Experience the raw and soulful sounds of legendary South African rocker Karen Zoid and guitarist Henry Steel in an unforgettable unplugged performance. Stripped down to the essence of their music.

An absolute must-see at the fabulous Theatre On The Bay 27 June – 1 July.

Tickets range from R150 – R250

Booking link: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/Event.aspx?itemid=1528470954

Pieter-Dirk Uys will be back at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre on The Bay from 17 to 10 June with a new show.

It is called SELL-BY DATE and, as expected from his one-person performances, features not only PDU but also a cluster of topical characters, male, female and political.

Being active in live theatre since the late 1960s, he is not surprised when people now ask: ‘When will you retire?’ His answer is short and sweet: ‘Not retire. Retread!’

This 2023 performance will also show Uys at his 77-year-old best: laughing at fears and embracing facts with his tongue firmly in your cheek.A sell-by date on food usually means: throw way.

A sell-buy date in Uys’ hands will reflect a new post-Covid energy that, while his audition might be over and the disease to please has been cured, proves that a PDU show is always a highlight to remember.

Interval: No interval
Running time: 70/80 mins max
Languages: English and Afrikaans

Tickets range from R150 – R250

Booking link: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/Event.aspx?itemid=1526676900

BOEREMUSIEK, ROCCOSTYL

With Rocco de Villiers on piano, Lizelle le Roux on violin and piano accordion and Hansie Roodt Jr on guitars, concertina and stomp box.

As classic as a starched “voortrekkerkappie”, fresh as a milktart straight form the oven and mouthwatering as a “boereworsroll” from the braai, pianist and entertainer Rocco de Villiers uses his wizardry to revisit his childhood music growing up in a small town in the Free State in the 1970’s. But all in his own style, fitted for the 21st century.

Boeremusiek – classics get a new jacket with a flower and together with Lizelle and Hansie they bring new life to pieces like Umfaan, Penny Whistle Kwela, Outa in die Langpad, Kalfiewals, Hartseerwals, Die ou waenhuis, music by Jim Muller, Nico Carstens and guitar master from the 1970’s, Hansie Roodt.

BOEREMUSIEK, ROCCOSTYL is a celebration of true South African indigenous music. Get happy, get nostalgic, get a drink and get to the theatre.

Rocco, Lizelle and Hansie are well- dressed, well-rehearsed and well-oiled. Of course.

PIETER TOERIEN’S MONTECASINO THEATRE AND STUDIO
14-18 JUNE
BOOK AT WEBTICKETS

The Echo of a Noise – a one man memoir with Pieter-Dirk Uys

The Echo of a Noise took everyone by surprise. After it’s first sold-out season at the Theatre on the Bay in 2016, the performer/writer has told his story to captivated audiences throughout South Africa. Now he will bring the experience back to the Montecasino Theatre. Having performed alone on the stages of the world for well over seven thousand times, Pieter-Dirk Uys has learnt that every show is the first and the last performance – because each audience demands and gets a different energy, topicality and excitement. Now in his 77th year, he doesn’t glance back at the successes and failures that have strengthened his belief in a constant improvement of his work, but at those small signposts that throughout his life subconsciously have pointed him in a right and original direction – his father Hannes Uys, his mother Helga Bassel, his grandmothers, his teachers, his passions: Sophia Loren, censorship, false eyelashes and making a noise when everyone demanded silence.

South Africa’s foremost satirist sits on a barstool, wearing his black beanie and his Almost Famous sweatshirt, and with his impish smile, he even looks like a naughty goblin trapped by the spotlight. Within minutes he fills the auditorium with his presence. This is just Pieter-Dirk Uys speaking and he opens his heart and talks about his private and public life. The big hair and silky repartee of Evita Bezuidenhout or the smoky drone of the sexy Bambi Kellermann have been stored elsewhere for some other time. It soon becomes clear that the title of his autobiographical one-man memoir, The Echo of a Noise, doesn’t really do justice to what he presents here. He leads you into his inner sanctuary, takes you through our history and shows where what is public and private meet.

Uys was and still is a voice in the wilderness, ever since he first appeared fearlessly on a stage in the 1970’s. He jokes that the all-powerful censor board was his own personal public relations department. We hear the recording of the voice of little Pietertjie Uys singing like an angel and accompanied on the piano by his father, Hannes Uys, whom he would accompany on Sundays to the church where ‘Pa’ was organist – the father whom he loved, but didn’t like very much; the sternest critic of his work and yet the one who could also give good advice. He tells of his father’s last moments, being with him as he died and then going back to the family home where Sannie, the housekeeper and his ‘Cape Flats mother’, asked if there wasn’t any washing from ‘Pa’. The audience is spellbound as he shares the suicide of his German mother, Helga, as well as the influences on him of his Afrikaans and German grandmothers. It’s as if Uys constantly takes his audience into his confidence and so breaks all the rules and crosses boundaries. He remains a master storyteller who can make as much fun of himself as he does with the others who get a lashing from his sharp tongue. This is arguably beyond the 7000th solo performance and yet it feels as fresh as his very first.

