Drag, Drama and Song and Dance Artist Extraordinaire

Moira de Swardt chats to Brendan van Rhyn

Brendan van Rhyn arrives at the café where we've agreed to meet wearing a beanie. It hides his current spiky, "big" hairstyle. He laughingly explains that every time he does a show in drag it impacts on his ordinary life. With his current role as Frank'nFurter it's the hair while with Cathy Specific it was the nails. Sometimes he does both roles in the same week.

RuPaul commented that there's a definite prejudice from society towards men who use femininity as part of their palate. Brendan is discovering this for himself as he goes along. He often gets stared at by children and has experienced insults by women. Men are warier, possibly because of Brendan's sheer size. He's tall, even without the very, very high platform shoes he somehow manages to stride across the stage wearing - a feat much admired by many women. We smile as he comments that it's a long way down if he loses focus.

Brendan never drags other than on stage or as publicity for his shows yet he's becoming typecast in drag roles. Before "Mile High with Cathy Specific" he starred in "Ladies Night" where he played the role of Jules who comes out of the closet. There he got to sing "I am what I am". Having attended Pretoria Boys High School he sang the role of Widow Corney in "Oliver" when he was in Grade 8. After his voice broke he graduated to the masculine roles of Benvolio in "Romeo and Juliet" and Guiseppe in "The Gondoliers". His first professional role was as a naked gay boy in Pieter Toerien's "The Judas Kiss" at the Alhambra, which was a biographical piece on Oscar Wilde. I tell him I saw the play. He looks a little flustered for a second or two when I admit that I can't remember him at all in that.

We move on and chat about other roles. Pantomime - "A Lad 'n Lamp" at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre for Janice Honeyman where he was in the chorus. Again I remember the show, but not him. Children's theatre. He worked for Jill Girard at The People's Theatre, appearing as Pooh in "Winnie the Pooh", the prince in "The Frog Prince" and also in "Cinderella". I remember him clearly in those roles. The size of the role does make a difference.

Brendan is openly gay, having come out of the closet when he was 22, not a very shocking revelation in the 21st century, and, wait for it …, looking for a nice boy to take home to mum. Mum will welcome this. So will Brendan. And the lucky boy's mum will probably also be pleased, because Brendan is a nice clean living boy, no drugs, no cigarettes and only the most moderate of alcohol use. However such a development in his love life will doubtless disappoint many of his admirers, male and female. He won "Mr Technikon Pretoria" one year, the same year he won "Mr Personality" - a rare combination. Brendan is naturally friendly and polite and attracts many fans, with whom he interacts warmly and spontaneously. I know. I am one. To add to this he's not just a pretty face with great legs, a marvellous personality and a fabulous voice, he's clever too. He has been the Transvaal Public Speaking champion of the SA Guild of Speech and Drama not only once, but twice! Some people do have it all.

Frank'n Further is a perfect role for Brendan and he has made it all his own. He hasn't tried in any way to be Tim Curry, for which Curry's fans will be grateful. As he moves across the stage in fishnet stockings, his delicious legs and pert bum provoke envy and/or lust in most of the women and many of the men. For him this role is the completion of a circle. He auditioned for the 1998 production. But it's not really "Rocky Horror" that Brendan wants to talk about. He far more interested in his own creation "Cathy Specific", a platinum blonde air hostess.

If one is wondering whether it is Brendan's great legs or his singing ability which attracts the audience, then wonder no more. It is a perfect combination. His voice is every bit as good as his legs. Brendan has been working towards a career in musicals for most of his life. He started piano lessons when was only five, and continued with piano as a subject for matric. He also has Grade 8 in voice. He toured England with a production of "The Beggar's Opera", auditioned for and was accepted as a student at the London School of Musical Theatre. He didn't attend because of the cost factor, especially bearing the exchange rate in mind, returning home where he completed a Musical Theatre Diploma at Pretoria Technikon in 2000. Brendan admits that being musically literate makes his job much easier because he can learn a piece without the help of a repititeur, especially as his sight reading is one of his strengths. Not that everything is easy. He arrives at the theatre four hours before a show to get into character. That makes it a long day.

Brendan worked for the SAA as a flight attendant, travelling the world, all the while plotting and planning "Mile High" in quiet moments - how many other shows get six years research of the theme? It is a first hand account of the life of a beautiful, glamorous woman who gets to work with the general public 30000 feet off the ground. The luxury of having been able to attend some of the great shows on Broadway and on the West End kept Brendan going through the more mundane moments in the air. His all time favourite is "Sunset Boulevard" which he saw at the Adelphi on the Strand. He also mentions a long list of shows he has seen which made me turn green with envy.

If Evita Bezuidenhout is South Africa's most famous white woman, then Cathy Specific is South Africa's favourite flight attendant.

But the star is the person behind the characters of both Frank'n Furter and Cathy who gives me a hug as we part, leaving me feeling all the better for having spent the time with him.