By Jodi Fraser-Bryant
Craig Robertson is a talented man, especially when it comes to the senses: his profession is a dispensing optician but his true passion lies in honing new sounds from his vocal chords.
The former radio announcer - locals will remember him as half the Classic Hits Northland breakfast radio team Craig and Jax - was involved in broadcasting for 20 years before re-training as a dispensing optician and purchasing Visualeyez Boutique Optometrists in Whangarei.
That was five years ago, when pursuing his career in radio entailed uprooting his young family and leaving behind their beloved Northland.
"I enjoy the challenge of managing a small business but continue to indulge my love of performance by recording commercial voice-acting sessions for international clients from my home studio and pretending to be an actor who can hold tune and dance a little bit," says the quirky father of two.
Craig is being modest. He recently held one of the lead roles in Whangarei's hugely popular Mamma Mia show. In fact, three of his family members were involved.
Starring alongside her dad was 18-year-old Phoebe, showcasing her talent for singing, dancing and acting.
The Year 13 Whangarei Girls High School music prefect began singing as soon as she could form words, remembers Craig.
"When she started singing along to The Wiggles songs note-perfect at the age of three, her mother and I realised she might have a talent."
Phoebe began lessons at seven and has been tutored by Joan Kennaway since she was nine. Blessed with a good musical ear and a 'sensational' memory for lyrics, Joan inspired her to take in young singing students of her own.
"She has received glowing feedback from adjudicators over the years," says her proud dad. "Achieving many first places and twice gaining the highest individual mark for girls 16 years and under. This year she will compete as an adult for the first time."
In 2015 she accepted a place as an alto in the New Zealand Secondary Students Choir. The two-year commitment required both national and international travel. Further, Phoebe recently passed her advanced certificate Trinity College singing exam with a distinction result of 97 per cent.
Behind the scenes of Mamma Mia, Phoebe's mum and Craig's wife Rachael was working hard managing the eye-popping costumes.
"I'm immensely proud of Rachael, alongside her job as deputy principal of a primary school, she capably managed, not only the costumes, but also the hair and make-up development. All this while being part of a busy household, parenting two teenagers and managing an unpredictable husband. Rachael has always had a talent for design and enjoys dressmaking and tailoring. She would love to have the chance to design the wardrobe for a television series or movie, particularly if it was set in the early 20th century."
When the parents aren't working, you'll find them on the side-line watching their son Maxwell, 15, play soccer.
"During our countless hours rehearsing for Mamma Mia, Maxwell has had to endure some lonely days without us. We have no family in Whangarei, so God bless our extended whanau of friends who volunteered to care for him while we were absent. He plays representative football for Northland, so we were lucky our mates could get him home from training."
Although he has several plays and now two musicals under his belt, along with his continuous 'acting' in his time as a broadcaster, Craig is hoping some of his fellow cast member's well-trained Opera North skills will have rubbed off on him.
"I was really honoured to be amongst such a talented bunch of singers in Mamma Mia. Up until now, my best vocal performances have been singing along to Billy Joel songs in the car. When I was a kid I used to listen to The Goon Show. I idolised Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan and simply wanted to do what they did, so I developed my skill for mimicry, accents and character voices, which is why I steered toward a radio career.
Craig still has the creative outlet of his voice-work and theatre roles and intentionally seeks out quirky characters.
Following closing night of Mamma Mia, the Robertson family were exhausted. However, there's no rest for this family. Phoebe returned to school rehearsals for her drama show while investigating studying musical theatre and arts next year. The rest of the family were Palmerston North-bound with Max's rep futsal team, before returning to their day jobs, with Rachael creating costumes for the Matarau School production Pinocchio.
Craig is itching to get back into his studio and record more vocal work, while rehearsing with Phoebe for the Opera North daffodil day fundraising concert. Following his recent musical experience, Craig, the regular MC for Opera North, now has the confidence to join the chorus as well.
"Outside of family, Mamma Mia is the most rewarding thing I have done and I was absolutely thrilled that I got to share a stage with Phoebe before she sets out to make a life for herself next year. I am looking forward to sharing a stage with her again, and hope to do more musicals in future."