We’re all familiar with iconic screen legends such as Sandy Dumbrokski and Danny Zuko (Grease), Fantine and Jean Valjean (Les Miz), Roxie Hart (Chicago), Cinderella and Rapunzel (Into The Woods) and Eva Perón (Evita) but what about the less salubrious, somewhat lesser known – but no less glorious – group of women who could sing, dance and kick up their heels in the best of Broadway fashion?
Shelly Simon (voice) and Kevin Greenberg (pianist) will introduce you to “Other Women of Broadway”
The concert aims to honour the other women of the musical theatre stage; the characters that support the lead roles, to drive the story lines and bring depth to each well-loved musical as the outcasts, villains, mothers, sisters and best friend’s etc. These are some of the stage’s richest characters that are often overlooked, each with fascinating stories of their own.
Shelly Simon is an actress, singer and dancer and is an accomplished performer in musical theatre. She holds a BMus degree in Opera from the University of Pretoria, a MMus from the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town, and a MA Musical Theatre from the Guildford School of Acting, University of Surrey, United Kingdom.
She has performed the role of Modestina in Rossini’s opera, Il Viaggio A Reims at the Baxter Theatre in 2010, Hetaira in the Broadway hit musical, Lysistrata Jones at the Ivy Theatre in Guildford, United Kingdom in 2014, was part of the ensemble in the hit musical, Sister Act at the Jo’burg Theatre in 2015 and played the role of Ursula in The Little Mermaid at The Peoples Theatre in 2015.
In 2014 she was involved in devising a completely original Musical called Mrs. Reggie Kray, performed at the Waterloo East theatre in London. Shelly will be playing the role of Dina Dienstig in the Afrikaans Pantomime, Sneeuwitjie in May of this year at the Theatre Marcellus, Emperors Palace. She is currently busy with her PhD in Musicology at Wits and is teaching musical theatre and classical voice at Wits. She also teaches at the performing arts school, Stageworx.
Music director, pianist and keyboardist, performer, music producer, tutor and versatile arranger, are just some of Kevin Greenberg’s attributes.
He honed his skills and talents from an early age by obtaining diplomas in classical music through UNISA and then later went on to complete his Bachelor of Music in Jazz and Contemporary from Tshwane University of Technology. Despite Kevin’s training in classical music, his preference leans towards light, contemporary & jazz music.
Kevin has made many debuts such as being the rehearsal pianist for the Broadway show RAGTIME in 2007, as well as being the 2nd keyboardist in RENT, a Broadway musical - hailed as an enormous success and drawing large audiences whilst studying at TUT. Driven and passionate about education, he was involved as a part-time lecturer at Wits University from 2011-2015 and continues to be choir director at KES VII School since 2010.
