Reik Na Die Sterre #ComingAttractions

Reik Na Die Sterre - Die Grootste Afrikaanse Musical nog ooit!

Many performers begin their careers going from contract to contract and job to job, merely grateful to be working - not always considering where life or their careers are taking them. But then there are some among us who have a very clear idea of where they are headed, it is purely a case of how and when they'll get there.
My husband, Ferdinand Gernandt is one of those incredibly talented and driven individuals and this is a forthcoming project he's in the middle of preparing for - I can not tell you how excited I am for it!

The Smash Hit Company has been developing this original project for over a year now and it is mind-blowing to think that in such a short time it will become a reality. Ferdinand wrote the piece around the memorable and well-known music of the Afrikaans legend Bless Bridges. However it is a completely fresh original story (not relating to the life of Bless) and all the newly arranged songs by Murray Lubbe further enhances and carries this tale about young love, war and family.

Here is the newly released music video of the title song 'Reik Na Die Sterre' sung by Willem Botha and Kristen Raath. Produced by The Smash Hit Company.

This production has secured some of the most talented artists in our industry, a powder keg full of well-knowns and up-and-comings!

The magical Sarah Theron and Richard van der Westhuizen will portray the parents of young Stephan, played by the talented Willem Botha. Neels Clasen will be playing the militaristic father of beautiful young Jana, who will be portrayed by the bright Kristen Raath, making her theatrical debut. The full cast list further includes Kenneth Meyer, Lee Scott, Marcel Spaumer, Marco Spaumer, Zak Hendrikz, Weslee Swain Lauder, Reg Hart, Clint Lesch, Phillip Schnetler, Stephan van der Walt, Emil Haarhoff, Tristin Gernandt, Annica Steenkamp, Joanna Abatzoglou, Michelle Pieterse, Stefania duToit, Pulane Rampoana, Suzaan Helberg, Nastassja Jooste, Sarah-Ann Kroukamp and Marijke Bezuidenhout.

Here is a 'behind-the-scenes' chat with Willem Botha, on set of the music video shoot at the Groenkloof Nature Reserve in Pretoria.

Hubby will be directing and choreographing for Reik Na Die Sterre, which is about to go into rehearsals and preparations from the 8th of June. Doors at the The State Theatre will officially open on 10 July for this exciting project (running until 3 August) and tickets are already available at Computicket.

I personally cannot wait and will be front and centre at the Opening!
So opgewonde hiervoor!! Yay x

Chat soon,

Witches of 'West Rand' #FlashbackFriday

Photographic Flashback Friday! Make-Up on this one was done by the wonderful Gerlia Groenewald and magnificent photography and editing by Jacky Joubert at The Playroom.
Don't get a fright... it's a glimpse into my darker side.. hehe. I love exploring characters and particularly enjoy the opportunity to be the villain for a change.

Have a wonderfully 'witchy' weekend!

Vettie Vettie #OutAndAbout

'Vettie Vettie', the first ever Afrikaans play to appear on the Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre stage. A privilege to have attended the opening performance, and something of a historical moment.

Has their ever been a South African theatre legend quite like the Tobie Cronje... 

Fred Astaire meets Robin Williams meets Stanley Tucci. 

(think about that for a minute)...

His sheer brilliance, wonderful subtlety, genius timing, animated physicality and divine carrying of the character/scene between the lines...  I could watch Tobie perform the cygnets from Swan Lake whilst whistling 'Siembamba mamma se kindjie' and I'd think it's amazing. (it probably would be too) 

But it's his gentle giant nature, his 'Tai Chi' spirit and his kind, humble soul that just draws you in and makes you want to sit at his feet and absorb his goodness. I have had the honour of working with Toobs in two different productions and am so grateful for it. He is probably one of the most popular people after a show, but took the unhurried time to meet and shake hands with our mentorship students, Jaydee and Mongene joining me at the event. 

Love you Toobs x 

The other three cast members, namely Hanna Grobler, Luan Jacobs and Andre Lotter are faced with quite a feat to match up to the level of expertise and experience of the theatre veteran in their midst, but I truly enjoyed each of their performances. I adored Hanna especially for her lovable and miserable 'fat' Vicky, Luan for his quirky and excellent physicality (not spilling that coffee was sheer magic) and Andre for his suave manner and using his small amount of stage time so well. 

I laughed... hard and a lot. 

But even through the light comedy, this line spoke to me... 'meeste mense ploeter maar voort, 

omdat hulle nie die moed het om te verander nie.' 

I do have things I want to change (don't we all), and they ain't gonna change all on their own. It's going to take some guts, determination and lots of perseverance. 

Now I just need a 'Henry' (played by Tobie) to follow me around and make sure I don't eat any chocolates, or deviate in other ways from my goals! 

Any takers? 

(Vettie Vettie is showing until the 1st of June and then travels to the Theatre on the Bay in Cape Town, tickets available at this link. )

Chat soon, 

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

Messing with MakeUp #FlashbackFriday

Always fun to flashback on Fridays and remember some of the fun work/projects I have been blessed with in the past. So I thought I would show you some pics from a shoot I did with my phenomenal sister Jacky Joubert at The Playroom. We played around with a few different 'looks' of a beauty shoot; I did my own make-up (interesting fact: coffee granules work really great as dirt!) and photographer Jacky worked her magic. (Email her at jackyjoubert13@gmail.com for bookings and rates)
Here are the results... Enjoy x

Have a fantastic weekend all, chat soon.

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,

AMTC 2014 Training Weekend #Projects

I am so excited about mentoring the group of South African candidates for AMTC SUMMER SHINE 2014 held in Orlando, Florida this July.
The AMTC website describes the mission and heart behind the event:
Actors, Models & Talent for Christ is a non-profit ministry. It is also a mission and a movement of performers from all over the world who feel called to the fields of arts, entertainment and media.
AMTC equips, prepares and promotes God’s talent to become positive role models in an industry that influences our entire culture. Kids, teens and adults chosen from auditions perform for the world’s leading agents. Since 1982, God has built a 32-year legacy within AMTC to launch His performers.

This weekend in Centurion, we had two full days of training and preparing our incredibly talented group of candidates for this amazing event, hosted at the magnificent Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. Every year these candidates are screened and approved during SATCH (South African Talent Championship) provincial and gala events, SATCH being the only approved channel that feeds the South African entries for AMTC. I feel so grateful and honoured to have been asked by SATCH to coach and supervise the wonderful SA talent during their journey and experiences at the AMTC event in July.

The candidates undergo more training, styling and photo shoots once they arrive in the US, and will be showcased in many categories in the fields of acting, singing, dancing and modelling in front of 50 to 100 top film, fashion, music and theater executives—from both mainstream and Christian media. At SHINE, each day is packed with workshops by industry experts and the event finally concludes with one-on-one interviews for the performers with these industry executives. Having myself taken part in the event in January 2013, I have a very good sense of what goes into the preparation and the final execution at the SHINE event.
I hope that each one of them will have a similarly phenomenal experience, as I was blessed to have.

I am so looking forward to my trip later this year and will keep you all posted with the happenings in Orlando!

Blessings,