Cabaret Duo to Bring JUST A SONG AND A DANCE to Alexander Upstairs Prior to National Arts Festival Season

JUST A SONG AND A DANCE, a new cabaret directed by Blythe Stuart Linger and starring Sharyn Seidel and Dara Beth, will premiere at the Alexander Upstairs Theatre this month. The show will then tour to the National Arts Festival in July for a four-performance run at the Masonic Front.

Plumsong is on the move again. Behind the scenes of one of their gigs, mother-daughter duo Sharyn and Dara discover that they need to be - much to their dismay - background music and not a cabaret. JUST A SONG AND DANCE is not so much a story as a moment in the tale of this mother and daughter who are better friends than they should be. Audiences who join Sharyn and Dara as they sing, dance and complain their way through another gig will see just how this friendship blossomed: through many less-than-ideal gigs and of course, some great ones, as well as three immigrations, fourteen homes, ten pets, four corsets - oh, and Jake...

Sharyn Seidel and Dara Beth formed Plumsong, a swing-jazz-pop-cabaret duo which continues to perform at venues and functions across Cape Town, in 2011.

Seidel has been singing for 32 years. Her vocal range has afforded her the privilege of being able to perform in cabarets and musicals as well as in blues, alternative and rock bands. Seidel's career began in 1986 with the very successful cabaret JUNK 'N JIVE. In 1987, she moved to Johannesburg, where she recorded and played with various cover and original bands until her move to New York in 1993. In 1995, Seidel returned to Cape Town where she was cast as the lead vocalist in the sell-out rock show ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN, which ran for 11 months at the Pump House in the V&A Waterfront. Seidel also recorded her own album in 2002. Following its release, and with quite a few NYC shows under her belt, she decided to take a break from music to focus more on her family. Seidel returned to Cape Town in 2011 and started the three-piece group The King & Us along with Lionel Bastos and Russell King. She also fronts Cape Town-based rock band Rock Steady.

Dara Beth is first and foremost an angry, Jewish feminist. Beth graduated from the University of Cape Town's Theatre and Performance programme with distinction, receiving the class medal for theatre-making. As part of her course, she staged three works: EIGHT LITTLE NOTES, an adaptation of Nia Magoulianiti's HUNTERS AND LOVERS; the Women's Group's DOUBLE VISION; and her class's production of FIGS for the National Arts Festival's Student Festival, where she was nominated for Best Student Director. This year, Beth will stage THE UNDINE, a physical theatre piece exploring trauma, at the National Arts Festival while also appearing on stage in JUST A SONG AND DANCE. Beth joined Hungry Minds Productions in 2016 and also formed The Furies, a womxn-centric artistic co-op, with Kathleen Stephens and Ameera Conrad in the same year. Beyond this, Beth is writing a play to be staged by The Furies this November.

Not your average cabaret duo, the women of Plumsong promise a killer repertoire, kickass voices and a less-than-classic style of mother-daughter banter in JUST A SONG AND DANCE. The show will run for three performances only at the Alexander Upstairs, from 15 - 17 June at 21:00. Tickets, costing R90 - R100, are available from the Alexander Bar website, For telephone enquiries, call 021 300 1652. The Alexander Bar, Café and Theatre is situated at 76 Strand Street in the Cape Town city centre and can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

The National Arts Festival run of JUST A SONG AND DANCE takes place from 3 - 6 July. Tickets cost R60 - R80 and can be booked through the National Arts Festival website.

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