David Matheson
David Matheson (1944-2005). Actor, director and musical director.
Contents
Biography
Born David Lynton Matheson in Durban 3 May 1944, died in Cape Town 17 May 2005 after a long battle with diabetes.
As an exceedingly shy child, David Matheson was sent to speech and drama lessons at the age of four. Lessons in piano, singing and violin followed as did jazz dance and tap. Advanced courses at the London Opera Centre and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, working for British Arts Council, productions at various summer stock theatres in New Hampshire and New York State, a season of directing Opera's in St Louis and fourteen months studying German directional techniques the Goethe Institute in Munich - all contributed to his singular directorial style.
He then worked with opera directors such as John Copley, Ande Anderson and Colin Graham. In 1975 he was invited to direct a season of four operas tor the Mississippi Opera Company in St Louis in the United States. When he returned to South Africa in 1976 he became director of the Vereeniging Civic Centre and later became head of music for the Drakensberg Boys Choir School.
In 1978, Matheson was appointed resident director with the CAPAB Musicals and Opera Department at the Nico Malan Theatre (now Artscape). His debut with the organisation was to direct his favourite musical, Fiddler on the Roof, followed by an equally highly acclaimed Show Boat during 1979. His production of Show Boat marked a first in South African musical theatre in that it was the first production with an integrated cast, which was to become a feature of Matheson's future castings.
Fiddler on the Roof was a very special show for Matheson as he had performed in the original production in Johannesburg in 1969, directed by Taubie Kushlick.
He was never too proud to work with amateurs whom he always regarded as "unpaid professionals".
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
A Midsummer Night's Dream 1981 singing coach;
As actor/performer
He appeared as Monsieur le Beau in As You Like It (University of Natal, Department of Speech and Drama). He appeared in the opera, The Medium.
Roles for for Napac Drama include: The Devil's Disciple (Christy Dudgeon) in 1970, Let's Get A Divorce! (Bastien), Peter Pan (Mullins and Great Big Little Panther). He played Osric in Napac’s first Shakespearean production of Hamlet in 1964, with Pieter Scholtz in the lead role.
As a director
A specialist director of musicals, Matheson worked throughout South Africa. Shows include:
1968: Caesar and Cleopatra (St John's Ambulance Theatre)
1969: It's a Girl (Paul Grant Productions)
1971: Fiddler on the Roof (CAPAB
1979: Fiddler on the Roof (CAPAB)
1979: Die Sigeunerbaron (PACOFS)
1981: My Fair Lady (CAPAB)
1982: The King and I (CAPAB)
1982: Twigs (choreography, CAPAB)
1983: Fiddler on the Roof
1984: The Gondoliers
1984: Die Hand Vol Vere (PACOFS)
1985: Fiddler on the Roof (PACOFS/CAPAB)
1985: The Sound of Music (CAPAB Opera)
1986: The Student Prince (PACT)
1986: Man of La Mancha (CAPAB)
1986: Annie (Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society)
1987: Hello, Dolly! (PACOFS/CAPAB)
1987: The Pirates of Penzance (Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society)
1987: The Great Waltz (State Theatre)
1987: The Wizard of Oz
1987: Gigi
1988: Hello, Dolly! (Dramatic Society of East London)
1988: Hello, Dolly! (Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society)
1989: South Pacific (Dramatic Society of East London)
1989: The Great Waltz (NAPAC)
1989: Hello, Dolly! (NAPAC)
1989: Circle of Love (starring Judy Page and her daughter Kim Kallie in the Playhouse Cellar)
1990: Mame (Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society)
1990: Annie (Arts Theatre Club)
1991: Mame (Dramatic Society of East London)
1991: Kismet (Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society)
1991: The Wizard of Oz (PACOFS)
1992: Kismet (CAPAB)
1992: Grease (Arts Theatre Club)
1992: The Sound of Music (CAPAB Opera
1992: Fiddler on the Roof (Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society)
1993: Jesus Christ Superstar (CAPAB Musicals)
1994: Mame (CAPAB Musicals)
1994: Camelot (Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society)
1994: Gigi
1994: Evita (CAPAB Musicals)
1995: Evita (Playhouse Company)
1995: The Wiz (Playhouse Company)
1995: Ruddigore (Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society)
1995: Fiddler on the Roof (CAPAB)
1996: Jesus Christ Superstar (CAPAB Opera)
1996: Fiddler on the Roof (Playhouse Theatre)
1996: The Sound of Music (Port Elizabeth Gilbert & Sullivan Society)
1996: The Sound of Music (CAPAB Opera)
1997: Annie (Cape Town Opera)
1997: Fiddler on the Roof (State Theatre)
1997: Into the Woods (Cape Town Opera)
1998: Ghosts of the Castle (at the Cape Town Castle)
Other productions:
Annie Get Your Gun (Omni Theatre)
Guys and Dolls (Durban 1971)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Wellington Onderwyskollege Toneelgeselskap)
Five For The Road (NAPAC Music)
He also directed a number of operas including Aida (PACOFS), Tristan and Isolde, Nabucco, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro and Die Fledermaus.
In the late 1990s he began to work with the Bloemfontein Children's Choir and directed huge casts for Eunice Girl’s High School in shows such as The Wiz (1997), The Sound of Music (1998) and Evita (1998).
Awards, etc.
In 1995 he received the Fleur du Cap Lifetime Award for his contribution to the industry.
Sources
[McM, TH].
Original theatre programme from Port Elizabeth "Gilbert & Sullivan"'s production of Annie, 1986.
Tribute written by Michael de Beer and Bruce Sanderson, published in Cape Argus, 8 June 2005.
Tucker, 1997. pp 459, 525.
Various entries in the NELM catalogue.
https://www.artsmart.co.za/music/archive/2982.html
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