We Talk to Duane Alexander and Anton Luitingh

“The only ego that matters, is the ego of the show”

by Louw Mulder

 

There are a couple of good reasons why we can celebrate the healthy state of South African Theatre, especially if I look at a couple of the highly acclaimed and professional shows I have seen lately; like Annie, Sound Of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and now, Priscilla. But the real couple worth mentioning, is our country’s most successful Director and Choreographer duo, Anton Luitingh and his fiancé, Duane Alexander.

Anton and Duane met during the first touring South-African production of Cats, in 2001. This is after Anton obtained his B.Dram (Hons) Cum Laude degree in Drama from Maties, and Duane completed his training as the most outstanding student at the Waterfront Theatre School, and obtained teaching degrees in both modern and Tap Dancing. With these credentials, together with the love and passion both Anton and Duane have for Musical theatre, success was inevitable.

After Cats, Anton and Duane’s resumes speaks for itself, and there are too many success stories to mention in this article. Both have won awards, and played various lead roles in many South African Productions, and even toured the world to showcase their talent. But acting, was only the start. “You have to contribute more to theatre than just one aspect” they both made me understand.

As we went through their long careers in musical theatre so far, we talked about their involvement in the 2007’s production of Rent. “The South African audience loves the typical classic musicals, but Rent was the first challenging and edgy production, which for me was a very sentimental piece,” Anton said. The role of Mark Cohen was also Duane’s first role in the lead, a role he has wanted to play since he was a boy. With much enthusiasm, both Duane and Anton speak about the 10 year reunion of Rent, which is coming to the Teatro later this year. It is a concert staging with the original South African cast, original band and musical director for one night only.

In the last few years, Anton has established himself as South Africa’s leading resident director of full scale Musical theatre, with Duane flourishing in choreography, being resident choreographer in most of these shows, next to Anton. We spoke about the recent production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat quite a lot, which seems to be very special to both Anton and Duane. This production, for which Duane won various awards for his choreography, is the first fully South African produced production that went on tour. Joseph is currently touring Australia and New Zealand, and as Duane says, he suffers a little bit from fomo, not being able to be there himself.

 

Boldly and passionately they speak about what works and what doesn’t work in today’s theatre productions. Their experience give merit to their comments, and their explanations and motivations are filled with comprehension and a detailed understanding of the industry. I just hung onto their every word for the whole two hours I spent talking to them.

Saddened, Anton explained that he would love to see more involvement in the theatre industry from an audience perspective. He explained that some brilliantly produced shows are not well attended, while others exceed expectations. Anton mentioned how he would love to see schools being more involved in theatre, and for theatre to become more prominent amongst young people. It was very evident to me that they are driven and have a vision for Musical theatre to prosper even more.

Both Anton and Duane are co-directors of the Musical Theatre Workshop, which invest in youngsters, now also expanding internationally. They elaborated that the biggest lesson that they teach in their workshops, is that the only ego anyone should be concerned about, is the ego of the show. No one individual person is bigger than the show.

I really wish I had time, and space to write about everything we spoke about, but the most exciting part is that the story of Anton Luitingh and Duane Alexander is far from over. When Priscilla’s run is concluded, their next project of being the Resident Director and Resident Choreographer couple, is the full scale production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s classic, Evita.   Anton speaks proudly when he tells me of the extensive international tour this production will embark upon, after delighting South African audiences later this year in Johannesburg and Cape Town.  And no, they are still not saying who will be playing the lead in Evita…

But for now, the attention is on Priscilla, which will open at the Montecasino Teatro next week after a very successful sold-out run in the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town. Both Anton and Duane speak fondly of how fun the show is, but also, how this show introduces new talent to the industry. In particular, they refer to Phillip Schnetler, playing his first major role as the very familiar and infamous character, Adam / Felicia.  As  up skilling and development of young future stage stars being high on Duane and Anton’s priority list, their faces both speaks of excitement and enthusiasm as they tell how promising Schnetler’s career can be.

Even though Priscilla will just be another successful entry on both Anton and Duane’s resumes, personally, this will be a production they will least forget.

During the cast party, after the Opening night performance of Priscilla in Cape Town, Duane proposed to Anton, and they got engaged to be married. They have been a happy couple for 16 years, since that first production of Cats in 2001. As both Duane and Anton explained, they waited for the right moment to do this, and an opening of a gay-themed show in their home town, with friends and theatre-family all present… they couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.

As theatre fanatics, we congratulate Anton and Duane on their engagement, and wish them all the best in their future endeavours. With these humble artists, fully devoted to be involved with world class productions coming to our stages, we are in for some real magical theatre.

Feel free to visit http://www.musicaltheatreworkshop.co.za and also www.antonluitingh.com for more about Duane Alexander and Anton Luitingh and to follow their fascinating journey.

 

This article was edited by Bronwen Kerry.  Photos from Anton and Duane’s Facebook Pages.