It’s Bianca Le Grange’s time to shine

The best way to describe Le Grange is a whirlwind of electric energy. The minute she enters the room, she seems to fill it up with all that is Bianca.

I meet her in the Madame Zingara bar area an hour before she’s set to perform. She’s joined the uber-successful production as one of The Specifics, a group of vocalists who perform during the show.

“I did the audition Bianca style,” she recalls with an infectious laugh. “And I got the job on the spot, which is such a surprise because Joburg has so much talent.” In addition to performing in Zingara, Le Grange has just wrapped up shooting for The Mayor, a new series which premiered on Mzanzi Magic last weekend.

“The Mayor was difficult to shoot because sometimes we do a matinee here. So what I’d do is I’d go to shoot The Mayor at 6am until 10. My call time here is at 10am so I’d call and go, ‘sorry guys, the traffic is a bit crazy here, I’m on my way’. Rush here and get into sound check at 10.20, then it was prep work before the show. Do the 12 o’clock show then at 3.30 I’m out of here, running to The Mayor. Shooting one or two scenes then racing back here for the evening show. Getting out of here at midnight and then driving home to the south of Joburg.”

In The Mayor, Le Grange plays the wife of a polygamous mayor dealing with life in fictional Johannesburg. “Oh my word, Barbara!” she says, drawing out the name of her character in a posh accent.

“Barbara Mabunda is the second wife but she believes she’s the first. She is actually the first lady of Johannesburg and she’s very much like my personality – loud and proud. She was an air hostess who met OJ [the mayor] on the plane and they became friends. Through the years they fell in love and would gafoofle on the plane. This is all in my imagination now!” she exclaims with another throaty laugh.

On top of all of her professional commitments, Le Grange has a wedding to put together. Her fiance is Gold Diggers’ David Johnson and the pair plan to marry in Stellenbosch later this year. Her dress is being designed by Hendrik Vermeulen Couture in Cape Town.

“Things are rather crazy,” she says with a laugh. “I haven’t even seen my wedding dress and my wedding is on December 23. The life of Biance Le Grange is super hectic. But I come here to Zingara and the energy is so explosive. I think I’m naturally an ADD adult so I translate that energy into the things I need to do.”

Le Grange’s crazy energy shouldn’t be mistaken for lack of focus. She has her goals and come hell or high water, she plans to achieve them.

“I still have this mission and this vision and this journey, and that’s what I’m about right now. And also experiencing life – I’ve done circus now, I’ve done extravaganza, I’ve done theatre, I’ve done acting. B really is the one with her fingers in all the pies! Idols always wanted to box me and now 13 years later I get to say, ha, I was right! And I’m only still learning and absorbing. For me, it still feels like I haven’t achieved anything. I still want that Emmy! I want the Grammy! I want that Golden Globe!”