The Naledi Awards: Winners of a Star-Studded Ceremony!

The first ever Naledi Awards evening that really was stylish, slick and absolutely entertaining! Dawn Lindbergh herself deserves a Naledi Award for the .of the televised production took place at the gracious Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City last night. The foyer was awash with excitement and glamour as theatre industry luminaries showed up in their numbers, dressed to the nines – some no doubt at sixes and sevens with others - to either receive accolades or show support to those who were in the awards limelight.

The Naledi’s have had their share of drama and controversy in the past, and this year’s event went off without a hitch or anyone throwing their toys, and, no doubt was the most spectacular and enthusiastic to date. The MC, Nik Rabinowitz, with his cutting and intelligent wit kept the show rolling along and the audience happy. Nic is undoubtedly one of our most talented comedians with an astounding sharpness of both eye and tongue. The presenters roster glittered with slick end really well-dressed celebrities. The Naledi Chairman, Dali Tambo (I am publishing hi welcoming speech as a separate item), and Executive Director, Dawn Lindberg, also lent their presence to the proceedings. The designer label, Stoned Cherry, gave Dawn quite an amazing ethnic look – they must have been stoned while designing this outfit because “The Lindbergh” looked positively supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

There was one really sour moment to the end of the evening when one of the presenters, comedian David Kibuuka, (he started off so brilliantly) remarked that one of the founding sponsors of the awards and, the sponsor of three of the top categories, probably funded the event in the hope of getting some “pussy” after the curtain came down. Well, Mr. Kibuuka, for your information – and over and above the fact the it is doubtful if this benefactor would be interested in “pussy” - Mr. Christopher Seabrooke is one of South Africa’s most respected businessmen and has poured millions of rand into the “quiet “ sponsorship of the performing arts over many years. And, the theatre is not even his real business - it is simply a kind of hobby. And furthermore, arsehole, the reason why you don’t know anything about this amazingly urbane man is exactly because he never seeks any publicity for his altruistic deeds.

So, next time, Funny David, when you are back in your cage, do your homework a bit more astutely. Why not rather get your laugh by mentioning that despite Lebo M’s big outburst two years ago there still is no category carrying his name and sponsorship for one of the development categories or another previously disadvantaged genre of South African theatre? No, instead of putting his money where his mouth so widely opened at the time, he either stayed at home last night or, more probably, was somewhere in the world negotiating the rights to another foreign money-spinning musical.

Kibuuka apart, the presenters were really good and top-drawer entertainment was provided by the multi-Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, the Bala Brothers, PJ Powers, Alan Committie and the quartet Complete (from Songs of Migration). Angela Killian, who’s currently playing the title role in Evita at the Pieter Toerien Theatre, almost brought the house down with her rendition of that musical’s show-stopping number, “Don’t Cry for Me, Angentina”. The same roar of approval met Abba’s “Dancing Queen” performed by Mamma Mia’s Gina Schmukler, Kate Normington and Ilse Klink. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to “SA’s most famous white woman”, Evita Bezuidenhout, for her witty, refreshing and fearless observations of the social fabric of our country over the past 30 years, whilst the Executive Director’s Award was similarly given for three decades of service - to Frans Swart of Lefra Productions, for their promotion of Afrikaans Theatre. Mr. Swart made significant remarks about the Afrikaans media moguls and their neglect of Afrikaans culture. I will publish his acceptance speech separately.

Thanks to funding from the Lottery Distribution Board (for the first time this year), as well as the participation of regular corporate sponsors, Wharfedale Pro, Matrix Sound, Distell, and Chauvet Lighting, and individual sponsors, Christopher Seabrooke and Percy Tucker, this has been the most lavish and entertaining Naledi Awards evening to date.

The Naledi judges, who comprise theatre and television personalities, arts journalists, and drama teachers and academics, have spent weeks discussing and debating the various nominees, and - as usual - it could not have been the easiest task to come up with one winner in each category. But come up with winners they did, and last night was the turn of the victors to claim their laurels and bask in the fanfare. Last year I criticized the fact that in some categories nominations were made while judges did not bother to attend see competing productions. From where I sat last night I believe that my criticism was heard and that the judging process has been much improved.

