Lira

I had a girls' night out with Ros and Dana (and Dana's brave husband Steve!) the other night. We went to see Lira in her show "Herstory" at Teatro Montecasino.  I have to admit I did not know who Lira was and I wasn't at all familiar with her music or her story before I went.

I found out that Lira is an immensely popular and talented - and beautiful - South African singer and songwriter.  Her performance at Monte was like a musical autobiography about her early decision as a girl growing up in apartheid era Johannesburg to follow her passion and pursue her dream of being a singer and songwriter. What followed, after a lot of hard work of course, was professional success and personal fulfillment ... and love.

Her story is inspirational and just in case you didn't get the underlying message through her libretto, she interjected her personal narrative between songs.

Her message is simple. Decide what you want to do and who you want to be and do it! It certainly resonnated with the audience who knew the words to all of her songs and danced and sang along passionately. It was a very spirited night!

Lira on stage

Ros had arranged VIP tickets for us that included a backstage meet-and-greet after the show with Lira and a swag bag with Lira's latest CD and DVD of "Herstory." I popped the disc into my car CD player and the next day as I was driving down Sandton Drive, I took a second look at the banners I had seen for weeks along the road advertising the Sandton Convention Centre. It featured a picture of Lira. I had wondered who that was. Now I know.