Sheri
Able was born in South Africa. Sheri started tap, ballet and modern jazz
at the age of three and began performing in the annual theatre shows
called the eisteddfods.
At the age of five she toured and sang with her father, a well-known
singer and impersonator with his own stage show. By the age of six she
began teaching herself piano. Her first song ever written was at the age
of eight. She continued to write from a very early age, influenced by
Supertramp, Paul Williams, and Rod Riguz.
When Sheri played her music for the performing
arts school they accepted her based on her ability to write and play by
ear.
She continued to write and sing her music and
entered and won many talent shows. At the age of ten, her parents enrolled
her in opera singing classes which she continued with till she was in her
late teens.
At age eleven her parents were approached by top
photographer, Gavin Furlonger, who insisted that Sheri become a model. So
she was placed with an agent who found her exceptionally photogenic and
gave her so much work her school work began to suffer. By fourteen Sheri
appeared in the first ever TV commercial for Edgars Fashion House.
Her modeling career took off and she appeared as a
lead in 15 TV commercials plus magazine, fashion and dance shows. By
fifteen she went on to being one of South Africa’s Top Models and became
well known for the following principle roles in commercials: Western
Flyer, Radox Soap, Nugget Slicker, Brut Champagne, Shoebiz, and Kalvinator.
Sheri then began to audition for Broadway musical
shows. Her first attempt at the age of fifteen was for The Best little
Whorehouse in Texas and was picked for the show out of hundreds of
others.
At 17 she auditioned for Mame and was
chosen to dance and sing in the chorus. She signed a contract with
Brickhill and Burke productions. The show played for a year at the famous
Civic Theatre in South Africa.
After Mame, Sheri was asked to audition for
a James Coco show called Not at the Place, with Joe Masielle. This
show was produced by well known director Taube Kushlik, who chose Sheri
and three other girls to sing and dance alongside Joe Masielle.
At 18, Sheri went to Europe to model for Gaenor
Becker in London. She worked for Cosmopolitan in Greece and some other
very well known magazines like Enika and Entea. After Greece she went to
Milan where she worked for Ricardo Guy and modeled for Grand Bazaar.
Sheri returned to South Africa after a year of
modeling throughout Europe. She was asked to stand in for Sharon Stone in
the movie King Solomon’s Mines, featuring Richard Chamberlain.
J. Lee Thomas, who was the director on the show,
encouraged her to get into film. So she began to audition for film and
television. Her first lead role was in a movie called City Wolf,
produced by Karat Films.
Another role came her way in You Must be Joking,
directed by Leon Schuster (famous for The Gods Must Be Crazy). Next
Sheri played a role in a 13 part episode called Honey Ball se toure,
followed by another series called You Be the Judge.
Next, Sheri landed a principle role in Evil
Below, with June Chadwick and Wayne Crawford.
Sheri moved to LA where she played small roles in Dallas,
Dynasty and Hotel. She also had small scenes in the movie Punchline,
produced by Columbia Pictures, and Cracked, produced by Aaron
Spelling Productions. She also performed in various venues in L.A. playing
piano and singing her own material.
Sheri returned to South Africa where she formed
her own original band called Justus. She performed at various
venues such as the Black Sun, a famous club for original music artists.
There, she had great reviews and notoriety. The press wrote, "Rocker
Sheri Dazzles Fans”. She auditioned for the Broadway musical Joseph
and landed the principle role of Potifer's wife. After a six month tour
Sheri, moved to Vancouver, Canada.
In Vancouver, she joined the top agency, Morton
Talent, and worked in many commercials, magazines and movies. Her next
small lead role was in a movie called Silhouette, produced by North
American Pictures and directed by Lloyd Simandel.
In 1989, Sheri began to create productions for
various community theatres and schools in Vancouver. She produced,
choreographed and wrote the music for shows working with adults, teens and
young children. For 7 years, Sheri put on 5 shows a year at theatres in
Vancouver and Burnaby in Canada .
It was at this time Sheri met well known Canadian
award winning guitarist, James Grant. Together this ‘cream of the
crop’ talent began an original project. With James’ talent and studio
coupled with Sheri’s songwriting and singing ability, they soon recorded
an album and put a band together using talent from Sweden, Greece, Canada
and South Africa. They called themselves Split Personality and
toured internationally for a year, making a name for themselves. Soon this
group, not only gained a following, but began to play with other well
known acts. They opened for Little Sister, played with Larry Amos,
performed at Late Nite Al’s, Tandoor, and the annual Mardi Gras in South
Africa (accommodating over 5000 people), as well as the famous ‘Roxy
Club’.
After this, Sheri landed a principle role in the
comedy theatre show The Mating Game, directed by well-known English
director, Rex Gardener. After a six month contract at the Andrea Hugenot
Theatre, she returned to Vancouver and joined forces again with James
Grant Productions. They began writing, recording and performing live
original music productions. Sheri returned to school where she obtained a
Masters in animation and digital arts, at the same time, still performing
live in various club venues in Vancouver.
In 1999 Sheri and James began a tour of the USA.
They moved to California and set up a state of the art digital production
studio called Digipro Multimedia. James began writing for film and
television, and began to put an instrumental album together. Sheri began
writing her 3rd album, Gypsy.
They spent two years perfecting their work, while
composing for various projects, including film, TV, radio and internet
(voice-overs and background music). They spent 8 months playing on 6th
street in Austin Texas. One year later they moved to Las Vegas, Nevada
where they began recording both albums.
Gypsy launched in 2005. This album is a
blend of African, Celtic, and Gothi -Pop. Her music is a journey of her
life story. Digipro Multimedia is now based in Orange County, where they
produce and write music for film, television, commercials, radio and music
libraries. Sheri composes, produces, writes music, lyrics, sings and plays
keyboards.
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