Droomkind Opening #OutAndAbout

So blessed to be attending so much theatre at the moment. It truly is a testament to the health and growth of the industry and I love that I'm able to experience so many productions from the audience perspective and support all my friends and colleagues who share my passion and love for the stage.

It's a special thing to be able to experience theatre in your own home language and makes you feel not only proudly Afrikaans but also proudly South African to watch the original production of Droomkind - Die Storie van Josef come alive. There were many wonderful performances but the two performers I want to highlight, are Zak Hendrikz and Clint Arno Lesch. 

Clint (also Musical Director) plays a delightfully comic character who bursts into joyous song in the jail and I am so thrilled for him and his incredible vocals to be showcased in this way. Zak demands your attention as several characters in the production and creates a heart wrenching scene at the climax of the second Act, he is just one of the most intellectual, layered and committed actors I have come across and I so enjoy watching him in action.

Marisa Drummond is fabulous as the sassy Zelda and never disappoints, Bobby van Jaarsveld's velvet voice (and golden torso) is soaked up by the room who all just love to love Bobby. And Philip Moolman and Edrien Erasmus are heartwarming narrators of the well known story in its re-worked setting.  

Visually Droomkind is beautiful, with the stage design by Nadine Minnaar so clever, so practical and so seamless. Nadine creates magic, the State Theatre is so lucky to have her. The lighting, wardrobe and hair designs are wonderful. (I just love Marisa's hair as Zelda) But to me, the star of the show is the choreographer Timothy Le Roux, who's work is instantly identifiable for its finesse and sophistication, for its effortless transitions and how he manages to make anyone executing his work look magnificent. It always makes me wish he had choreographed it on me. I believe Tim to be such an under-appreciated gem in our industry and I really hope that he will be celebrated and revered as he deserves to be.

Renier and Lise-Marie Keyser, Elizma Badenhorst, Timothy Le Roux, Clint Lesch, Matthys Maree and the Droomkind company can feel very proud of a great production, I wish them every success with their run. It was certainly a lovely Sunday afternoon out with my hubby after a very busy two weeks and I felt blessed to have been there. 

Chukkas Droomkind Co - Toi Toi!

Love, 

Clowning Around with The Playroom #FlashbackFriday

It's a photographic flashback today, to a shoot with photographer Jacky Joubert (my wonderfully talented sister) from The Playroom, fabulous make-up artist Gerlia Groenewald and my friend and male model for the day Jarryd Nurden. We had so much fun on this shoot and I just love these shots, they are some of my favourites.

Happy Friday everyone! Have a wonderful weekend and hope to see you at our Broadway Performance Showcase Experience performances at the Atterbury Theatre tonight and tomorrow! Tickets here. 

Photos by The Playroom. 

Chat soon, 

#SCARS The Movie #ComingAttractions

Dreams are born with a seed of a thought and grown through countless steps of action and loads of passion, faith and belief. #SCARS was a seed, a thought, a concept and has grown to become the potential realisation of not one person's dream, but many.

Hashtag Scars (#SCARS) is a teenage adventure film, a story about four random teenagers pulled together by fate when they realise they have two things in common; superpowers and one sinister neighbourhood mom. It is a project that has been blessed from the very beginning with so many individuals willing to contribute and invest their time, skills, money or energy in helping the development of this dream.

(Read more about this project here.)

This incredibly exciting project is the brain child of my hubby, Ferdinand and has been in development for just over a year now. A major amount of legwork in the development phase has already been completed, including the filming of an exciting new teaser trailer. It gives you a great feel for what's to come...
#SCARS Teaser Trailer 

It is so incredible to watch something come alive from concept phase to the written word, to images and possible shots and locations..

Some of the teenage cast members have already been pencil booked and let me tell you, there are some truly incredible talents in this country and we strive to give them the creative platforms they deserve. I am truly excited for all the possibilities it may bring for the young stars who will make their debut with this project and dream of great careers within this industry. There are 4 great main characters who drive the story: Ariana, Chloé, Shane and Tshepo. Then there's the antagonist character, Vanessa - a wonderfully meaty role and I feel so privileged and excited to be playing her. I really hope I will do her justice when the time comes. I can't wait to be on set and see the story come alive.

We are now in the process of sourcing the final funding and investment for #SCARS, which some say can be the hardest part of producing a film. But we already have so much support, I just know that in no time we will be green lit and shooting the first scene of this remarkable project. We are also currently running a crowd-funding campaign on indiegogo, and would love for you to check it out.
Just follow this indiegogo link.

