…..SoSuterBill…..

…..BILLY SUTER……

SOUTH Africa lost another bright light from its musical theatre heyday with the passing this weekend of Durban musical theatre stalwart Chantal Sanders. She would have turned 69 on November 10.

Sanders, long noted as an accomplished musician and musical director, and associated with several acclaimed productions for Durban’s Playhouse theatre, had slipped into ill health a few months ago, according to former Durban-based theatre producer Eric Hutton.

Hutton added about Sanders, in a social media post, that she was “a life-long friend who inspired and offered sincere love and care”.

Sanders is perhaps most fondly remembered by Durban audiences as the musical director of the landmark, Geoffrey Sutherland production, Queen at the Opera. She was also musical director for more than 60 musical shows at the Playhouse, including Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Unforgettable.

In more recent years she was a popular pianist at regular high tea and other events at Umhlanga’s legendary Oyster Box hotel, and spent a number of years performing abroad and on cruise ships.

Tributes were quick to hit social media, including one from performer, director and choreographer Bryan Hill, long associated with Durban’s Playhouse and, more recently, the manager of the Teatro theatre at Montecasino, Johannesburg.

“I was so sad to wake to the devastating news of Chantal Sanders’ passing,” he wrote on his Facebook page today. “Not only was she an extraordinary musician and musical director of many productions that we worked on together, but she was such a gentle and wonderful person to be around.”

Hill added that he could still remember, years back, when he, maestro Graham Scott and theatre director Geoffrey Sutherland sat with Sanders after her then-regular gig at Durban’s Top of the Royal, at the Royal Hotel, and convinced her to become the then-Napac musical theatre department’s repetiteur.

She accepted and, recalled Hill, went on to become the leader of the Napac Jazz Quartet alongside musicians Trevor Donjeany, Marc Duby and Kevin Gibson.

Hill’s Facebook post added that Sanders was “equally loved and admired by all of her colleagues at the Natal Playhouse… and Graham Scott affectionately called her ‘The Vienna Philharmonic’, because what she could achieve on those black-and-white keys was nothing short of sensational. Rest in peace, Chantal. A talent and light gone way too soon and you’ll be sorely missed!”

Durban’s Steve Norminton, a longtime Playhouse employee, wrote: “This is terribly sad news. We were going to work together a couple of years ago, but then circumstances changed. For some reason, we chatted on the phone to discuss things. An absolute gem of a woman!”

Theatre and opera director Steven Stead, of Durban’s KickstArt theatre company, expressed great sadness over Sanders’s passing, recalling her as “a lovely human being and a great talent”, while Johannesburg actress Jocelyn Broderick labelled Sanders as “extraordinary in all ways”.

A small, mostly private, memorial service is being planned for Durban early in December.