Magic, miracles and a production that touches the very heart of hope and loss

It seemed to André Hattingh as though the stars in the sky were being switched off, one by one, as the pandemic dragged on and on. Eventually, she wrote a poem, trying to capture her grief in words. Ultimately it turned into a song – a Broadway-style showstopper full of drama but also hope and love. This weekend she released the song and video to rapturous applause from the South African showbiz community.

https://youtu.be/Qg1snSMLcvc

The veteran star of stage and song penned a tribute song titled Gathering the Stars and written in true Broadway-style, to pay respect to the 143 stars of the South African entertainment business who have left us since the pandemic began. It’s a phenomenal roll call, and their names appear throughout the video. 

“My song is in memory of these people and also to pay tribute to a theatre world in dire straits,” she told Maverick Life.

The names include actors Shaleen Surtie-Richards, David Butler, Patrick Shai, Mary Twala, David Clatworthy, Graham Weir and Michael Atkinson, theatre veterans Dawn Lindberg, Roy Sergeant, John Slemon, Gerrit Schoonhoven and Brian Astbury, musicians Joseph Shabalala, Barney Rachabane, Steve Fataar and Jonas Gwangwa, and playwrights Welcome Msomi, Maishe Maponya and Stephen Gray. 

They’re the tip of the iceberg of loss felt by the community. (See the end of the story for the full alphabetical list.)

“Up till now, 143 well-known people in the entertainment business have passed away almost unnoticed due to the lockdown rules,” Hattingh told Maverick Life this week.

Theatre is a tough business even in normal times, and it is well known that actors, musicians and other professionals, once they can no longer work, often end up in dire straits – forgotten and struggling to make ends meet.

Hattingh, a veteran actress and singer of note, who I first knew in the 1980s when she was the star of Pieter Toerien’s production of Tomfoolery – a revue of Tom Lehrer’s thigh-slappingly funny songs – wrote the song a year ago and is releasing the video on Wednesday 30 March, roughly two years since the start of the South African lockdown.

“I remember being in shock at the time, hearing of one friend after the other leaving us. The helplessness I felt not being able to go to them when they were ill or suffering or depressed or even just say goodbye and to see the family. 

“The result is that many of us feel there has been no closure to all for these wonderful talents that are lost to us. 

“I felt I had to do something, so I wrote a poem. Lockdown has brought out the ‘poet’ in me and I have been posting many poems on Facebook. Many people have enjoyed them and it has been a kind of therapy for me.”

Gathering the Stars started life as a poem. She posted it on Facebook, as she does most of her poems, and somebody commented, “Hey, André, this sounds like one of your songs.”

“I guess this was in my mind when one evening, standing in the kitchen, reeling after hearing of yet another friend’s passing, the chorus came to me: 

We’re gathering the stars
The show will still go on
After you’ve gone
you’ll still linger on
In the hearts that you’ve won.

André Hattingh and pianist Kevin Greenburg on the set of the "Gathering The Stars" music video shoot. Image: Anthony Akerman

André Hattingh with Joe Arthur and Kevin Greenburg. Image: Jenny Elstob

André Hattingh on the set of the "Gathering The Stars" music video shoot. Image: Anthony Akerman

André Hattingh on the set of the "Gathering The Stars" music video shoot. Image: Anthony Akerman