I would like to point out that the design of the programmes were absolutely beautiful. It reflected our “South Africanness” and was clean and easy to follow. It is a pity that this crisp new look did not transfer to the audiovisual that linked the evening – it looked “messy” and a number of late cues could easily have spoilt an otherwise an almost flawless evening.

Just as an aside, I would like to thank Bridget van Oerle for her superb and very professional approach to handling the media and the general public relations of this event.. If Dawn Lindbergh was easy to work with she would not have been able to hold the Naledi’s together for all these years – yet, she and Bridget seem to maintain a good working understanding and Bridget brings to the Naledi Awards a charming, flexible, good-natured and patient face. Her very able assistant, Christabel Zulu, not only pulls rabbits out of hats, she also gives the best hugs in town!

The Winners:

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (The Joan Brickhill Award) – Sponsored by Christopher Seabrooke

Evita - a Pieter Toerien production directed by Paul Warwick Griffin.

BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY

Death of a Colonialist, produced by The Market Theatre, written by Greg Latter and directed by Craig Freimond.

BEST NEW SOUTH AFRICAN PLAY OR MUSICAL PRODUCED

The Girl in the Yellow Dress, produced by The Market Theatre (Johannesburg), Live Theatre (Newcastle) and The Citizen's Theatre (Glasglow). Directed by Malcolm Purkey and written by Craig Higginson.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE (PLAY)

Jamie Barlett, for his portrayal of the veteran teacher Harold Smith in Death of a Colonialist.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE (PLAY)-

Marianne Oldham, as the English coach in The Girl in the Yellow Dress.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL (MALE)
Sponsored by Christopher Seabrooke

James Borthwick, for his portrayal of Juan Peron in Evita.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL (FEMALE)
Sponsored by Christopher Seabrooke

Angela Kilian, for the title role in Evita.

BEST CUTTING-EDGE PRODUCTION

Butcher Brothers - Presented by The Market Theatre, originally produced by Dark Laugh and supported by Wits 969 2010 and a part of Arts Alive 2010. Directed by Sylvaine Strike.

BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL
Sponsored by Percy Tucker

Craig Freimond - for Death of a Colonialist.

BEST COMEDY PERFORMANCE (PLAY, MUSICAL OR REVUE)

Matthew Ribnick - for his performance in Geraldine Naidoo's Monkey Nuts.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE/CAMEO

Nat Ramabulana - for his contribution to Master Harold and the Boys.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE/CAMEO

Kate Normington - for her contribution to Mamma Mia!

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTOR/SCORE/ARRANGEMENT
Sponsored by Matrix Sound

Charl-Johan Lingenfelder and Louis Zurnamer (MD) - for Evita.

BEST ORIGINAL CHOREOGRAPHY

David Gouldie - for Evita.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A NEWCOMER / BREAKTHROUGH
The Brett Goldin Award

Khaya Maseko - for his contribution to African Tapestries.

BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL FOR CHILDREN

Beautiful Creatures - Produced by Ed Jordan and Alan Glass, in association with Showtime Management. Directed by Paul Warwick Griffin.

BEST THEATRE LIGHTING DESIGN
Sponsored by Chauvet

Jannie Swanepoel and Gareth Hewitt Williams - for Evita.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Penny Simpson - for Evita.

BEST THEATRE SET DESIGN

Johan Engels - for The Boys in the Photograph.

BEST THEATRE SOUND DESIGN
Sponsored by Wharfedale Pro

Freddy Malesa - for Songs of Migration.

BEST COMMUNITY THEATRE PRODUCTION

The award was shared between:

Awaiting Trial
by Movers Theatre Production; directed by Velaphi Mthimkhulu.

and

We Can, This is our Home
presented by SANCTA One Act Festival in Mpumalanga; directed by Mandla Sibaya.

