WARDROBE AND BACKSTAGE EXTRAORDINAIRE!!
We asked one of our amazing young backstage club people, Liesl Zentgraf, what brought her to Torbay Theatre, and it was all about the musicals.The very first show Liesl remembers seeing was Oklahoma!, in South Africa, when she was four or five years old. She absolutely loved it, and still remembers how excited she was on the car trip back home afterwards. When her grandparents told her there was a film of the show, she watched it over and over all through her childhood and teens. She has always enjoyed theatre, especially musicals, and went to shows often but had never been involved before.
After moving to New Zealand with her family she was looking for something to fill her spare time, and the first show she saw here happened to be Oklahoma! at Torbay Theatre. She noticed in one of the Torbay/Long Bay magazines that creative types were always needed to create and care for props, costumes and sets, so, as she lives near the theatre, she popped in on a Wednesday morning, and now she is hooked! She loves Wardrobe, so she started there, including making from scratch the splendid red dress worn by Sarah Munnik as Cousin Hebe in last year’s HMS Pinafore, and the Admiral’s hat (see photo). She is now in charge of props, has fulfilled many backstage roles, and is on the committee, helping keep the club going.
The one thing she hasn’t yet done is step onstage – and when I asked, she said she might take on a non-speaking role if needed, but generally she preferred to be unseen, behind the scenes or behind a camera lens – another of her hobbies. She takes a lot of our publicity shots, and also enjoys all sorts of photography, especially outdoor events, such as dog shows, or nature. She hasn’t yet offered any of her photos for publication, despite several people urging her to.
She loves the Torbay area, particularly the beaches, and she is glad she ended up living near one of the few theatre groups on the Shore aiming to put on a large-scale musical every year.