Former KZN singer to appear in Johannesburg season if hit musical with all-South African cast.Pieter Toerien, Paul Nicholas and David Ian by arrangement with Robert Stigwood are to present Grease the international hit musical with an all South African cast at The Teatro Montecasino in Johannesburg opening on April 17.
Since breaking out on Broadway in 1972, Grease’s place has been firmly established in the cultural Hall of Fame, having seduced the hearts of millions with its back-to-back sizzling tunes. Grease features all the unforgettable songs from the hit film including You’re The One That I Want, Grease Is The Word, Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted to You, Sandy, Greased Lightnin’ and many more.
In the cast as Mz Lynch is Thembeka Mnguni, who grew up in the Eastern Cape before moving to Kwa-Zulu Natal where she completed her secondary education. After completing Matric she began studying Psychology at UNISA and then changed to an IT certificate course in 2006. Thereafter she started working in a corporate environment.
Her singing career started at a very early age – initially, singing with radio and television adverts and then singing to her friends. She turned her singing into a money-making venture - charging 50c per song and using the money to buy chips for lunch at school. During school choir practices she would inevitably end up leading the performances. Likewise, when she attended church, Thembeka would lead the choir’s hymn singing. The elder members of the church choir thought so highly of her singing abilities that when she felt too lazy to walk to church, they would stop by her home and fetch her.
This led Thembeka to the realisation that she “has a voice” so she auditioned in MNet’s High School Musical Spotlight SA, hoping to land the role of Gabriella Montez. She didn’t make it but the creative team were blown away by her vocal talents. This led to her being approached to audition for the stage show and being offered the High School Musical Live on Stage, was her first professional show.
Voted the “No 1 Greatest Musical”, Grease has proved that a musical love story, bursting with denim, cheerleaders, slick hairstyles, rock ’n roll, teenage angst and young romance is timeless and universal. The musical had its Broadway première in 1972 and has triumphed throughout the world. In 1979 it took over the record as the longest-running show in the history of Broadway and the hit film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John proved to be the highest-grossing movie musical ever. It’s a little known fact that Grease is probably the only hit Broadway musical ever composed entirely on guitar!
With a cast headed by none other than Jonathan Roxmouth as Danny with Bethany Dickson as Sandy,Grease is bound to be highly popular. It runs from April 17 to June 13 at The Teatro at Montecasino in Johannesburg. Tickets range from R100 to R350 and booking is at Computicket.
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