Phindile Chauke
28 August 2005
Johannesburg — JOAN Brickhill has come a long way since her first role as the mascot in the ballet Babes in the Wood, while she was still a toddler almost 80 years ago.
Widely regarded as the doyenne of South African musical theatre, Brickhill is to be awarded an honorary doctorate for her personal contribution in the field by the Tshwane University of Technology.
She will be recognised at a graduation ceremony on September 8 for her efforts in laying the foundation for formal degrees and diplomas in the field of musical theatre.
Speaking to Metro this week, the 81-year-old, who lives in Parkview, reminisced about her first encounter with music when her then nanny, Lizzie Mthethwa, took her to a dance class at Mount Edgecombe Hall near Durban.
"She put me on her back and when we got there, the music was infectious. I started bouncing up and down on a window sill. The teacher noticed I had a rhythm and asked my mom if I could be the mascot in the Babes in the Wood ballet. That was my first stage show," Brickhill said.
The starry-eyed toddler could not have known that she would grow up to be a pioneer in musical theatre in South Africa -- defying the norm time after time during her career.
Brickhill's father was not pleased with his 16-year-old daughter taking up performing arts as a career, and encouraged her to study teaching instead.
"I studied teaching and taught dance, speech, drama, theatre, literature and mime... I started directing and performing after my father passed away," she said.
She married her performing partner, Louis Burke, and moved from Durban to Joburg.
She studied further at the Stanislavski Institute in London. After she returned to South Africa, she and her husband opened the Brickhill-Burke Theatre Academy in Durban in 1959.
Vicki Karras, the head of Dance and Musical Theatre at the Tshwane University of Technology, this week described Brickhill as the "driving force" behind formal and informal musical theatre training in South Africa.
"She has trained so many people. Through her efforts in the '60s, she helped people get into the profession," said Karras.
"Joan has always been supportive of our students and she watches their progress. We still see her at all our shows."
Brickhill also made a name for herself when she became the first white girl to strut a Zulu dance 70 years ago.
"Lizzie's nephew taught me the Zulu dance. I then got Lizzie to buy me a traditional ibheshu (loincloth), imoshi (apron) and beads, and I covered my body with brown powder. I was ready to dance like a Zulu," Brickhill said.
"That was in 1935, long before Johnny Clegg was born," she teased.
In 1974 Brickhill co-directed and co-choreographed the musical Meropa, with an all-black cast, which became the first South African musical production in London to be included in the bill of a Royal Command Performance at London's Palladium.
Among the many productions Brickhill contributed to are Oklahoma!, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mame, Hello, Dolly! and The Miser.
In addition to her productions, Brickhill also worked as a radio actress and was one of South Africa's first Aids patrons.
Brickhill believes that perhaps the honorary nomination is confirmation that she belongs in South Africa.
"I feel overwhelmed, humbled and honoured to receive the honorary doctorate, for to be acknowledge by one's peers is a wonderful accolade.
"I have been in the business all my life and this is where I belong."
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