MEDIA COMMENTS
The Echo of a Noise is the most honest and wonderful performance I’ve ever seen him give. He’s a magnificent raconteur – Leslie Stones / Daily Maverick 28.3.2017
Watching this intimate performance was like having a one-on-one conversation with Uys – Karitha Pillay / Witness 23.2.2017
Pieter-Dirk Uys has a knack of knocking life into perspective. Even as we laughed, we left The Echo of a Noise much wiser, with thanks for the gift of this teacher/philosopher/actor/satirist/humourist. Long may Pieter-Dirk Uys remain our moral signpost – Sheila Chisholm / OnChisholm 4.4.2017
For me the show was a revelation of Pieter-Dirk Uys’s considerable courage, humanity, endurance and loyalty – Chris Sutton / Times 27.7.2017
He shared his personal history with such a profound sense of honesty that at times I was moved to tears – Wanda Daly ? Berea Mail 2.7.2017
A national treasure, a theatrical legend, a master craftsman, a constant inspiration – Pieter-Dirk Uys delivers his most poignant and gripping work to date with The Echo of a Noise. He is simply superb. – Billy Suter / Sosuterbill 27.7.2017
The experience of a great comforting hug is perhaps the best way to describe The Echo of a Noise. That hug is an ode to storytelling in service of the theatre and life that helped shape Uys as an all-round creative artist.
He’s engaging, dramatic, poignant, bitingly satirical and hysterically funny – performing the most riveting two hours without an interval. But you barely notice the time. Don’t miss it. – Caroline Smart / Artsmart 27.7 2017
The story he weaves in The Echo of a Noise is funny, sad, poignant and utterly compelling … Uys’s finest work. – Estelle Simkins / Witness 2.8.2017
This is an amazing glimpse into what created one of the most influential performers in South Africa. Uys is a master storyteller whose characters are always entertaining and at the same time often poignant. This wonderful trip down memory lane is a treasure and definitely a show not to be missed – Dawn Heynes / Livewire 8.7.2017
That’s what I took away from The Echo of a Noise – a feeling of solidarity and a night filled with laughter and some tears. And that’s Pieter-Dirk Uys. That’s always been Pieter-Dirk Uys. An artist who has, through the decades, united a very divided South Africa through laughter and later introspection. – Carla Bernardo / Cape Argus 1.12.2016
Pieter-Dirk Uys’ one-man memoir – The Echo of a Noise

Pieter-Dirk Uys has taken South Africa by storm with his provocative and deeply personal memoir The Echo of a Noise. It is a story that aches to be heard and Uys knows how to keep his audiences on the very edge of their seats waiting to hear about the great influences in his life: his father Hannes Uys and mother Helga Bassel, and of course his unlikely pen friend, the beautiful Sophia Loren. Audiences are given the opportunity to celebrate a life well lived in all its emotional states. Uys has played to full houses and sold out seasons. His masterful story telling, wit and wisdom are generously shared. As with so many of his performances he takes his audiences into his confidence, breaks the rules and crosses boundaries. Since the moment he first stepped on stage in the 1970s, Uys has been a voice where others have demanded silence. Jokes about the censor board being his own personal public relations department, gently disguise the reality that each time he tread the boards, he crossed lines and stepped on quite dangerous toes. He has always used humour as a “weapon of mass distraction” and describes the laughter he evoked as a relief from the fears that shaped South African society in 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. PDU unpowdered!

SO I WROTE THAT MUSICAL

A brand new stand-up COMEDY SHOW

starring MARC LOTTERING

Produced By Anwar Mc Kay

5 – 15 July

All tickets at Webtickets

Pieter-Dirk Uys SELL-BY DATE
24 August – 10 September

SELL-BY DATE

Pieter-Dirk Uys will be back in Johannesburg at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre from 24 Aug – 10 Sept with a new show.

It is called SELL-BY DATE and, as expected from his one-person performances, features not only PDU, but also a cluster of topical characters, male, female and political.

Being active in live theatre since the late 1960s, he is not surprised when people now ask: ‘When will you retire?’ His answer is short and sweet: ‘Not retire. Retread!’

This 2023 performance will also show Uys at his 77-year old best: laughing at fears and embracing facts with his tongue firmly in your cheek.

A sell-by date on food usually means: throw way. A sell-buy date in Uys’s hands will reflect a new post-Covid energy that, while his audition might be over and the disease to please has been cured, proves that a PDU show is always a highlight to remember.

