Extras in Paris, French Toast Film #BehindTheScenes

Today several of our FADCreationS Mentorship Students got to experience (for some their first) a day on a film set, filling the scenes as extras for the film French Toast, to be released in 2015.

What a magical experience for them, I am so grateful to Hartiwood productions for allowing them the opportunity and experience.

It is our goal as mentors to these performers-in-the-making to provide them with as much exposure to real industry experiences and professionals, in order to formulate their own path and goals towards becoming artists in their own right. The mentorship program is a 6 month intensive one-on-one training program, with the purpose of honing these artists to their true industry potential, providing platforms and opportunities as well as assisting in the transition from amateur to professional working performer.


Look at the beautiful replica Hartiwood built of Cafe Alexandre in Montmarte right in the middle of Hartebeespoortdam...

After one more week of filming, the Cafe will be open for business and visits by the public. It is gorgeous and quaint; and I can not wait to go and enjoy some delicious coffee and macarons 'french style'.
And there is speak of all sorts of yummy french toast!

Au revoir!

Skouspel Cape Town 2014 #BehindTheScenes

Huisgenoot Skouspel! - an annual must-see on many Afrikaners' calenders and usually an event of epic proportions!

Earlier this month FADCreationS was in beautiful Cape Town for a whole week to work behind-the-scenes for the #Skouspel2014 event at the Grand West Casino.

Husband Ferdinand Gernandt is the Stage Director for the event and 'calls' each moment of the show's running order from the auditorium.
Myself and Roelien Prinsloo are the Assistant Stage Directors, who make sure it all runs smoothly in the wings on either side of the gorgeous Skouspel stage. (Unless we're working on our silly-selfies somewhere)

Check out the gorgeous stage...

 

 

Here are some pics of outside the Grand West casino and hotel.

It was lovely to catch up with the gorgeous Nadia Beukes at Skouspel and especially with it being her first time MC'ing for the big event. She looked incredibly beautiful in her Vesselina Pentcheva gowns, lucky girl!

Some of my favourite artists this year were Joshua Na Die Reen's Jacques (above), with his wonderfully gentle, soulful spirit; the fresh new ADAM trio with Kyle Grant added into the mix and the gorgeous newcomers - 3 glamorous girls of BlackByrd (Tarryn, Tammy and Axene).

Personally I also have huge respect for the great material, performance value and work ethic of Nadine, Emo Adams and Chris Chameleon.
One of my favourite numbers in the line up was a comical operatic number delivered by Emo, Chris and the wonderfully talented Louis Loock.
I won't give too much away!

The Heuwels Fantasties are just on a whole other level, I really dig their sound and love to listen to them live. Other big names were Kurt Darren, Laurika Rauch, Karen Zoid, Andriette Norman, Elvis Blue, Snotkop, Heinz Winkler and Joe Foster. Also Adam Tas, Ray Dylan, Ricus Nel, Manie Jackson, Belinda and Rouchelle were popular Afrikaans artists on the coveted Skouspel line-up.

It was especially special to see maestro Eddie Clayton again (we worked together on The King And I some years ago), who made his debut of conducting at Skouspel this year, having arranged and played for several Skouspel events in the past. Bravo Eddie!







A big congratulations and thank you to Frontline Productions for the highly efficient and streamline way they run the whole of Skouspel's operations, rehearsals, admin and performances and also for hosting us so wonderfully.
It is a privilege and a pleasure every time!!

I am really looking forward to the #Skouspel2014 Sun City weekends in October! Sun and Summer!


Hope to see many of you there!!

Speak soon,

Buy Smart - Enterprise Lifestyle Commercial #BehindTheScenes

I had such a fun day on set of the commercial shoot I did a week ago for Buy Smart - Enterprise Lifestyle. And it was completely surprising and lovely to have several familiar faces on the team as well as fabulous new people to meet.

It was a real blast from the past to find out my 'husband' would be played by my friend Dean Roberts, who was my colleague and fellow 'bohemian' in the South African and touring musical theatre production of We Will Rock You (also read We Will Rock You - A Tribute) some years ago! Deano is an absolute scream, he has the best sense of fun and humour to have around on set and wow he's so great with kids! What an absolute pleasure angel!

I got to play #mommyforaday and had the most gorgeous-looking family!

