Topic: The Bard Speaks: At Home With ... Mataya De Luca

Chase Dawson

Date: 2011-03-08 03:17 EST
http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab51/RhyDinLittleTheatre/61.jpg Chase Dawson Staff Reporter

Occupying a sizeable plot in that area of our beloved Rhy'Din known as the West End, The Zen Building is an ocean of calm amidst the roiling activity that marks so much of our daily lives. No wonder, then, that so many of our busiest 'faces' have taken refuge within its halls. One such is the ever bubbly Ms Mataya De Luca - actress, singer, dancer, dance instructor, fiance, friend, manager, and owner of the Shanachie Theatre. With so many titles to one name, it was a great delight for this reporter to be invited to the secluded peace of the Zen Building for an exclusive one-on-one interview with the woman herself.

Greeted at the door by the ineffable Ms De Luca - who insists upon being called simply 'Taya - we were promptly and warmly invited into the inner sanctum, which she shares with fiance, Max Yako, also an actor. Despite the hectic nature of her schedule, Mataya proved to be the epitome of a relaxed hostess, padding about her own home barefoot, dressed simply in dark jeans and a pale blue cashmere sweater, offering to provide drinks and refreshment before the interview commenced. There was an aura of weariness about Mataya as she curled herself into a corner of the couch, hardly surprising given how many roles she plays on a daily basis, but she spoke with the engaging enthusiasm which seems to billow forth whenever she is in company.

The Shanachie Theatre is, of course, Rhy'Din's newest cultural centre, providing the out-going public with a bewildering array of productions and stars to view at their leisure. From musicals like Fame!, to serious drama such as Waiting for Godot, light opera from Gilbert and Sullivan, to comedy in the unexpected form of Chekhov, the Shanachie has shed a whole new light on the activity of heading to the theatre for the evening. So how did this all come about"

"I came to Rhy'Din to get a little peace and quiet," Mataya, 28, admits. "I'd been working fourteen months without a break, my grandparents had just died, and I was fit to drop, so my agent - lovely man that he is - sent me here for a little R'n'R. I think he's worried I might never go back now!" The laughter that ensues from this comment is as engaging as the woman herself, touched with mischief that few who know her could be unfamiliar with. She is quick to resume her explanation, clearly a veteran of interviewing from her time spent as a celebrity on Earth. "I started looking for work ....I'm such a workaholic I don't feel right unless I'm doing something. I didn't realise until I started looking how little opportunity there is here in Rhy'Din to develop good stage craft. That's what makes Jon so amazing - he just popped up out of nowhere, and now I'm here, I know he never got formal training. He's that good, all by himself."

Jon, of course, being Jonathan Granger, one of Rhy'Din's own home-grown actors, whose talent and skill has taken Earth's showbusiness industry by storm in the past decade. When asked how she knows the famous Jonathan Granger, Mataya simply smiles. "We've worked together a couple of times," she nods confidently. "He's a good friend."

Mataya insists that there is no chance of romance with her famous star, however. She is "hopelessly devoted" to Max Yako, to whom she is now engaged for a second time. Having met and married Mr Yako while still on Earth some five years ago, it is understood that frictions both within and without the marriage caused them to grow apart, resulting in the infamous divorce, after which Mr Yako dropped out of the public eye altogether. It would appear, however, that Rhy'Din has mellowed the pair, for they seem to have regained their bond and, perhaps, made it stronger during their time here together. Indeed, it would seem to have been Mr Yako's star-studded status that initially threw Mataya into the public's awareness during their first marriage.

"I never really intended to be a big star," she says, with endearing candor. "I was happy just scraping by. But I got a lucky break into on-screen work, and suddenly all the attention was on my private life. Of course, that was because I was dating the famous Max Yako, nothing to do with my actual abilities as an actress. I got my celebrity, as you say, by dating Max on Earth. It's kind of strange being here now, and me being the more famous one. I didn't - I don't - go out of my way to attract attention to myself, but somehow it just happens. I suppose all the publicity around opening the Shanachie kind of put me in the spotlight, and once the public knows your face, they want to know everything else."

Strange as it may seem, even to her, Ms De Luca has only been in Rhy'Din for a year, and yet in that time she has definitively made her mark upon the city. Who here has not heard of the Shanachie Theatre, despite the relatively short time in which it has been open"

"There's an abundance of schools and studios where young people, and not-so-young people, can go to learn the techniques they'd need to make a career out of performing in any area they choose," she explains earnestly. "Here, as far as I could tell when I arrived, there was the Rhy'Din Ballet Troupe, and the Black Cat Yoga & Dance Studio, and that was about it. They both cater to the visual, physical side of performing, movement and expression, but as far as I could tell at the time, there was no outlet for actors or singers who wanted to try their hand at theatre. In my experience, the best way to learn is on the job, so I thought maybe I should do something about it."

Thanks to the generous fiscal inheritance left to her by her maternal grandparents - both of whom, sadly, passed away in the months leading to Ms De Luca's arrival in Rhy'Din - she was able to follow her dream by renovating the former Docquey manor house into the opulence now known as the Shanachie Theatre, engaging local craftsmen and women for every detail of the enormous undertaking. Despite rumours of hauntings and the threat of all-out war with the already established Rhy'Din Ballet Troupe, based in the Opera House, the Shanachie opened to a warm reception on the 22nd October, 2010, with a rousing show in which the students of the Black Cat Yoga & Dance Studios (owned by Mrs Riley Lo, and managed by Ms De Luca) displayed their talents before an audience of friends, family, and critics. Since that evening, the Shanachie has been open every night, with a new show to scintillate the mind and challenge the senses every few weeks.