The first ever Naledi Awards evening that really was stylish, slick and absolutely entertaining! Dawn Lindbergh herself deserves a Naledi Award for the .of the televised production took place at the gracious Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City last night. The foyer was awash with excitement and glamour as theatre industry luminaries showed up in their numbers, dressed to the nines – some no doubt at sixes and sevens with others - to either receive accolades or show support to those who were in the awards limelight.

The Naledi’s have had their share of drama and controversy in the past, and this year’s event went off without a hitch or anyone throwing their toys, and, no doubt was the most spectacular and enthusiastic to date. The MC, Nik Rabinowitz, with his cutting and intelligent wit kept the show rolling along and the audience happy. Nic is undoubtedly one of our most talented comedians with an astounding sharpness of both eye and tongue. The presenters roster glittered with slick end really well-dressed celebrities. The Naledi Chairman, Dali Tambo (I am publishing hi welcoming speech as a separate item), and Executive Director, Dawn Lindberg, also lent their presence to the proceedings. The designer label, Stoned Cherry, gave Dawn quite an amazing ethnic look – they must have been stoned while designing this outfit because “The Lindbergh” looked positively supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

There was one really sour moment to the end of the evening when one of the presenters, comedian David Kibuuka, (he started off so brilliantly) remarked that one of the founding sponsors of the awards and, the sponsor of three of the top categories, probably funded the event in the hope of getting some “pussy” after the curtain came down. Well, Mr. Kibuuka, for your information – and over and above the fact the it is doubtful if this benefactor would be interested in “pussy” - Mr. Christopher Seabrooke is one of South Africa’s most respected businessmen and has poured millions of rand into the “quiet “ sponsorship of the performing arts over many years. And, the theatre is not even his real business - it is simply a kind of hobby. And furthermore, arsehole, the reason why you don’t know anything about this amazingly urbane man is exactly because he never seeks any publicity for his altruistic deeds.

So, next time, Funny David, when you are back in your cage, do your homework a bit more astutely. Why not rather get your laugh by mentioning that despite Lebo M’s big outburst two years ago there still is no category carrying his name and sponsorship for one of the development categories or another previously disadvantaged genre of South African theatre? No, instead of putting his money where his mouth so widely opened at the time, he either stayed at home last night or, more probably, was somewhere in the world negotiating the rights to another foreign money-spinning musical.

Kibuuka apart, the presenters were really good and top-drawer entertainment was provided by the multi-Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, the Bala Brothers, PJ Powers, Alan Committie and the quartet Complete (from Songs of Migration). Angela Killian, who’s currently playing the title role in Evita at the Pieter Toerien Theatre, almost brought the house down with her rendition of that musical’s show-stopping number, “Don’t Cry for Me, Angentina”. The same roar of approval met Abba’s “Dancing Queen” performed by Mamma Mia’s Gina Schmukler, Kate Normington and Ilse Klink.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to “SA’s most famous white woman”, Evita Bezuidenhout, for her witty, refreshing and fearless observations of the social fabric of our country over the past 30 years, whilst the Executive Director’s Award was similarly given for three decades of service - to Frans Swart of Lefra Productions, for their promotion of Afrikaans Theatre. Mr. Swart made significant remarks about the Afrikaans media moguls and their neglect of Afrikaans culture. I will publish his acceptance speech separately.

Thanks to funding from the Lottery Distribution Board (for the first time this year), as well as the participation of regular corporate sponsors, Wharfedale Pro, Matrix Sound, Distell, and Chauvet Lighting, and individual sponsors, Christopher Seabrooke and Percy Tucker, this has been the most lavish and entertaining Naledi Awards evening to date.

The Naledi judges, who comprise theatre and television personalities, arts journalists, and drama teachers and academics, have spent weeks discussing and debating the various nominees, and - as usual - it could not have been the easiest task to come up with one winner in each category. But come up with winners they did, and last night was the turn of the victors to claim their laurels and bask in the fanfare. Last year I criticized the fact that in some categories nominations were made while judges did not bother to attend see competing productions. From where I sat last night I believe that my criticism was heard and that the judging process has been much improved.