Just look at my gorgeous little girl Amika and cute dimple-face boy, Levi. (So this is what my offspring would look like if I married a blonde!) And lemme tell you, the camera looooooves Levi! There's something to be said for the pure innocence of kids that age, they have absolutely no limits, fears or airs. Almost oblivious to the camera he just 'is', his whole little being speaks of joy and freedom of spirit. It's magical and inspiring!

I met Aileen Joubert at our wardrobe fitting at the Wardrobe Studio and we were chatting about my sharing the Joubert surname (maiden name) and having lived in Northcliff, but I never quite put two and two together.

On set she was telling me about having worked with primates earlier in life, and I got all excited telling her about this lady who was my neighbour in high school who also rehabilitated monkeys and how my sister and I did school projects on them. After a great pregnant pause, she announced "That's me!"

Well, I could have hit myself! Of course she was! I don't know how I missed it before, I mean her name should have rung a big bell! What a wonderful 'coincidence'! And what a good-looking on-screen mom to have, go-figure - we do look like we could be family!!

I just adored my beautiful red dress and styling by The Warderobe Studio and enjoyed the pleasure of working with Nerine Pienaar and her team once again, feeling familiar and well looked after in their hands. Fianca Barnard was attentive on set all day, making sure I looked fabulous.

And the lovely Bianca Pelser who did hair and make-up was a gem, and it was just as fascinating to realize we have so many friends and connections in common.

It was a wonderfully smooth day of filming and I enjoyed the slightly more improvisational style director Andrew Cleland used to get the best performances out of the kids. As an often behind-the-scenes crew member myself, I always pay attention to and try to honour the unsung crew heroes who actually make it all happen at the end of the day. It was an immense pleasure to work with the great AD Darryl Fuchs, DOP David Pienaar and their teams.




I must also compliment the catering by Anton from Aquarius, who made the most yummy and mouth-watering coconut-covered, jam-pocketed, cereal-flaked, impossible-to-decline dessert. (no other way to describe it!)








Well, in a blink it was all over and I had enjoyed such a joy-filled, love-what-i-do day.
It's heaps of gratitude that spill over and await the next time I can walk onto a film set and enjoy telling you all about it!









Chat Soon Peeps!

Reik Na Die Sterre - Official Opening! #OutAndAbout

Sunday 13 July 2014, marked the official media opening of Reik Na Die Sterre - die Grootste Afrikaanse Musical Nog ooit!
What an incredibly special and memorable evening!

It was possibly one of the proudest moments I have had in honour of my wonderfully talented husband, Ferdinand Gernandt, who co-produced, wrote, choreographed and directed this original, top-quality production by The Smash Hit Company. (#reiknadiesterre)



Having just landed back in SA from two weeks in the States, I had not seen any of the progress while away and even when I had seen bits and pieces of technical runs days before, I wasn't prepared for the amazing responses from the audience or the glow of joy and pride I would feel watching the final product on the day of the VIP event.
Before the show, hubby gave an opening welcome speech with such grace and sincerity - and with his words of love and gratitude aimed at his easy-to-tear-up wife, I was nearly a blurry mess before it even began.

It was such a wonderful pleasure being styled by my 'go-to' team at The Follicle Hair Atelier in Brooklyn for the event (012 435 8777) and also to have them all attend!
(They looked dashing, sporting their 'Stiki' bow-tie wooden accessories!)

Inspired by a Charlize Theron red-carpet look, we opted for an 'old hollywood glamour' feel for both hubby and I.

 It worked perfectly with my gorgeous black beaded dress for the evening, courtesy of Nerine Pienaar from The Warderobe Studio (Also Warderobe Designer for #reiknadiesterre) in conjunction with Just for Tonight Josephine.

The exceptional cast featured in this production, delivered phenomenal performances on Opening. I really could start mentioning favourites but would probably end up listing the full company.
 Let me at least mention the lead actors by name - Willem Botha, Kristen Raath, Tristin Focherini, Neels Clasen, Kenneth Meyer, Richard van der Westhuizen and Sarah Theron, who each in their own right bring passion, commitment and enormous talent to the stage.
There are truly exceptional dancers in the cast and brilliant cameo and supporting character performances each engaging the audience to tears or roaring laughter.
(Not to mention the ridiculous eye-candy for guys and gals alike!)

