Photos courtesy Mariola Biela Photography
Jolene Van Der Merwe joined Gold Reef City in the first half of 2008 as a stage manager and immediately fell in love with the lavish and classically-styled Lyric Theatre. She was very happy to join the Lyric family officially in October 2008 and currently works as the theatre’s Production Co-ordinator, managing all the production requirements for their shows.
Jolene van der Merwe
“I assist the stage manager with the day to day running of the backstage workings such as the scheduling of crew, liaising with our suppliers when we need to, servicing and repairing any equipment, purchasing new equipment to either replace or expand our existing in-house equipment and generally make sure that the team has everything they might need,” said Jolene.
With this in mind, the Lyric recently purchased Philips Selecon PL2CYC LED Luminaires. “When the Lyric opened its doors in 2007, it was one of the best equipped theatres in South Africa and we have maintained this status by keeping abreast with technological developments and upgrading the facilities accordingly,” she explained. “We are in the process of expanding the Lyric’s existing lighting rig. The PLCYC fixtures were the first step and I believe that it adds great production value to our clients.”
The Lyric has been happy with the new equipment , the production team creating superb lighting effects.
“The product has added tremendous value to our offering to our clients,” said Jolene. The Philips Selecon PL2CYC LEDs were included in the recent production of My Favourite Swings (The CoLab Network presents Johannesburg Big Band) .
With the gear taken care of, Jolene can focuss on the diverse personalities she works with on a dialy basis in this creative and high pressured environment. “What I find works well is to create relationships based on trust and reliability with both our clients, suppliers and internal departments,” she said.
Known for her passion and determination, Jolene says a personal reward is working and having fun in one of the most beautiful theatres in South Africa. “The environment is festive and the people are great. On a daily basis, I work with a variety of people such as the resident lighting technician, sound engineer, theatre manager and suppliers and I learn something new every day from my colleagues which builds my knowledge in this industry.”
What Jolene enjoys most about the industry is the everyday challenge of making theatre and live entertainment come together. “There are so many moving parts in the process and it is always rewarding when a project has successfully come to an end,” she ends.