"I have been overwhelmed by the support we've been given since before the theatre opened," Mataya gushes happily, radiating so much sheer enthusiasm that it is tempting to bounce along with her as she speaks. "Just the fact that the initial auditions brought in so many talented people was wonderful enough, but we're blessed to have consistent ticket sales no matter what we put on. Pirates has been the most successful production so far, bringing in the families, but even Chekhov has been garnering great reviews and we expect to see interest increase thanks to your paper's covering of the Rep's production."

Even with all this success, however, Mataya remains a refreshingly down-to-earth personality, maintaining a lifestyle that would run some of us into the ground within a week. As well as overseeing all the workings of her theatre, she co-manages the Black Cat Yoga & Dance Studio with Mrs Lo, as well as teaching the beginner, intermediate, and advanced jazz classes there. As some of you may already know, she is also one of the guest principle cast members in the Shanachie Theatre Company, having played Carmen Diaz in Fame!, and Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance. And somehow, in the midst of all this, she still finds the time to make herself available to her employees, often there during rehearsals for the upcoming productions, and socialise with her friends. It would seem that constantly being on the go has become a way of life for Mataya De Luca.

"It's a big adjustment to make, moving from the glitz and glamor," here her tone turns into a sarcastic drawl, suggesting that the "glitz and glamor" is not all it is cracked up to be, "of Broadway to the frankly amazing streets here in Rhy'Din. Until I came here, I had no idea that dragons could be cuddly, or that stew liked to eat shoes."

And what of the other supernatural events in Rhy'Din, which to those who are native here are so common and unremarkable" Some of you may recall the excitement at Hallowe'en over the reports of black clouds swirling around the Zen Building. A statement at the time confirmed that there had been some form of demonic interference, and directly connected it with the Shanachie Theatre. What does the irrepressible theatre owner have to say about that"

"The history might be a little unsavoury - demon worship, possession, that sort of thing - but I can assure you there is nothing unsavoury about it now," she states firmly. "The Shanachie has one of the best atmospheres I've ever worked in, even with the ghost."

So there is a ghost haunting the Shanachie. But Ms De Luca maintains that the ghost in question - a spectre often seen by employees and audience alike, and described as a tall lady, all in grey - is a good luck charm.

"Hortense ....is very quiet, keeps herself to herself, but she's become something of a good luck charm. No one has a problem seeing her backstage or in the audience - it almost always guarantees a good performance."

And what of the apparent rivalry that exists between the Shanachie Theatre and the Rhy'Din Ballet Troupe" When flyers started to go up announcing the opening of a new theatre in the city, the Ballet Troupe responded with an unexpected run of Petrushka, opening the week before the Shanachie was due to open. There were accusations of deliberate attempts to sabotage the fledgling institution at the time, and our sources tell us that the hostility still simmers in some areas.

Matay laughs this off, however, in amiable style. "Don't believe everything you read," she warns with an impishly quirked grin. "It's understandable that the Ballet Troupe should have thought us a possible threat to their ability to bring in an audience when we first opened up, and yes, the timing of Petrushka was suspicious, but that's part of what makes this line of work so rewarding. Between us, we can provide the people of Rhy'Din with a wide range of shows for them to pick and choose from. Don't they say that diversity is what makes us stronger?" She shrugs, refusing to be drawn any further on the subject. "I can catagorically state that there is no animosity in the Shanachie toward the Ballet Troupe, or the Opera House. I prefer to think of it as healthy competition."

Healthy competition in Rhy'Din" And here we at the Post were looking forward to a down and dirty battle of the theatres. Oh, well, perhaps some other time. By all accounts, the dramas of showbusiness are never-ending, and there are exciting developments in store for the Shanachie, and Ms De Luca, over the coming months.

"My students and I, along with the other students and teachers from the Black Cat Yoga & Dance Studio, will be appearing at the Shanachie to showcase their burgeoning talents on the 5th of March," she informs us with a winsome smile, behind which all the power and authority of a manager is being wielded with remarkable aplomb. "All proceeds from ticket sales will go to various charities throughout the city. And from the 14th of March, I'll be appearing in The Rocky Horror Picture Show here at the Shanachie, alongside a couple of surprise guest performers."

Such mystery! Who are these surprise guests" Mataya merely smiles and shakes her head, keeping that information to herself for the time being. The one thing she will say does nothing to assuage our consuming interest. "No one'll be more surprised than them when we raise the curtain!"

As we leave, I am afforded the opportunity to ask Ms De Luca one last question, about a subject which has been eating at me since I first came to know of the theatre in question. Just what is the story behind the name, Shanachie?

"Oh, it's not that exciting," she assures me with gentle enthusiasm. "Basically, shanachie is an old Irish Gaelic word that was used to describe the bards who told the legends and sang the songs back before recorded history on Earth. There was some talk of Dionysis for a while, too, but Shanachie won out."

As for the Shanachie Theatre, the months to come will tell us whether it will, indeed, win out as Ms De Luca hopes. Perhaps the Ballet Troupe will fight back with another stunning production of high culture to rival its younger sibling in the arts, we cannot say. But what is certain is that the shanachie Ms De Luca will not be going anywhere for a long time to come, and may bring yet another wave crashing down to revolutionise the way we here in Rhy'Din look at the arts and their devotees.

(All enquiries pertaining to the procurement of tickets made be made through the Shanachie Theatre's Box Office.)