La Triviata with Juanita van Wyk Cape Town Opera Stage Manager

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1. How would you describe your job to a child?
 
I tell people where they should walk and when, then I tell other people when to move furniture around and make lights shine and then I tell even more people how well everybody did that.

2. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? 
It will be fine.
 3. Which talent would you most like to have? 
Awesome cake decorating skills and the ability to use superglue without sticking my fingers together.
 4. What is your most treasured possession? 
Two silver rings – one from my late dad and one from my late mom.
 5. If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be?
David Bowie, Eddie Izzard and Christiane Amanpour from CNN.
 6. What’s the most interesting thing about you that people don’t know? 
I have a photographic memory.
 7. What would your autobiography be called? 
Ladies and Gentlemen, please stand by.
 
8. If you could redesign the food pyramid without any dire health consequences, how would it look? 
Fruit and veg/Coffee and pastries/Sushi/Chocolate.
 9. If you could steal credit for any great piece of art (music, film, book, visual art), which one would you claim? 
Banksy’s Girl with Balloon or any M.C. Escher optical illusion artwork.
 
10. What’s currently on your music playlist?
 
David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Eminem and Prince.
Juanita’s professional career began in 1993 and includes a wide range of productions, from managing Turandot in the 1990s to Mandela Trilogy at the Wales Millenium Centre in 2016. A veteran of the performing arts, her work is to ensure the efficient operation of rehearsals and productions, balancing the technical and logistical aspects of production with a clear creative vision. Her passion for performers and performance is apparent in her ongoing commitment to the art form and her extensive list of credits. Juanita is also a keen teacher and imparts her knowledge by teaching stage management courses at Artscape and LAMTA. She continues to be an avid fan of the art form, citing the emergence of a new generation of superb singers as an aspect of her work that keeps her inspired. Juanita spent 15 years between 1993 and 2020 working for Cape Town Opera, and joined the company on a full-time basis from 2021.