Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Made for each other in real life
MEETING the right partner is something we all dream about, with dating sites, bars and night clubs being so overpopulated.
They may not be the obvious place to meet your valentine these days.
Well, at least they weren’t for talented couple Diani Joubert and Ferdi Gernandt, who met on stage while performing in Chicago the Musical 14 years ago.
Chicago the Musical is based on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about the criminals and crimes she reported on. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the “celebrity criminal”.
Dubbed as “everything that makes Broadway and the West End great – a universal tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz; one show-stopping song after another, including razzle dazzle; the sexiest, most sensational dancing and a sharply sophisticated set which incorporates the live orchestra”,
Chicago will see the pair gracing the Artscape stage from March 15 until April 14.
Joubert and Gernandt married two years after they met and are still more in love than ever. They celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary in the air en route to the first tour stop in Auckland and the couple believed they were each other’s true north.
Gernandt said he had his “safe haven and his soulmate”, while Joubert said, “it’s a gift to be touring together and doing this show again in particular. “A marriage made in musical theatre heaven indeed.”
When Chicago was staged in South Africa in 2005, it resulted in three romantic pairings, including Joubert and Gernandt, who were also part of the Chicago 2008 Cape Town and Joburg seasons.
They caught each other’s eye during a cast photo shoot before the start of the 2005 rehearsals.
But the pair could not give in to the burning desires at the time because they were both in relationships. However, the fire in their hearts would rage on until they could no longer ignore it.
According to the couple, both their relationships died during the course of the Joburg leg of the play but it would take yet another handful of performances before they gave in to their hearts’ desires.
Love blossomed at the 100th performance party in Cape Town when they realised they were single. Before Joubert knew it, she was on the dance floor in the arms of the man she loved.
Friend and publicist Debra de Souza said: “They have found renewed joy revisiting Chicago and have imbued this iconic and timeless piece of musical theatre with their growth, as performers and as a married couple.”