* no interval

* running time: 70/80 mins max

* English and Afrikaans

FIREFLY

Starring Sylvaine Strike & Andrew Buckland,

with Tony Bentel on piano.

Directed by Toni Morkel.

Pieter Toerien’s Theatre On The Bay from 28 April to 13 May

Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre from 17 May to 11 June.

In the remote village of Bucket’s End, nestled high in the mountains upstream from the disappearing river, Ferine and Ferase manifest their love by delighting in their masterful telling of the story of two ill-fated lovers whose forbidden love is ignited by full moons and fireflies. The exceptional clowning duo of theatre legends Andrew Buckland and Sylvaine Strike take you on an unforgettable journey into wonder with Firefly.

“One of the factors that make this piece so unique is the range of imaginative theatre traditions and techniques used. Clowning and its associated physical tics and contortions combine with perspective switches in both action and narration to help the audience understand which couple they are engaging with and what sort of emotional connection is likely most appropriate. An incredible level of detail adds a dozen extra layers – costumes that contort to reflect a character’s emotional state; a tiny peephole in a giant curtain, used just once, but revealing the specific headspace; the precise movements of one or both of the actors as they contort their bodies to fit an hilarious description of their appearance. Strike and Buckland, along with director Toni Morkel, ensure that nothing in this tidal wave of creativity exists purely for the sake of filling a gap, with each nuance helping to first establish an understanding of the story and then to inspire a feeling of ever-growing wonder at the poetic, desolate, hysterical, exultant genius of it all.” – Bruce Dennill, pARTicipate

Age restriction: PG-10
Duration: 1 Hour 15 minutes – no interval

Bookings at webtickets.co.za

Booking link: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/search.aspx?search=firefly

CAPE TOWN OPERA presents MASTER CLASS starring SANDRA PRINSLOO as MARIA CALLAS, Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre from 15 March to 2 April, 2023.

From 15 March to 2 April 2023, Pieter Toerien in association with Cape Town Opera (CTO) will present MASTER CLASS at Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, a riveting play written by the late American playwright, librettist and five-time Tony Award winner Terrence McNally (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Love!Valour!Compassion!, Ragtime, The Lisbon Traviata).

Directed by CTO’s Artistic Director Magdalene Minnaar, with musical direction by José Dias, the two-act play stars Sandra Prinsloo as Maria Callas and features well-known arias by Verdi, Puccini and Bellini. Prinsloo, in a purely acting role, will be joined by a stellar supporting Cape Town Opera cast including Soloist Brittany Smith together with CTO’s Judith Neilson Young Artists Alida Scheepers and Tylor Lamani as the aspiring opera singers mentored by Callas. Musical Director José Dias takes on a dual role as pianist and actor. Costume design is by Maritha Visagie and lighting design is by Magdalene Minnaar.

“Cape Town Opera is delighted to be presenting this superb piece of theatre,” says Magdalene Minnaar. “From having one of South Africa’s greatest actresses playing Callas to being back at Pieter Toerien’s beautiful Theatre on the Bay during the100th anniversary of Callas’ birth is very special.”

Master Class is a portrait of Callas in the context of the master classes she gave at the Juilliard School in New York in 1971, at a time when she herself had not sung in six years. In the play she is seen working with three students – two sopranos and a tenor. Aside from her biting wit, she is often blunt and even harsh in her efforts to mentor and prepare the singers for the cut-throat world of operatic performance. The play’s riveting theatricality is truly ignited by Callas’ emotional outbursts and the soaring arias performed under her guidance.

2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas’ birth. Born in New York in 1923 to a family of impoverished Greek immigrants, Callas’ rise to stardom and her recognition as the greatest dramatic singer of all time remains unchallenged. In Master Class, Terrence McNally, who was a devoted fan of ‘La Divina’ and watched all of her performances at the Metropolitan Opera House, recreates her genius, recounts her triumphs and tribulations and reveals the tempestuous personality that often led to clashes and disputes with opera managers and colleagues during her career.

As the five-hander play progresses, the daunting diva shares insights and memories, recalling her experiences on the world’s grandest opera stages, her marriage to the wealthy industrialist Meneghini and her highly publicised and ultimately heart breaking affair with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. While her life recollections in the play are vivid, McNally once explained that Master Class was never meant to be a docudrama, but rather a work of fiction. It is foremost about the price an artist must often pay in the pursuit of excellence and greatness.

Master Class is at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre at Montecasino in Johannesburg from 15 March to 2 April 2023. Tickets cost from R180 to R280 through 011 511 1988 or or via Webtickets.

Booking link: https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/Event.aspx?itemid=1524418851

No under 13’s.

Pieter Toerien and Cape Town Opera present Terrence McNally’s Master Class.

To celebrate the centenary of Maria Callas’ birthday, Pieter Toerien and Cape Town Opera present Terrence McNally’s Tony Award winning play, Master Class.

