Latoya Newman
DURBAN songbird Krystle T is well known for hitting all the right notes in her rock and pop performances, but in her new show she will be giving us a taste of her operatic skills!
Krystle Temmerman (aka Krystle T) has teamed up with Durban’s popular drag comedy act to present Queens of the Opera: Valentine’s is Such a Drag.
We caught up with Temmerman to find out more about what they’ll be bringing to stage come Valentine’s weekend.
“I’ve always shown my rock and my pop side, but I’ve been doing quite a bit of classical opera and I also teach musical theatre and classical. I wrote a show call Queens of the Opera last year, which was supposed to feature Alaska Hilton. She’s an incredibly talented student of mine and Lauren Dassapa (South African operatic performer), but Lauren had to move to Cape Town and unfortunately we had to cancel the show,” she explained.
Not wanting a good show to go to waste, Temmerman teamed up with the Family Players and decided to stage a comedy drag version of the show, Queens of the Opera: Valentine’s is Such a Drag.
“Alaska and I will perform the ‘serious’ side of the show, which will tie in with the funny storyline that the Family Players have planned. Alaska is 12 years old and was most recently seen in Kickstart’s Annie. Her voice is mature beyond her years. She has trained with Lauren and Chanel Terblanche (classical) and with myself (contemporary). At the Talent Africa regional competition she was awarded first place for singing. She will be competing in the Talent Africa nationals in March and if placed well, in the Talent America competition to be held in New York in July,” she said.
Temmerman said the storyline is pinned on Valentine’s Day because it’s all about love and emotion: “We’ll be performing a lot of Andrew Lloyd Webber and have also incorporated the Broadway musical called Wicked. Phantom of the Opera is an all-time favourite, Time to Say Goodbye by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli… those are the kind of songs people really connect with emotionally. And these are the types of emotions that tie in with the show.”
The Family Players (Allan Quihampton, Derek Pearce, Greg Baptie and Roland Stansell) will be joined by Graham Goodwin, Temmerman and Hilton on stage.
The show also includes hits like Miss Subway of 1952, All I ask of You, Any Dream Will Do, Cats, and a number from Cinderella.
l Show runs Feb 13 to 15 . R120, R100 for pensioners at Computicket.