We are daily working on the #SCARS campaign and development and I can not wait to let you know when we're finally in production. So keep an eye out and watch this space!

Follicle Hair Atelier #FanClub

I am thrilled to officially announce that I am now an ambassador for the wonderful Follicle Hair Atelier, a full service salon (hair, nails, make-up), located in the Waterkloof Corner Centre in Main Road, Brooklyn.
(Follow the high-lighted link to their website for info)

With a fabulous wooden 'kitchen' table in the centre of the salon creating a stylish 'homey' feel and a perfect social atmosphere, the salon is not only gorgeous - it makes you want to go for a haircut just because it feels like you're spending a wonderfully cozy morning with friends over coffee.
And the stylists are all sought-after and superb. They not only style in the salon, but have 'mobile' teams called "Follicle on the Move", who work on weddings, music videos, fashion shoots and film sets. (A recent notable project the upcoming film, Forsaken which wrapped production last week.)

The Follicle Power Team: Walter, Glen and Cornel

Besides being fabulous and brilliant at what they do, they also do incredible charity work through their "Follicle Care Program" and I am most excited to become part of this initiative. One of their projects from last year, the Tutu Drive will be repeated this year and I just love the idea of it. Twelve teenage girls from the Jacaranda Children's Home get to experience what it's like to be part of a real professional photo shoot. Not only do they get their hair, nails and make-up done by Follicle... but fashion clothing is sponsored by the community, their looks are styled by the Follicle Ambassadors and they have a whole session with a pro photographer making them feel like a million dollars. So special!
Follicle is also planning a rooftop concert event in June and will be auctioning off the hot male ambassadors in the month of August - so watch this space!

Follicle even offers a variety of hands-on workshops in the line of styling and beauty, and I for one can't wait to take part in these. What girl wouldn't want to experience a blow-dry boot-camp or an iron-styling technique workshop.... bring it on! (Such a cool idea for hen's nights/ kitchen teas/ birthdays etc

I am truly excited to be associated with and supporting this great brand and company.

Thank you so much Follicle for bringing me onto your team, I am really excited for all that lies ahead!

I'm definitely part of the Follicle #FanClub!

Chat soon,

Queen at the Ballet #OutAndAbout

Sean Bovim's Queen at the Ballet... need I say more? Having friends of mine performing in this wonderful production and with my own background in ballet, it was such a privilege to be invited to both the opening and the preview for the Johannesburg season. Unable to attend the official opening on 27 April at the Joburg Theatre, we attended the preview the night before and I am so glad we got to see the brilliance of this cast and production.

Henk Opperman in Sean Bovim's Queen at the Ballet.

The first time I met Sean Bovim, was during a summer school program (or was it winter?) at the State Theatre. He was then still a part of the fantastic PACT Dance Co. and I was still very much a blushing ballet girl in awe of him and his colleagues. During the course of the program we would do joint classes with the Company, including body conditioning with the incredible and legendary Pat Gush. I will never forget being partnered with Sean for some random foot strengthening exercise, which to this day I can't for the life of me remember - as I was too busy worrying about the proximity of this incredibly hot and sexy male dancer, whilst forced to play a weird form of footsie with him and trying to be good at it at the same. Needless to say, I've been a fan ever since. Sean has done some incredible work, and I wish I had had the opportunity to work with him in the height of my contemporary dancing days.

And speaking of inspired young dancers, I met a beautiful member of the cast named Faye Dubinski, who happened to have gone to school with me at the National School of the Arts. And as we were introduced she tells me that I was her Gr12 senior and her idol at the time. I said 'really'? She replied, Yes! I looked up to you so much, I even named a bear after you. I wanted to be just like you.

Friends and leads Henk Opperman and Devon Marshbank

Well, my night and possibly my week was made. And as I had no clue about Faye, so I am sure Sean will have had no idea about my own awe and admiration. We have absolutely no inkling of the lives we impact in our day-to-day comings and goings... the ultimate life decisions or paths we influence or inspire, that's what makes what we do so powerful. Faye's name is one I will now watch with keen interest and hope to see in many programs yet.

