Tons of fun with Stella
IVACIOUS, voluptuous and with a strong voice and cheerful disposition, Stella Magaba has spent six years as an integral part of the vibrant cast of SA’s touring Madame Zingara circus-and-dining experience, and is continuing to love the smell of the greasepaint and roar of the crowd.
A standout, especially with her giant Afro hairdo, in a colourful entertainment team that includes waiters and waitresses in fancy dress, aerialists, contortionists, strongmen, singers and dancers, she is now in Durban with Madame Zingara’s new show, El Milagro, in the car park area of Suncoast Casino.
And this time she is in a solo spotlight, billed as The Original Ton, as the group she fronted last year, Three Tons of Fun, has been replaced by a new female singing trio.
The trio join Magaba to keep the crowd entertained in the ornate, 80-year-old, Belgian mirror tent that has become a Madame Zingara trademark, their job being to offer a mix of fun disco, swing, Motown-era and local favourites in-between the serving of the food and the various speciality acts, which are performed on a small, circular stage in the centre of the tent,
“What I enjoy the most about the show is the fact that we work… as a team. There is a lovely vibe – from the kitchen to the lekker bar boys and floor fairies [waiters]… and it is wonderful to sing every day for an audience that is hungry for music from the 1940s to the ’60s.”
Magaba and her Three Tons of Fun colleagues were discovered by musical director Glen Swart and producer Russell Shapiro and performed tributes to mostly divas, most notably Diana Ross and Gladys Knight. Early performances were at venues in Cape Town.
“We became so popular that even Heart 104.9FM… started playing our music. We then started performing at corporate functions from the Mother City to the City of Gold, then in England, Switzerland and the Seychelles,” says Magaba.
Angelo Gobbato then offered Magaba a part in his production of the lavish stage musical, Show Boat, as Queenie. The production was a huge success and travelled to Germany.
“When I got back in 2008 I found out that Three Tons of Fun had been invited to perform at Madame Zingara for the first time. The staff and audience loved us and it was decided to adopt the Tons as the new babies of the Zingara clan.”
At first the Madame Zingara team was not aware that the group had three members.
“In my absence, the girls had told the team, ‘Wait … there’s more’, mentioning another ton – me!”
Magaba was then made the anchor of the group, which included Lilian Khumalo and Nokukhanya Dlamini, and now is a stand-out among the new Madame Zingara vocal team.
They perform everything from The Pointer Sisters, The Supremes and Rose Rose, to Gladys Knight, Bette Midler and an African medley including The Click Song, Meadowlands and the famous Pata Pata.
Magaba’s solos in the new show are Mr Big Stuff, Something’s Got a Hold On Me and Midnight Train to Georgia.
Born in Fort Beaufort, “in a small village in the spring time of 1966”, Magaba began singing at the age of eight, at church, then at Mseki Lower Primary School.
She then progressed to perform in the youth choir at the Methodist Church in Gugulethu, and was discovered in a high school talent show by Vicky Khente, who was involved in the Artscape theatre initiative to seek out fresh talent in the townships.
Magaba completed matric at Oscar Mpethe High School in 1987, then went on to appear in several musicals in Cape Town – among them a revival of Ipi Ntombi, which toured to Australia and New Zealand.
Magaba rates her performance as Queenie in Show Boat as a career highlight, along with her role as Xoli, a supporting character, in the SABC2 sitcom Fishy Fashuns.
She was also on television as the dominating girlfriend of Joe Mafela’s character in the popular Madam and Eve series.
She might also be recognised for her appearances in television ads. She was in one for baking powder, and another, for Vodacom, “which had me paddling a canoe in a dam with another plus-size lady”.
Magaba has also been on the big screen, having appeared in the film A Boy Called Twist, in the role of a nanny. And she had a small role in the television series Sinbad.
Although she is more than happy to perform with Madame Zingara as long as the company will have her, Magaba does harbour a wish to one day study to be a social worker, “because I feel I need to equip myself with the tools to give back to the community”.
See El Milagro in the Victoria tent at Durban’s Suncoast Casino, Tuesday to Saturday. Tickets from R410 to R495. For more information call 0861 62 32 63 or visit www.madamezingara.com