ALUMNI
OUR ALUMNI
ANGELA KILIAN
Angela graduated from the Waterfront Theatre School in Cape Town with a London Trinity Performers Diploma. Since then she has gone on to play some of the most coveted female roles in musical theatre, enjoying an illustrious international career. Amongst many notable performances, Angela’s favourites include Maria in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, Anna Leonowens in THE KING AND I, Eliza Doolittle in MY FAIR LADY, Miss Dorothy Brown in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, Cinderella in INTO THE WOODS, Marilyn Monroe in MARILYN LIVE, Babette in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Farrah Delamitri in Ben Elton’s POPCORN, Eva Peron in EVITA, Rose Vibert in ASPECTS OF LOVE, the dark and mysterious Madame Giry in PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Grizabella and Jellylorum/Griddlebone in various international touring productions of CATS and Norma Desmond in SUNSET BOULEVARD. This multi-award-winning actress was last seen on the South African stage playing the evil Queen Narsissa in the Afrikaans production SNEEUWITJIE, for Add-Life productions – confirming her versatility, performing in her second language. Television credits include roles in: 37 HONEY STREET (Sheena), 7de LAAN, ISIDINGO (Frieda), and BINNELANDERS (Claudia). She has presented a number of programs including THE GREEN MACHINE, HOSANNA, 3:16, ISSUES OF FAITH and various TV ads and infomercials. Angela has also had the opportunity to work on the other side of the camera, directing and producing. Angela is currently focusing her creative energy on corporate communications, producing large-scale events and activations and working as an ambassador for @JustOneThing365 and 67 blankets for Nelson Mandela Day, all this while still singing in concerts and working as a voice artist.
LEAH
Leah (Leani van Niekerk) is an award-winning South African singer, actress and presenter who rose to fame with a starring role in the 2013 feature film AS JY SING, opposite Bobby van Jaarsveld. She has performed in numerous theatrical productions including THE GREAT MOSCOW CIRCUS, STATION 70, THAT '80S SHOW, FACE THE MUSIC, ABBA - THE TRIBUTE and DORINGROSIE, an Afrikaans pantomime where she played the lead role. In 2016 she landed the part of Nina Rossouw in the kykNET musical drama series STERLOPERS and took over from Minki Joubert as host of the kykNET dating competition series BOER SOEK 'N VROU. Leah has won numerous awards, including the Ghoema for “Best New Artist” as well as “Best Song of 2016” at the Huisgenoot Tempo Awards. Her album ‘Wonderwerk’ has reached Gold Status and the newest album, ‘Kyk Na My’ was released in September 2019.
CHANTAL HERMAN
Chantal Herman is a regular on South African TV screens - having appeared in ISIDINGO, GENERATIONS, JOZI STREETS as well as landing lead roles in SHADO'S, THE RIVIERA, and two seasons of THOSE WHO CAN'T, for which she won a SAFTA Award in 2017. Chantal is also a creative entrepreneur, having created, wrote for and directed the Edutainment series THABANG THABONG and sang many of the original songs. Her theatre credits include THE WIZARD OF OZ, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, EVITA, WE WILL ROCK YOU, RENT, and PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT. Chantal also works as a character voice artist - having voiced the SA and Afrikaans voices of many SESAME STREET and TAKALANI SESAME puppets.
Bryony has worked extensively as a ballet dancer and musical theatre performer.She formed part of the Corps De Ballet in THE SLEEPING BEAUTY and GISELLE for Cape Town City Ballet as well as performed in musical theatre productions such as CATS and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.She portrayed the leading role of Baby Houseman in DIRTY DANCING before moving to the UK in 2015. Since then, Bryony has been seen on many West End Stages with credits including SINATRA at the London Palladium, TANGO MODERNO and the Tony and Olivier Award winning musical, WICKED.
BRYONY WHITFIELD
Nicole is an acclaimed actress, TV presenter and celebrity-boxing champion. Her vast credits include COLD HARBOUR, BLACK MIRROR, KILLER INSTINCT, SKIN DEEP, THE WATCHER, BINNELANDERS and BROKEN VOWS.She is also a presenter on THE A1 CHAT SHOW, which boasts over 2.3 million views. Nicole broke broadcasting boundaries when she joined the cast of LOCKDOWN HEIGHTS, an IGTV daily soap opera that has since been hailed for being the first of its kind in the world, and earned the cast a nod from BBC International. She is passionate about challenging stereotypes and actively supports anti-bullying and gender-based violence NGOs.
NICOLE BESSICK
This Eastern-Cape born singer-songwriter first received acclaim after his live Internet cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Tougher Than The Rest’ gathered millions of views internationally as well as a record deal for the former theatre student. That was echoed shortly after with the platinum selling of his original debut-album ‘Kleindorp-Dromer’, followed by his latest studio album ‘Boomhuis’.A series of extensive live performances and striking music videos have showcased the unique styling of this bilingual South African artist; Elandré.
ELANDRÉ SCHWARTS
Shannyn is an award winning actress, singer, writer, producer and musical theatre performer. Her theatre credits include: GREASE, FRANKIE AND JOHNNY, THE MOUSETRAP, VAGINA MONOLOGUES, EDGES, TAPE, SHOWBOAT, FROM THE HEART, CABARET (Fleur du Cap Nomination) and I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT NOW CHANGE (Standard Bank Ovation Award). She has also written and co-produced SALUTE THE TROOPS, a sold out swing-cabaret at the Alexander Theatre. Shannyn can be seen in numerous local and international commercials, movies and television series, including the Syfy Series VAGRANT QUEEN, Netflix’s DEEP STATE, the docudrama THE DEVIL’S OWN as well as the short film, FAMILY AFFAIR.