Starring multi-award winning actress Sandra Prinsloo as the glamorous and commanding opera diva Maria Callas in her 1970’s swan song, in the closing act of her life.

The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini.

Directed by Magdalene Minnaar.

Dates: 21 February to 11 March, 2023 at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre On The Bay.

Duration: Approx’ 2-hours including a 20-minute interval.

Age restriction: No under 13

Ticket prices:

R180 Row A Stalls

R220 Rows B, K Stalls / & CC Balcony

R280 Rows C – J / AA & BB Balcony

Boxes sold as 4: R280 each seat

To book CLICK HERE,

or dial (021) 438-3300/1.

Press release:

CAPE TOWN OPERA presents MASTER CLASS starring SANDRA PRINSLOO as MARIA CALLAS, at Theatre on the Bay from 20 February 2023

From 20 February to 11 March 2023, Pieter Toerien in association with Cape Town Opera (CTO) will present MASTER CLASS at Theatre on the Bay, a riveting play written by the late American playwright, librettist and five-time Tony Award winner Terrence McNally (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Love!Valour!Compassion!, Ragtime, The Lisbon Traviata).

Directed by CTO’s Artistic Director Magdalene Minnaar, with musical direction by José Dias, the two-act play stars Sandra Prinsloo as Maria Callas and features well-known arias by Verdi, Puccini and Bellini. Prinsloo, in a purely acting role, will be joined by a stellar supporting Cape Town Opera cast including Soloist Brittany Smith together with CTO’s Judith Neilson Young Artists Alida Scheepers and Tylor Lamani as the aspiring opera singers mentored by Callas. Musical Director José Dias takes on a dual role as pianist and actor. Costume design is by Maritha Visagie and lighting design is by Magdalene Minnaar.

“Cape Town Opera is delighted to be presenting this superb piece of theatre,” says Magdalene Minnaar. “From having one of South Africa’s greatest actresses playing Callas to being back at Pieter Toerien’s beautiful Theatre on the Bay during the100th anniversary of Callas’ birth is very special.”

Master Class is a portrait of Callas in the context of the master classes she gave at the Juilliard School in New York in 1971, at a time when she herself had not sung in six years. In the play she is seen working with three students – two sopranos and a tenor. Aside from her biting wit, she is often blunt and even harsh in her efforts to mentor and prepare the singers for the cut-throat world of operatic performance. The play’s riveting theatricality is truly ignited by Callas’ emotional outbursts and the soaring arias performed under her guidance.

2023 marks the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas’ birth. Born in New York in 1923 to a family of impoverished Greek immigrants, Callas’ rise to stardom and her recognition as the greatest dramatic singer of all time remains unchallenged. In Master Class, Terrence McNally, who was a devoted fan of ‘La Divina’ and watched all of her performances at the Metropolitan Opera House, recreates her genius, recounts her triumphs and tribulations and reveals the tempestuous personality that often led to clashes and disputes with opera managers and colleagues during her career.

As the five-hander play progresses, the daunting diva shares insights and memories, recalling her experiences on the world’s grandest opera stages, her marriage to the wealthy industrialist Meneghini and her highly publicised and ultimately heart breaking affair with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. While her life recollections in the play are vivid, McNally once explained that Master Class was never meant to be a docudrama, but rather a work of fiction. It is foremost about the price an artist must often pay in the pursuit of excellence and greatness.

Master Class is at Theatre on the Bay from 20 February  to 11 March 2023.

Tickets cost from R180 to R280 through 021438000/1 or or via Webtickets https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/event.aspx?itemid=1524296688 <https://www.webtickets.co.za/v2/event.aspx?itemid=1524296688> . No under 13’s.

To watch an interview with playwright McNally on Master Class, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiwckxtDzg8 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiwckxtDzg8>
ENDS

Jonathan Roxmouth’s KEYCHANGE – My Favourite Pianists

15 March to 8 April 2023

Tuesday to Friday @ 20h00
Saturday @ 15h00 and 20h00

BOOK TODAY at www.webtickets.co.za

In his brand new show, KEYCHANGE, Jonathan showcases the various piano based comedians, singers and entertainers who have shaped and influenced his musical tastes through various phases of his life. Backed by a fantastic 5 piece band, Jonathan will be playing and belting out the music of piano rockers such as JERRY LEE LEWIS, ELTON JOHN and BILLY JOEL, pianists like LIBERACE, RICHARD CLAYDERMAN and DAVID FOSTER, singers such as CAROLE KING, BURT BACHARACH and FREDDIE MERCURY all in a personal pianistic performance that is perfect for all music lovers. Expect Jonathan’s trademark tongue-in-cheek humour, pianistic flair and a few surprises along the way!