Andrew Lloyd-Webber | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

I have met lovely Kim Kallie and her husband Iain and daughter Sarah Page Banner twice in the past two weeks. Last week it was at The Grand Café & Beach, at a function to publicise the new show ‘Mom and Me‘ that will be performed by mother and daughter duo Judy Page and Kim Kallie from 10 – 12 May, to celebrate ‘all things grand’, Mother’s Day, and the special relationship between mothers and their daughters.

Judy Page is a well-known singer who has lived in Johannesburg for most of her life, a grande dame of theatre, who has had lead roles in the major Broadway and West End musicals. She told me that she has won three Naledi Theatre Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award recently. She loved performing with orchestra leader Gerry Bosman. She is a performance coach now for her agent, training up ‘seedlings’, she said.

Kim Kallie, using her mother’s maiden name as her stage name, was our country’s biggest recording artist in the mid-Eighties, and performed Madonna’s music under her second star name ‘Margino’, when Madonna prohibited her music from being played in our country. She had lead roles in ‘Evita’ and ‘Tell me on a Sunday‘, and achieved double gold, before moving to London for ten years. She and her family moved to Cape Town recently.

Judy Page and Kim Kallie will perform under the direction of Johan Laas, who will accompany them on piano. He was the Musical Director of ‘Idols’ for ten years. The programme includes classics such as ‘Moondance’, ‘Desperado‘, and ‘Feeling Good’, Lloyd Webber hits, as well as a musical journey around the world to ‘Amsterdam‘, ‘Spain’, ‘Paris in Springtime‘, and ‘Barcelona’. The show will include theatre too.

While we did not hear Judy and Kim perform, we did get a taste of Grand on the Beach Chef Greg Beaverstock’s new winter menu, and received a printed copy of the menu for the show evenings. Chef Greg was previously at the Five Flies, and will be serving a three course meal, with starters of fish cakes, a winter salad, and carrot and red lentil soup; mains of braised beef ‘pot au feu‘ or line fish with a wild fennel and ginger sauce; and a dessert of lime-chocolate tart with almond ice cream, which was one of our lunch dishes.

Having met both Judy Page and Kim Kallie, and given the calibre of their talent, ‘Mom and Me’ is sure to be a very special evening out with the girls and their moms. I enjoyed meeting Jane Lello, who handles the marketing for Grand Africa, the holding company for all the Grand properties in Cape Town and Plettenberg Bay.

Grand Café and Beach, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. ‘Mom and Me’, 10, 11 and 12 May at 19h00. Tel 072 586 2052. www.grandafrica.com Twitter: @GrandAfrica Tickets www.webtickets.co.za R 450 includes Dinner and Show.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

The 1907 South African classic novel by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick about the famous Staffordshire bull terrier Jock, set in the time of the gold rush in the Eastern Transvaal more than 200 years ago, has been made into an animated 3-D movie, and ‘Jock of the Bushveld’ will open in local cinemas on 29 July. International distribution is being sought, which could put South Africa on the world cinema map.

Hosting a cast of international voice stars, including Donald Sutherland, Oscar winner Helen Hunt, Ted Danson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, William Baldwin, Mallory Hart, Makenzie Hart, Robert Hobbs, Theo Landey, as well as the voice of and music by Bryan Adams, the world premiere of the movie takes place at Montecasino in Johannesburg as a charity function on 19 July, reports the Sunday Times. Landey said of the movie, in which his voice is used for Fitzpatrick: “The film is uniquely South African, the story is a classic and the artwork is brilliant”. Johnny Clegg, Nianell, and Craig Hinds of Watershed also performed music for the movie.

The concept of the movie came from director Duncan Macneillie, who also wrote the script and was involved with the previous movie based on the book. Tim Rice of musical writing fame with Andrew Lloyd-Webber, who had written the lyrics of ‘Lion King’, is said to be a backer of the movie. His brother Andy, Johannesburg-based advertising and marketing strategist, is the Marketing director for the movie, which tells the story of how Jock, the runt of the litter, became the hero of the Bushveld.

Rice has indicated that more money will be made from merchandising than from ticket sales, and licences have been sold for the 14 characters in the movie. Penguin Books will be publishing a new abridged version of the book, and is printing stickers and colouring-in books. Toys, games, children’s wear, and bedding will soon be for sale, sporting Jock.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage