There are no elephants, rhinos, lions, wildebeests and gazelles sauntering down the aisles and across the stage, but, at the Gershwin Theater, in Riverdance on Broadway, surrounded by all manner of Irish musicians and extraordinary singers and dancers from around the world, there's the sizzling Tsidii Le Loka. Le Loka possesses one of the most mesmerizing voices theater has ever heard, but, this time around, unencumbered by pounds of costuming, props and exotic make-up as she was when playing Rafiki, the shaman priestess, in Disney's blockbuster The Lion King, Le Loka is revealed as a striking beauty. In addition to great talent, Le Loka has brains, too. She holds two bachelor degrees in economics and music from the University of Massachusetts and Amherst.
She has lived in the U.S. almost ten years. She began her career in 1984 as a member of South Africa's smash female vocal trio Shadiii. She was a TV regular and toured frequently with Ladysmith Black Mambazo before going solo in 1988. The next year she was named Most Promising South-African Star for the 90s. With her appearances with Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, Harry Belafonte and her solo recording career on Blue Note Records, her star began to rise.
With Lion King, Le Loka received audience and critical acclaim and a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In addition, there were Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Awards. But how do you follow such acclaim in such a unique show? Well, in a music and dance revue that is famed for its Irish roots.
For this Broadway production, producer Moya Doherty and director John McColgan wanted to expand Riverdance's incredible world-wide appeal to include multi-cultural aspects. And have they succeeded! You have the fast-stepping Irish dancers Pat Roddy and Eileen Martin and troupe, plus Brian Kennedy's mesmerizing voice, and Le Loka, the flamenco of Rosa Manzano Jimenez from Madrid, the Moscow Folk Ballet Company and South Africa's Amanzi Singers.
Le Loka, for some time, has "anxiously been looking to do a role my own age in a big musical [recently in Dallas she played Bloody Mary in South Pacific] but was worried that "people have this perception of me being this old woman because of my Lion King make-up and costuming."
She is anything but. However, when Riverdance creators first called, she was concerned they could not envision her, "as most people cannot," out of the Rafiki outfit. Not to worry. After they experienced her as herself, she was flown to Ireland to meet composer Bill Whelan. "We worked in his Galway studio," she notes, "where amidst glorious Irish settings, he wrote gorgeous songs for me!"
The evolution of the music Le Loka performs in Riverdance on Broadway was fascinating. After Whelan wrote the songs, they were then translated by South African Rose Tuelo Brock into Setswana, Xhosa and Zulu African rhythms.
Le Loka fiercely points out that she is not singing "African music" in Riverdance on Broadway. She notes there are South African performers singing of their experience in and out of the context of their homeland with the sensibility of a South African feel.
"I'm a borderline 'fanatic' fan of Riverdance, so being on Broadway is an exciting escapade," she adds. "The audience experience is almost a spiritual journey. It's a privilege to have such a platform and witness the true heart and soul of something in its sincerest form. I love feeling we're all children in one large room."
Though there's little in New York that reminds Le Loka of home, "I love the cosmopolitan lifestyle, which has some common traits with Johannesburg's. New York pulsates with all sorts of energies. It's scary and exciting, depending on where you focus, but there's so much to experience and learn. I love the diversity of cultures here, which is another reason I'm enjoying this Riverdance so much."
Le Loka, a clotheshorse whose stunning homeland fashions elicit ooohs and aaahs in person, could easily pass for a high fashion model. Her onstage outfits, designed by show costumer Joan Bergin and herself, are colorful, authentic, elegant and sophisticated. Le Loka loves dressing up. "I have fun with the clothes and consider them an extended statement of who I am. I create most of my wardrobe. It's another spill of my creative energy. There are many sides of elegance for me. I love the excuse to show off yet another creation, but, I confess, I'm too lazy to make anything, so I get someone else to do the hard work."
The Amanzi Singers, an eight-member ensemble from South Africa, were handpicked by Le Loka for Riverdance on Broadway. One of them is Ntombikhona Dlamini, who wowed Broadway 12 seasons back in the title role in Sarafina! Le Loka is "absolutely thrilled" for her former co-star from Lion King, Heather Headley "in her newly-found success in Aida and her Tony Award. I have always known that she was a special talent. One of the joys of Lion King was sharing the stage with numerous exceptional talents, and I continue to do so in other shows."
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