And seeing as impacting lives are par for the course for us, hubby and I love to include our FADCreationS's Career Mentorship Students in experiences like these. Two of our students joined us for the evening, Roelien Prinsloo and Morne Vogel, both have recently finished Matric and are heading for studies or careers abroad in the US. We have the honour of guiding, coaching and developing them along the way. Here we all are at the Joburg Theatre.

With hubby, Roelien and Morne.

Some of my favourite numbers of Queen at the Ballet were Who Wants To Live Forever with the three incredible pas de deux couples and the Don't Try So Hard duet, danced by friends Henk Opperman and the beautiful Elzanne Crause. Sean's pas de deux's are just breathtaking.

I am so glad this production is being showcased in Johannesburg and hope that we will be privy to many more of Bovim Ballet's works up in Jozi in the future.
I am sure that their Opening Night must have been magnificent and wish the cast and company all the best for the run. The season only runs until 13 April, so make sure you do not miss it!

Tickets at http://www.joburgtheatre.com/. 

Here is a link to a 'taster' video for Queen at the Ballet. 

Lots of Ballet Love,

BPSE 2014 Rehearsals #ComingAttractions

It's happening again! Our annual BPSE 2014 rehearsals are underway, and the talent we have pooled together this year is scary brilliant!

The Broadway Performance Showcase Experience is an annual workshop hosted by FADCreationS, where we take a group of industry hopefuls and give them a true experience of what it takes to put a full musical theatre production together - from the audition process, all the way through to the final performances.

Eben Liebenberg from PhotoElements has been capturing some wonderful behind-the scenes moments during rehearsals... Can you see the concentration, the focus... the creative chaos... we love it!!!

Our candidates receive all the show material before hand and undergo a real audition process for casting on Day 1 at BPSE. This year we are rehearsing at the beautiful Dance De Art studios in Centurion, where each candidate will also experience full studio recordings of all of the chorus vocal material of the production. They learn choreography from scratch, plot acting scenes and start piecing it all together. Later they put it all on stage and in costume, and all this in under 2 weeks. (We're mad right!)
But honestly, it is a life-changing experience for most young artists and many keep returning to us. It's not only the work, the exposure or the final show but rather the process, the experience and the family they gain and value most through it all. The candidates (and their parents) also get to meet and rub elbows with some high-profile industry experts during an enlightening Q and A session, as well as on the VIP show evening.

 

And same as last year, 2014's production called "96000", will be performed at the Atterbury Theatre in Lynnwood, Pretoria. There will be two performances: Friday 4 April at 7pm and Saturday 5 April at 3pm.

So if you live nearby or feel like coming through to support and check out the theatre stars of the future, please join us!



Tickets are R120 per person and available at Computicket, just follow the link...








Hope to see you all there!

Love,

Causing A Scene #ActressLife

To me improv is like church for actors, it's where we go to get nourishment and fuel for when we're out in the acting 'world'. Causing-A-Scene improv troupe opened their doors for a short while, to allow 'outside' actors an opportunity to come and 'play' with them (as they put it), and also for them to find a few new candidates to eventually join their regular sessions.

I was lucky enough to be able to 'play' with them every Wednesday for the past 5 weeks and last week I attended the final 'open' evening at the National School of the Arts in Braamfontein. So now, many hopefuls will wait to hear if they will be invited back as part of the Causing-A-Scene improv troupe. Either way, it has been a fantastic experience for me. I am not new to improv, but I know during the past few weeks, I broke some barriers for sure. I grew not only as an actress, but also in my love for theatre sports and improv.

It can be such a scary yet exhilarating exercise. No 'scene' is ever the same and anything can happen, I think that's what I like about it... the endless possibilities.
And when it is well executed, man, it is brilliant to see. Attending improv workshops doesn't necessarily mean you have to be the next SNL star or even be a comedic actor at all, but it allows us 'normal' actors to open up to some seriously uninhibited exploration and building your self-trust. To learn to get out of your own head a little and just go with it. To listen and to say 'Yes!' - to your fellow actors, their decisions and to whatever happens in the scene.


Through just a couple of weeks attending the Causing a Scene sessions, I have undoubtedly grown leaps in my approach, my techniques and confidence. Many of which, I can now put to use during castings, on stage or on screen and I do look forward to exploring more workshop opportunities of the same kind.

If you are interested, here are some cool sites on the subject:
http://improvencyclopedia.org/games/
http://cloudcuckoo.co.uk/jonthrower/improv_ex.htm
http://learnimprov.com/

Speak soon,