Moments I especially enjoy are the high-energy and intense company dance numbers such as Beat of My Heart, Ek Reik Na Die Sterre, Carry On (an epic male tap number) and Fight For Love as well as fabulous comic or sincere and heart-wrenching scenes or songs like Die Hart van my Moeder and Ruiter van die Windjie.

Other wow moments are created by the flashy bmx's that the 'paperboys' get around in, which become part of the elaborate and exciting choreographic plotting.

The set is gorgeous and wonderfully woven into the story as to form a whole character on its own. Murray Lubbe; as well as the majestic lighting design by Johan Ferreira with powerfully lit moments in many of the military scenes, especially Op Die Vlerk van n Spier Wit Duif. Mention must be made of Marlee van der Merwe, who was responsible for the impeccable vocal direction of the company.
This is only further complimented by the mood-setting and fresh new musical arrangements of old favourites by

It was heart-warming to see several youngsters and families in the auditorium, as well as many well-known public faces, media and critics. The buzz surrounding #reiknadiesterre leading up to that day did not disappoint and has only been fueled by a flutter of social media responses after Sunday. It's great to read so many kind and positive responses as well as constructive feedback. Read some on the Reik Na Die Sterre Facebook Page and here is a link to the Beeld Review.

With only 4 weeks of running at The State Theatre Opera now under way, the time is going to fly by!

 They are already experiencing high increases in ticket sales, so jump in!
(Tickets are available now at Computicket @ R250 per ticket.)

Go and support this superb cast and company!
Go and #reiknadiesterre!!!

Leaving for the US of A #TerrificTravels

I have the wonderful privilege of being the South African representative who will be coaching, guiding and mentoring a group of 11 talented artists taking part in the AMTC #SHINE Summer event in Orlando, Florida over the next two weeks.

Finally I am beginning to slowly recover from jet-lag after looooong hours in transit. (I still have some moments of feeling like I've just stepped off of a trampoline and my body continues swaying involuntarily). I traveled with the Gautrain from Pretoria to OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg arriving around 3pm to arrange travel and check-ins with the group of candidates and their families. Our flight departed at 7pm on Thursday 26th. It began with 11 hours to Paris, approximate 5 hour lay-over, then another 8 hours to Atlanta.

At Atlanta we nearly missed our connecting domestic flight due to lengthy customs checks and then after an hour's flight to Orlando, we sat on the tarmac for another hour and a half thanks to a lightening storm which made connecting the plane to the disembarking stairs and tunnels a risk for airport staff.

Add in another half hour's drive by charter bus to the hotel arriving at around 8pm on Friday 27th and that rounds it up nicely to 32 hours of travelling, ouch!

Our first day began with (well, Starbucks... and then...) a full day of shopping and outlet mall hopping and even a trip to Walmart. We had the most entertaining and sweet driver named Bill from the Mears Travel Agency, who played tour guide and soccer score announcer; and even demonstrated the correct way to swing a baseball bat - at length.

I thought I might just take a nap after the full day, but ended up skipping dinner and sleeping right through!

Today we had a full day of photo-shoots for all my candidates, with hair and make-up done on site by the experts, their looks selected and refined by excellent stylists, each 'look' captured by pro photographers and all this in a well-oiled machine of production efficiency. A great and productive day today. I even managed to go to the gym after and work out some of the jet-lag kinks.

Tomorrow my team attend the Pre-SHINE Launch 'training' and on Tuesday the games begin with #SHINE Summer registration and the first of all their showcases. It's so rewarding to see them all experience the US and AMTC for the first time and also those who have been before, increasing their skill-sets and upping their game.


The weather is lovely, hot and humid - unlike home. Hopefully I'll have some time to visit the gorgeous pools at some point! I adore staying at the Gaylord Palms with its gorgeous exteriors, spectacular alligators in the pools around the hotel, wonderful restaurants and luxurious rooms.

The only thing missing is my husband - who's birthday is tomorrow. *sad face* Wish he could be here, but thinking of him performing on the eve of his birthday at the very special charity event #67Blankets for Madiba Day as one of the Leading Men of Musical Theatre, hosted by the Auto & General Theatre on the Square.

Love you my angel, sending you tropical heat love from Florida!

Chat soon peeps,

.