Shape-shifting towards a musical career
Elton Landrew is the narrator in David Kramer’s adaptation of Blood Brothers but hopes to release a CD one day, writes Penny Haw
SOMETHING unusual has been taking shape in an old lecture hallturned rehearsal room at the Cape Town Market in Epping; last year’s Fleur du Cap Best Actor, Elton Landrew, and 12 other thespians have been hard at work on a version of Willy Russell’s West End hit musical, Blood Brothers, as adapted and directed by David Kramer. The production opened at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre On The Bay in Camps Bay on Tuesday and will move to Montecasino in Johannesburg in November and then to the Fugard Theatre in February.
It is the first time the British dramatist, lyricist and composer — whose other works include Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine — has granted permission for the musical (it opened in London in 1983 and ran for 24 years) to be adapted.
Blood Brothers tells of two brothers separated at birth, so experiencing very different childhoods. The play examines themes such as nature versus nurture, class, and whether maternal love or materialism makes the better parent — or if it makes any difference at all.
Russell’s original work was based in Liverpool, but Kramer places the brothers in Cape Town in the 1960s, where they first live in Walmer Estate and District Six, then in Parkwood and Elfindale.
“Russell was very excited by David’s ideas for the adaptation and gave him plenty of freedom to adjust the play for the South African setting,” says Landrew, who plays the central character of the narrator in the play, a role filled by Russell in the original production. “And David has an amazing way of making things authentic. Before we began rehearsing, the cast spent time together in Walmer Estate, District Six and the District Six Museum to get a real sense of location and, although we’ve listened to some clips from the original, David’s touch brings it alive as a truly Cape Town story.
“The adaptation is unique and because David is so passionate about theatre, he’s determined that everything he does is better than what has been done previously. So it doesn’t feel we’re competing with other productions in any way. David is making this one his own.”
The narrator, says Landrew, has something of a shape-shifter role: “He keeps the story line going and moves one scene to the next. He reminds me a bit of the ghost of Hamlet’s late father. He suddenly appears, plants a couple of seeds in the minds of the audience and helps keep the pulse of the story beating. It’s an exciting role in an exciting production.”
It is not the first time the actor and Kramer have worked together. In fact, Landrew credits the singer, songwriter, playwright and director with having given him his “first big break” as a performer in 1998.
Born in Springbok, Landrew grew up in the Namaqualand town of Nababeep, which he still calls home. He had participated in a few school plays and variety shows — “when I was seven or eight, my mother painted my shoes red and I performed (Kramer’s song), ‘Die Royal Hotel’; who knew what destiny had in store for me” — but he did not consider a career in theatre until he had left school.
“In 1994, I was working for the parks and gardens department in Namibia when I decided I couldn’t stay there anymore. But what choice did I have? I didn’t know. My family encouraged me to take an aptitude test. The results said I should go into travel and tourism, journalism or entertainment. It seemed to me entertainment would involve the least homework, so I chose it!”
He packed his bags and headed to Cape Town, where he enrolled at Waterfront Theatre School of Delia Sainsbury and the late Keith Galloway.
Initially (unable to speak English), I’d volunteer for mute characters and the shady types who didn’t have many lines
Performance art was not, however, all he needed to become skilled at; having grown up speaking only Afrikaans, Landrew had to learn English.
“Initially, I did a lot of improvising. I’d volunteer for the roles of mute characters and the shady types who didn’t have many lines.”
But it did not take long for Landrew’s confidence to grow. He was soon among the school’s top students, which attracted the attention of a Cape Town journalist who, in an article about the institution, mentioned the actor by name. Kramer happened upon the piece and, looking for someone to play the young Kat Diamond in his and Taliep Petersen’s Kat And The Kings, tracked Landrew down and asked him to audition.
That, he says, was his “big break”. He performed the role of young Kat from 1998 until 2000, during which the production toured SA, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. In 2004 and 2005, he took on the role of Magoo in the same production.
“Kat And The Kings meant I got see the world — and Las Vegas! We did a week’s showcase in Las Vegas, which was a real blast. Directors and producers from theatres and casinos in Las Vegas came to the event to ‘buy shows’. About 50 shows participated in the event, each showcasing what it’s about for 10 minutes. It’s like speed dating in theatre and was a wonderful experience.”
Landrew also worked with Kramer on District Six: The Musical. He has worked extensively with director Janice Honeyman, including in the Baxter Theatre production of The Tempest, which toured England and was staged at The Courtyard Theatre in StratfordUpon-Avon in 2009. He has also appeared in TV’s Egoli, Sewende Laan, Dryfsand, Scandal, Zero Tolerance and House of Love. Landrew played the lead (Uncle Billy) in the mini-drama series, Once Upon A Krismas, and was in the feature film, Forgiveness, starring Arnold Vosloo.
“My work in TV and movies came about when, in 2005, I found myself in Montecasino in Joburg and decided to stay for a while. Joburg is not everyone’s cup of tea but it was good to me. While I was there, I learned to put myself out more and become more versatile.”
In 2007, Landrew got involved with producer Salomé Combrink and the Kambro Diggers theatre group in Oudtshoorn. Each year since then, he has written and produced the group’s Journey series of plays, based on historical stories in and around Oudtshoorn performed by a group of actors from the town’s Bridgton suburb. The group has gained a large following and performs regularly at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees.
It was, however, Landrew’s performance last year as Boesman alongside Quanita Adams in Athol Fugard’s Boesman & Lena (presented by Daphne Kuhn and directed by James Ngcobo) that saw him named Best Actor in the Fleur du Cap Awards.
“First the nomination and then the award were great surprises. It took a while to sink in. It was big though, and reminded me that, just as each new job brings new challenges, it’s also an opportunity to grow. The award made me appreciate that anew.”
Determined to keep developing new skills — “the way to survive in entertainment is to be versatile and do many different things as well as possible” — he is studying music with the view to producing his own CD. “I’m not sure yet what genre of music I’ll focus on but it’s something I’d like to try. So when I’m not shape-shifting as the narrator in Blood Brothers, I’m teaching myself to play the guitar and piano.”