Lisa Bobbert
Much loved Lisa Bobbert has starred in a string of hit productions, including, Abbamaniacs; Annie; Into The Woods; Cabaret; My Fair Lady; 7 Deadly Sins; Brutal Tunes and her one-woman show, Bobbertlicious. Lisa’s stage appearances have also included the all time classic, Shirley Valentine, for which she received the Mercury Durban Theatre Award for Best Actress, also winning the 2008 Mercury Personality of the Year Award. Her performance in Brutal Tunes to quote William Charlton-Perkins, “set a bench-mark in virtuoso comic exuberance, with the actress winging from one calamitously funny high point to the next”. Lisa won the Durban Theatre Award as Best Lead Actress in a Musical for the role of
Audrey in KicksArt’s Little Shop of Horrors (2009) and for Eliza Doolittle in The Playhouse Company’s My Fair Lady (2010), directed by Ralph Lawson.
Other credits include co-starring with her husband and partner, Aaron McIlroy in Abbamaniacs, Belly Laughs and Defending The Planet to name a few. Her unforgettable portrayal of Sally Bowles in the musical, Cabaret won her a Mercury Durban Theatre Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical. Lisa turned into a deliciously funny Stepmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s big-stage musical, Cinderella, at The Playhouse during their 2012 festive season.

She unleashed her loopy alter egos on Durban audiences in her delectable concoction of a show, Bobbertlicious, reprising some of her larger-than-life lasses. She was nominated in 2014 for her hilarious role as Miss Hannigan in the musical Annie. A highlight of Lisa’s career has been starring alongside lifelong friends Liesl Coppin and Marion Loudon, in the award-winning musical comedy cabaret, Glitter Girls, which has performed all over Durban and at the Cape Town Fringe Festival. In 2017, Lisa was nominated for a best actress award for her part as ‘the witch’ in Kick-Start’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s acclaimed – Into The Woods, directed by Steven Stead. Lisa is a not only an actress, drama teacher and vocal coach she is also an inspirational speaker and her talk, Killing The Superwoman AKA ‘I’m not okay, you’re not okay and that’s okay’ looks at the challenges woman face in a humorous and refreshingly
authentic way.

Aaron Mcilroy, Lisa’s husband and professional parter devised Marriage For Dummies in 2018, Bloopers in 2018 and Family Therapy in 2019- which has performed all over South Africa to huge success. In 2020 during lockdown together with director Craig Freimond they created ‘Welcome2Durban’ an online comedy show showcasing Durban and surrounds in a quirky way. Their latest musical comedy shows, Go Big and Bulletproof, directed by Daisy Spenser and will be performing in Makhanda at this years National Arts Festival.

Aaron Mcilroy
Aaron McIlroy is one of South Africa’s most popular entertainers, with a string of stage blockbusters under his belt in both the public and corporate entertainment circuits. These include,
his popular satires, The Loser, Mr Personality, The Ranga, The Stand-Up, DOF, The Golfer and The Happy Clapper. Aaron also stars as the lunatic father, Mr Milton in the Spud movie franchise As Macbob Productions, Aaron often teams up with his wife and professional partner, actress Lisa Bobbert with hit musical comedies Marriage for Dummies, Family Therapy, Go Big and Abbamaniacs; their hugely popular tribute to the Swedish super group, Abba.
Aaron is notorious for getting audiences’ abs aching and tears of mirth rolling. Director Susan Monteregge credits him for “single-handedly transforming theatre into an extreme sport.”
“I grew up close to the entertainment industry” says Aaron,”my father was a member of the popular Irish band, the Blarney Brothers. I love music but I really wanted to be a serious actor. I even studied drama at university but every time I performed something vaguely dramatic my lecturers would fall off their chairs. After much humiliation I decided to embrace my funny bone and make some cash!” That is the pedigree of perennial funny man Aaron McIlroy and it might also explain why he has the gift of the gab.