SOUTH AFRICA: Legendary South African singer, Brenda Fassie honoured in theatre musical

Record ID: 453776

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Legendary South African singer, Brenda Fassie honoured in theatre musical
  • Date: 21st September 2010
  • Summary: MOTSEPE ACTING DURING SCENE OF STAGE
  • Embargoed: 6th October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Finance
  • Reuters ID: LVA2PWQ9BPQOGFZMYKL7ZJDQYOX4
  • Story Text: South African music legend, Brenda Fassie is a larger than life character to play, said Lesogo Motsepe, who plays the lead role in 'MaBrr', a musical about the life and talents of the late queen of pop.
    Fassie burst onto the music scene in the 1980's and changed the landscape of South African music, quickly making a name for herself around the continent.
    The story of the controversial singer comes alive on stage in the musical, MaBrrr Brenda Fassie -- The Musical, which is currently on show at The South African State Theatre in the country's capital, Pretoria.
    The musical tells of the stardom, pain, joy and tragedy that Brenda went through. Her hit songs such as Weekend Special, Zola Bud and Vulindlela (Open the way) topped charts across Africa.
    Motsepe says she had to find all the different sides of the singer in preparing for the role.
    "She was just phenomenal, that's it. Phenomenal, misunderstood but one of the most genuine entertainers we had not in South Africa but in Africa," said Motsepe.
    Born in Langa, a township outside Cape Town in 1964, Fassie was named, by her piano-playing mother after the American songstress Brenda Lee. She moved to Johannesburg in the 1980's where she formed Brenda and the Big Dudes. Her star power was to last for the next two decades producing hit songs.
    Fassie developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol in the early 1990s, divorced from her husband and her lesbian relationships made newspaper headlines.
    Writer and director of the musical, Jerry Mofokeng has worked on the idea for years. He said her life had everything to make for an intriguing theatrical piece.
    "There's only one Brenda and there's no other story, there's no other life like Brenda in all honesty. There's enough excitement, there's enough talent, there's enough controversy, there's enough appreciation, there's enough disgust, which are all good for theatre. That's it. With Brenda you choose what to include, what to exclude... you never run out of material. She's Brenda ka I one," said Mofokeng.
    Those who have watched the musical said they were entertained.
    "The show reminded me of her because the way they are playing it as if it's Brenda herself," said Magdeline Mangwane.
    Even with her controversial party-girl ways, Fassie proved to be more than just a pop sensation. She was the first artist to sing of a black president when South Africa was still under white minority rule and often tackled social injustices in her music.
    "But I do think it holds some testament and truth to who she was and I think also a time in the country and what the time in the country was. So the stuff around, mad partying to avoid the reality of being oppressed and the apartheid state," said Yvette Geyer, after watching MaBrr.
    Fassie died in 2004 after a suspected drug overdose leaving behind one child.
    Mofokeng said the show will tour the country after it's run at the State Theatre.
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