Growing Old Disgracefully
Sat Mar 2, 19:30 - Sat Mar 2, 21:30
Casta Diva's Vissi d'Arte Theatre
ABOUT
Join international cabaret artist, Tonya Koenderman, and sassy saxophonist/pianist, Connie Bentlage, in their hilarious comedy cabaret, Growing Old Disgracefully - a light-hearted, frank look at the funny side of ageing.
Do you put your car keys in the fridge? Do you walk into a room and forget why you went there in the first place? Are your arms starting to resemble bat wings? You are not alone! Come enjoy a glass of wine or six with this decadent duo and delight in an evening of laughter and tears.
All your favourite songs will be featured, with a wicked twist. The evergreen but, perhaps, dated These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things has been rebooted to embrace more age-appropriate themes. All about That Base is now an ode to make-up and other anti-aging tools, while the classic Memories, from the musical Cats, is now about……can’t remember. All in all, you can look forward to a side-splitting night of entertainment and fun from these two accomplished artists. Sorry, in advance, for the new laugh lines. Growing Old Disgracefully will be on at La Casta Diva on the 2nd of March. Tickets are R150. To book email [email protected]
Tonya has been hailed by critics as "one of the hottest properties on the cabaret circuit".
Tonya started her career fresh out of drama school with Kevin Feather's cabaret, The Dooh Wah Girls in 1990, which toured the country for four years.
Other cabarets under her belt are Dooh Wah Girls, We 3, Juke is King, Jive to the Juke, and Wurlitzer, All of Woman and Shake Your Bootie, all of which have performed to packed houses throughout South Africa.
Her solo cabarets include the hits, Tonya unwrapped, Makin' Whoopee, Liza with a T, Age of Aquarius, A Night In Paris, When Jazz Was King and Born To Diva.
Tonya performed in the look-alike, sound-alike show, Stars in your Eyes, Impersonating her favourite artist, Liza Minnelli, which ran for two seasons at the Carousel .
Tonya has worked extensively for Sun International in numerous extravaganza throughout South Africa.
Tonya had the great honour of being the only local artist to star in the Sun City sensation, Beyond Belief, which ran for 16 months at the Sun City Extravaganza In which again she impersonated the legendary Liza Minnelli.
In 2007, Tonya co-directed and starred in Convent Girls with fellow performer and friend,Lisa Bobbert, which was nominated for three Durban Mercury awards: Best Production, Best Direction, and Best lead Actress (for which both Lisa and Tonya were nominated).
Most recently, Tonya has been very much in the corporate function scene, performing for the likes of Investec, Standard Bank, Nedbank, Appletizer, Gillette, S.A. Breweries, Avis, Adcock Ingram,World Travel, VWV, Absa, Discovery, Virgin Active, to name but a few.
Apart from dazzling Saudi Arabian “royalty”, she has performed in countries such as Australia, Italy, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Morocco.
Connie has performed in shows such as: The Official Tribute to the Blues Brothers”(which won the best theatre production of the year – Vita award 1997); Snoopy the Musical; Rory Rootenberg’s Cadenza; Feeling Groovy; Carousel’s Decades; Emperor’s Inferno; Stage Fright, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and was Musical Director and performed in Richard Loring´s: Girl Talk 1; “Girl Talk Nite Out, Girl Talk 005, Girl Talk 007 and Jervis Pennington’s Scribble. Connie was assistant musical director for Janis Honeyman’s Pantomime Jack & the Beanstalk. She has also performed extensively on the Barnyard theatre circuit in shows such as: Glory Days; Roll over Beethoven, Rock on Beethoven, 70’s Revolution, Natural Woman, The 60’s Revolution and The Boys are Back in Town.
She also musically directed shows such as Jervis Pennington’s Chef, Rattle & Roll and the Buddy Holly show That’ll Be the Day for Richard Loring at the Globe Theatre, Gold Reef City. For her work on this production she was nominated in the category Best Musical Director for the Naledi Awards.
Highlights in her performing career were Nelson Mandela’s 80th Birthday Gala at Gallagher Estate where she shared a stage with celebrities: Michael Jackson; Nina Simone; Stevie Wonder and many others and opening for Joe Cocker in 2008 with Neill Solomon, as well as Hugh Masakela & Johnny Clegg for the Mmino Durban Heritage Day Festival in 2009 where she had the privilege of performing with Oliver Mtukudzi, Ray Phiri and many others.