Meet our Cast
Toney "Wild T" Springer
as Jimi Hendrix
Guitarist Toney Springer has hung out with the greats: David Bowie, Jeff Healey, Bon Jovi, Jay Leno, David Letterman, to name a few who have been enthralled by Toney’s music. In “Forever Young,” he impersonates Jimi Hendrix.
At a young age, the Trinidad-born Springer was drawn to Toronto, where he played in a Jimi Hendrix tribute band at local clubs. Although there are musical similarities to Jimi Hendrix, Lenny Kravitz and Eric Gales, it was contact with Steve Howe that inspired Toney to pick up the guitar. In 1992, under his stage name Wild T, Toney Springer was nominated for the Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist.
Sarah Smith
as Janis Joplin
Sarah Smith is a passionate and talented Canadian singer/songwriter known for her expressive and captivating performances, as well as the authentic humanity of her songs.
After honing her talents as a member of the indie punk band The Joys, Sarah has spent the last 15 years as a solo artist. She toured relentlessly across Canada and built a loyal fan base in key parts of the US and Europe. She has been honored with more than 25 Canadian Independent Industry Awards for her work and has performed on stage with notable Canadian artists such as Carole Pope, Sass Jordan, Joel Plaskett and Bif Naked.
Originally from London, Ontario, Sarah has recently been living on Pender Island off the coast of British Columbia. The balance she has found in her life is reflected in new and exciting creative discoveries and has reawakened in her a desire to become an internationally touring artist.
Pascal Velzeboer
as Jim Morrison
As the charismatic lead singer of “The Doors Absolutely Live” tribute band, Pascal Velzeboer, brings raw power and authentic Rock and Roll energy to the role of Jim Morrison.
The former lead singer of Pearl Jam tribute “BackAlive” Pascal also fronts the indie pop band FAIRWEATHER FRIENDS playing festivals in Netherlands, Belgium, Germany together with FOREVER YOUNG Guitarist Ray ter Riet
In “Forever Young – The 27 Club” Pascal crawls into the skin of Jim Morrison and it is so convincing that all of a sudden, it is 1965 and we are at a DOORS Concert.
Is everybody in!
Freddy Hau
as Kurt Cobain
Frederic Hau is a guitarist, musician and songwriter from Berlin with a special passion for rock, pop and metal. He studied guitar at the Jazz & Rock Schule Freiburg and graduated as a state-approved professional musician.
Following his studies, he played for the Queen show “We Will Rock You” in Stuttgart and Berlin from 2008 to 2011, first as sub and later as lead guitarist. For the show he was chosen by Sir Brian May and Roger Taylor and even had the honor to be on stage with Brian May himself.
In the following years he was a member of the bands Luxuslärm and Krähe, where he was active as musical director and co-songwriter. In 2017, he received his first Gold Record for his guitar work on the album Nador by Namika. Since 2019, he has been touring with ex-Luxuslärm singer Jini Meyer, on whose album he also plays guitar.
Rachel Hiew
as Amy Winehouse
Born and raised in London, Rachel Hiew received the Andrew Lloyd Webber Scholarship to study at the Arts Educational School, one of the world’s most prestigious performing arts schools.
She began her career as a dancer on London’s West End Stage and as a singer at the Royal Albert Hall, London Colloseum and Abbey Road Studios. She had roles in “Grease,” “Cabaret,” and “Evita,” as well as in the British daily soap “Eastenders.”
Shortly after, Rachel came to Berlin for a six-month engagement in the musical “Shakespeare and Rock ‘n’ Roll” and settled with her family on the outskirts of Berlin. Rachel is a fixture on Berlin’s cult show “Stars in Concert” and embodies the roles of Cher, Amy Winehouse and Jennifer Lopez as well as Agneta Faltskög in the hit show “The ABBA Story.” With techno DJ ́s Master Blaster, she was No. 1 in the German dance charts with “Walking in Memphis.”