SHANNYN FOURIE
Natasha is a multi-talented actress, singer and dancer as well as a sought after voice artist, MC and choreographer. Natasha has performed lead roles in various stage productions including ROCK OF AGES, DIE VAN AARDES VAN GROOTOOR; SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER; DRAGGING 30 (which she co - wrote and produced), PETER PAN THE PANTOMIME, DORINGROSIE and CHICAGO. Natasha has starred in several national and international TV commercials, presented on 101.9 CHAI FM, 2 OCEANS VIBE and MIX 93.8FM and is a successful voice over artist on Radio and Television.
NATASHA VAN DER MERWE
Terence is rapidly establishing himself as a sought after creative entrepreneur. He is a published playwright, actor and director whose debut production KINDERS VAN DIE WIND had runs at multiple festivals, including the Cape Town Fringe Festival and US Woordfees. Together with fellow alumnus, Kimberley Buckle, he has co-written and co-directed SECRET SANTA and MISCELLANY, which was created to showcase WTS student’s original work. Other writing credits include JACK AND JANE and the award winning (W)ASEM. In 2020 Terence officially became a published playwright with his fifth play, BENJI. In addition to his theatre work, he has also directed two documentaries, THE INVISIBLES and SORRY I’M LATE.
TERENCE MAKAPAN
Dominique graduated from the Waterfront Theatre School in 2006 and has been an actress in the industry ever since. She has performed in many stage productions such as THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW as Columbia and SIGNIFICANT OTHER in the role of Kiki.She is a highly acclaimed television and film actress and has appeared on screen in DOCTOR WHO as Agent Browning, in the Syfy Series VAGRANT QUEEN as well as the TV docudrama, AMERICAN MONSTER. Dominique believes that hard work and perseverance is the key for success in this ever-evolving industry.
DOMINIQUE MAHER
INGE CROW
An award winning lighting designer and an award nominated director, Inge has been involved in a vast range of aspects within the creative industry.She began as dancer for company manager, choreographer and stage manager.She worked for one of the largest event management companies in South Africa for 10 years before starting her own company, ‘GI Consulting’. GIC celebrated 11 years in the industry in 2020 and the scope of work includes Event, Production, Conference, Exhibition and Show Management as well as Logistics. Her clients range from WSBK, FIFA WORLD CUP KICK-OFF CONCERT, TAP DOGS, DISCOVERY, COMRADES MARATHON, WIMPY, 8TA LAUNCH, NESTLE, NIKE, METRO FM, BUSINESS CONNEXION, BCX DISRUPT SUMMIT and KYALAMI 9HOUR.
Anne-Marie has been performing in the creative industry for decades as a vocalist, saxophonist, voice artist and musical theatre performer.She has headlined various international hotel cabarets, including The Palace (Sun City), El Gezirah Sheraton (Cairo), The Hilton (Abu Dhabi) and The Bahrain International. This award winning actress and singer was the supporting act for Grammy Award Winner ‘Seal’ for the event ‘Positive Rocks’. Anne-Marie’s extensive musical theatre credits include: CHESS, SWEENY TODD, CHICAGO, CAMELOT, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Mrs Potts), CATS (Jennyanydots/Griddlebone) and SISTER ACT (Sister Mary Margaret).
ANNE-MARIE CLULOW
Lyndon is a renowned creative entrepreneur, choreographer, dance adjudicator and entertainment producer. Through his company VERB MEDIA, he has worked with local and international headlining acts such as Mafikizolo, Black Coffee and Lira. He has also worked with some of the best loved brands including, Vodacom, Samsung, Mercedes-Benz, South African Breweries, Uber, Woolworths, Diageo, Netflix, British Airways, MultiChoice, Investec, EOH and Coca-Cola. Having been featured as a young South African entrepreneur in a conversation with President Cyril Ramaphosa, Lyndon is steadily establishing himself as a champion and influential bridge between business and the performing arts.
LYNDON MILLER PEGS
Mary-Jane is an actress, dancer, singer and songwriter who has worked on cruise lines touring across South Africa, the Caribbean and Northern Europe. In 2016 she performed in the nationally acclaimed Pantomime SLEEPING BEAUTY for Janice Honeyman at the Joburg Theatre before heading off to the Middle East where she was lead singer for the jazz band N2 in Qatar.She was chosen as a finalist for a song writing competition hosted by the Department of Arts and Culture for the Western Cape, has performed for David Kramer in the musical DANGER IN THE DARK and has feature in numerous international TV commercials.
MARY-JANE ZIMRI
Nadine is a well-known actress, singer and dancer who has made her mark on the South African stage in a variety of shows, including David Kramer’s LANGARM at the Fugard Theatre, DANGER IN THE DARK at the Baxter Theatre and Pieter Toerien’s THE PRODUCERS at Theatre on The Bay.She has also performed in KAAPSE STORIES, a tourist favourite at The Rockwell Theatre and in many children’s theatre shows including GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE LITTLE BEARS and PINOCCHIO. Nadine is also a qualified Barre Body Instructor.