winks*)

Whenever I played Kitty, I had the added benefit of the brass section  (I love those guys!) cheering me on - my unofficial fan club! They would write me notes and hold them up for me to read just before the slide... And I would reciprocate by passing them notes covered in red-lipped kisses and other silly messages... needless to say, there was great expectation in the brass section every time I got to play the part!

Here is a link to a media release on Artslink in Oct 2004 when it all had just become a reality. In those days I was still Diani Joubert (maiden name).
http://www.artlink.co.za/news_article.htm?contentID=21266

There are so many great stories and memories connected to this musical but I'll leave some to tell you about at a later stage. In 2008, the musical was brought back for a second SA season, which I jumped at. Some parts were recast, but many of the debut cast returned to the piece. In this season I secured the role of June ('he ran into my knife') but was still asked to cover the roles of Kitty and Hunyak. I was thrilled with the arrangement, it was like having the best of both worlds - on stage every night but still able to play multiple characters and my favourites too. My then-hubby was playing Tony Manero (John Travolta) in Saturday Night Fever and so we were 'strutting' our stuff on different stages that time around.

Both those seasons of Chicago are major milestones and incredibly memorable and meaningful to me.
If given the chance, I would take on another production of Chicago in a heartbeat.

Who knows if or when SA will see Chicago again? Never say never...



And 'all the jazz'... x

The extraordinary Jo Galloway #InstantInspiration

Social media can often times be a destructive source of envy, but at the same it can become a huge source of inspiration and motivation. I find the latter so true whenever I discover a new blog post, Facebook post or tweet by the formidable and 'formerly based in SA' Jo Galloway.

I've been keeping a keen eye on Jo via all the social platforms since she left for LA some time ago and I just become more and more in awe of her, her tenacious spirit, her unfailing commitment and her phenomenal talent taking her to new heights.

Before Jo left for the States, she was already a well established heavy weight and someone to be reckoned with within the South African entertainment industry. Jo is known for her television work on "Intersextions" and "Sketch U Later", which she also co-wrote on. Some of her Musical Theatre credits include lead performances in The Full Monty, Cats and Hairspray. Jo has twice been nominated; first for an FNB award as Best Newcomer, and later also a Naledi Award nomination for Best Actress. Some of her straight theatre, comedy and original titles include "Look Back In Anger", "Boeing-Boeing", "Perfect Wedding", "Dick & I", "Happily Ever Laughter" and "The Fugard Fest of Comedy".

On top of which she has racked up a long list of Voice Over clients with her crazy skills for accents and ease with hard sell or soft sell approaches. 

Jo has some hysterical comedy sketches view-able on her social platforms or YouTube, definitely check out the Twilight spoof and Movie spoof clips - cracks me up I tell ya!

Now in the US, she lives in LA and is working her way steadily into the torrid waters of the Hollywood scene, and making people sit up and take notice.

She already has some great achievements and titles under her belt such as Hope after Hope and The Dark Tapes feature films as well as tv spots for Xoom.com. She has done great voice work and characters for Disney titles like Might Med and ANTfarm and is running her own international voice studio from home. She has managed to not only become a SAG member (crucial in the US) but is being managed by the Bohemia Group AND has signed with a highly acclaimed agent in LA, Ideal Talent Agency.
(Check out her full and very impressive resume on IMdB Pro or her website, details below)

Let me tell you, none of these things get handed to you on a silver platter. It takes courage, money, persistence, real hard work and a lot of talent and determination.
If you're thinking of making the move to the US as an actor, go and follow her blog for hysterical and incredibly informative accounts of her own experiences and lessons learned along the way.
Blog Reel to Real by Jo Galloway 

SO, if you need some serious inspiration; something that'll make you feel like you need to get off your butt and go places, take action and make things happen - then go and follow Jo....

Website Jo Galloway

Facebook Page Jo Galloway
Twitter @JoGalloway7
YouTube Jo Galloway
IMDb Page Jo Galloway

Thanks for inspiring me Jo, HIGHER!

Chat soon peeps,