I would like to point out that the design of the programmes were absolutely beautiful. It reflected our “South Africanness” and was clean and easy to follow. It is a pity that this crisp new look did not transfer to the audiovisual that linked the evening – it looked “messy” and a number of late cues could easily have spoilt an otherwise an almost flawless evening.

Just as an aside, I would like to thank Bridget van Oerle for her superb and very professional approach to handling the media and the general public relations of this event.. If Dawn Lindbergh was easy to work with she would not have been able to hold the Naledi’s together for all these years – yet, she and Bridget seem to maintain a good working understanding and Bridget brings to the Naledi Awards a charming, flexible, good-natured and patient face. Her very able assistant, Christabel Zulu, not only pulls rabbits out of hats, she also gives the best hugs in town!

The Winners:

BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (The Joan Brickhill Award) – Sponsored by Christopher Seabrooke

Evita - a Pieter Toerien production directed by Paul Warwick Griffin.

BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY

Death of a Colonialist, produced by The Market Theatre, written by Greg Latter and directed by Craig Freimond.

BEST NEW SOUTH AFRICAN PLAY OR MUSICAL PRODUCED

The Girl in the Yellow Dress, produced by The Market Theatre (Johannesburg), Live Theatre (Newcastle) and The Citizen's Theatre (Glasglow). Directed by Malcolm Purkey and written by Craig Higginson.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE (PLAY)

Jamie Barlett, for his portrayal of the veteran teacher Harold Smith in Death of a Colonialist.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEAD ROLE (PLAY)-

Marianne Oldham, as the English coach in The Girl in the Yellow Dress.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL (MALE)
Sponsored by Christopher Seabrooke

James Borthwick, for his portrayal of Juan Peron in Evita.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL (FEMALE)
Sponsored by Christopher Seabrooke

Angela Kilian, for the title role in Evita.

BEST CUTTING-EDGE PRODUCTION

Butcher Brothers - Presented by The Market Theatre, originally produced by Dark Laugh and supported by Wits 969 2010 and a part of Arts Alive 2010. Directed by Sylvaine Strike.

BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL
Sponsored by Percy Tucker

Craig Freimond - for Death of a Colonialist.

BEST COMEDY PERFORMANCE (PLAY, MUSICAL OR REVUE)

Matthew Ribnick - for his performance in Geraldine Naidoo's Monkey Nuts.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE/CAMEO

Nat Ramabulana - for his contribution to Master Harold and the Boys.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE/CAMEO

Kate Normington - for her contribution to Mamma Mia!

BEST MUSICAL DIRECTOR/SCORE/ARRANGEMENT
Sponsored by Matrix Sound

Charl-Johan Lingenfelder and Louis Zurnamer (MD) - for Evita.

BEST ORIGINAL CHOREOGRAPHY

David Gouldie - for Evita.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A NEWCOMER / BREAKTHROUGH
The Brett Goldin Award

Khaya Maseko - for his contribution to African Tapestries.

BEST PRODUCTION OF A PLAY OR MUSICAL FOR CHILDREN

Beautiful Creatures - Produced by Ed Jordan and Alan Glass, in association with Showtime Management. Directed by Paul Warwick Griffin.

BEST THEATRE LIGHTING DESIGN
Sponsored by Chauvet

Jannie Swanepoel and Gareth Hewitt Williams - for Evita.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Penny Simpson - for Evita.

BEST THEATRE SET DESIGN

Johan Engels - for The Boys in the Photograph.

BEST THEATRE SOUND DESIGN
Sponsored by Wharfedale Pro

Freddy Malesa - for Songs of Migration.

BEST COMMUNITY THEATRE PRODUCTION

The award was shared between:

Awaiting Trial
by Movers Theatre Production; directed by Velaphi Mthimkhulu.

and

We Can, This is our Home
presented by SANCTA One Act Festival in Mpumalanga; directed by Mandla Sibaya.

.