Petter Bjällö
as Schlepp
The fictional roadie Schlepp is embodied by Swedish actor Petter Bjällö. Born in Sweden, he completed his musical training at the Ballet Academy in Gothenburg. He gained his first stage experience in the plays “Hair,” “Annie,” “A Chorus Line” and “Grease.”
“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” at the Theater am Potsdamer Platz in Berlin then brought him to Germany for the first time. This was followed by engagements in “Elisabeth,” “Aida” and “Kiss me, Kate” in Essen, the leading role of the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast” in Oberhausen and Berlin, and the roles of the Wizard of Oz and Dr. Dillamond in the musical “Wicked” in Stuttgart and Oberhausen.
Meet The Band
Kenny Stewart
Mastermind & Drums
Kenny Stewart came to Germany in 1986 as the original drummer for CATS in Hamburg. Thus began his thirty-year career in musical theater. He played in the German productions of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, RENT, THE BLUE ANGLE and DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES , WICKED and toured America with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s concert show THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT.
Kenny has also worked as musical director for Taco (PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ) and for Schlager and TV star Isabel Varell. He was invited to appear on television with Barry White and Peter Hofmann and has recorded with N.Y. trombonist Jerry Tilitz and jazz great Herb Geller.
Kenny currently writes and produces his own Cabaret Theater Productions under the name Maple Tree Theater.
“ Love without Limits -An evening with Barry White”,
“Can Can Girls”,
“The Rat Pack Live and Swinging “
“ FOREVER YOUNG – the 27 Club“.
Ian Stewart
Bass
The Canadian bassist has enjoyed a long and successful career in musical theater and pop music, some highlights include “Starlight Express” Bochum, “Saturday Night Fever“ Broadway, “Flashdance” in the Westend(London) to name just a few.
Live performances and TV:
Roger Hodgson (Supertramp), Bobby Kimball (Toto),Der Graf von Unheilig, TCB-Band ( Elvis Presley’s Vegas band), Haddaway, Helen Schneider, the Montreux Jazz Festival, NBC television Christmas Special ( the lighting of the Christmas tree in the Rockefeller Center), Mel Torme and many others.
I’m very proud to be a part of this wonderful show “ Forever Young” and look forward
to seeing you all somewhere in our travels…..
Jin Urayama
Keys
Jin is a composer and keyboardist, born in Hyogo, Japan. Since moving to Germany in 1995 Jin has been keyboarder or conductor in most of the musicals that has played here over the last 2 decades!
Ich war noch niemals in New York , Dirty Dancing , Wicked – Die Hexen von Oz, Tanz der Vampire , Die Schöne und das Biest , Das Phantom der Oper and Tarzan ….to name a few!
In 2011, he arranged a benefit concert for the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake
Ray ter Riet
Guitar
Ray comes from the dutch town of Apeldoorn, where he is the co-producer of the very successful concert series “ Serious Hits 2000“.
Playing mostly rock and blues in the Dutch Rock Scene Ray`s bands are – Rockers “CARVE”, jazz rock band “SPQTRM” and Indie pop band FAIRWEATHER FRIENDS He plays stages and festivals in Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and UK.
Ray and Kenny have been friends and colleagues for over 10 years and Ray is first call for all Maple Tree Theatre Projects.
Forever Young, Classic Rock project Backtrax, Love without Limits- An Evening with Barry White to name a few.
George Johnston
Road Manager
George Johnston played in his first band in high school in his native Canada. He went on to study music at the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) and performed professionally as vocalist, guitarist and pianist – working the Club Circuit in Canada. Moving to Europe in the mid-Eighties, Johnston worked the piano bars in resorts.
After meeting Wayne Lachman in Monte Carlo, Johnston started working behind the scenes as Assistant Producer for Wayne Lachman Production (New York) in the creation of Corporate and Incentive Events in Europe for IBM, AVON, Digital Equipment and Lehman Brothers. From there, he moved into a career in Project Management working directly for companies such as General Electric and Johnson & Johnson.
George`s unique background in both music and high end Event / Project Management makes him a key member of the FOREVER YOUNG team He is our Road Manager ,Trouble Shooter and he provides expert live event Audio-Visual support.
