Portugal: Musical about Simone de Oliveira made its stage debut

by Roy Knoops 926 views

Simone, o Musical is dedicated to the Portuguese star Simone de Oliveira who represented her country at the 1965 and 1969 Eurovision Song Contest.

Simone, o Musical artistically tells the life story of singer Simone de Oliveira, and made its debut on Saturday 23 September at the Teatro Tivoli BBVA in Lisbon.

The musical by playwright Tiago Torres da Silva, who wrote many lyrics for the artist, features FF (Fernando João Duarte do Carmo Abrantes Fernandes), José Raposo, Maria João Abreu, Marta Andrino, Pedro Pernas, Rúben Madureira, Sissi Martins and Soraia Tavares, among others. Simone de Oliveira also appears on stage throughout the musical, and closes the play with the song Apenas o meu povo (“Just my people”).

Tiago Torres da Silva has stated to news agency Lusa that the idea of ​​a play based on the life and artistic career of Simone de Oliveira “already existed a few years ago“, and took shape due to the recent work with the singer herself and with the musician Renato Júnior. Tiago Torres da Silva and Renato Júnior are the authors of the song À espera das canções with which Simone de Oliveira competed at the Festival da Canção in 2015.

All about the musical

The musical recounts the highlights of Simone de Oliveira’s life and career, featuring many characters that were important to her, including the poets Ary dos Santos and David Mourão-Ferreira, the television presenter and actor Henrique Mendes (host of various editions of the Festival da Canção and former Eurovision commentator), who was a love of the singer, the fado singer Carlos do Carmo, and the actor and director Alberto Varela Silva, with whom Simone married.

Following its debut in Lisbon, Simone, o Musical will be on stage November 10 and 11 at the Coliseu Porto, in Porto.

Simone de Oliveira’s life

Simone de Macedo e Oliveiro (born in Lisbon, 1938, to a father with African roots from the former Portuguese territory São Tomé and Príncipe, and a mother of French-Belgian descent) is a Portuguese singer, actress, radio announcer, journalist and television host, who’s career spans over five decades.

Starting with singing at the end of the 1950’s, Simone de Oliveira quickly became a popular artist in Portugal.

She represented Portugal twice at the Eurovision Song Contest: In 1965, Simone de Oliveira participated in Eurovision, held in Naples, Italy, with the chanson Sol de inverno (Winter sun), placing 13th with 1 point, in a field of 18 contestants.

In 1969, she took part in Eurovision again. In Madrid, Spain, Simone de Oliveira participated with one of her most well-known songs, Desfolhada Portuguesa (or simply Desfolhada, Portuguese husking). Although the singer placed 15th out of 16 contestants, with 4 points, the song became a hit, and one of Simone de Oliveira’s signature songs.

Simone de Oliveira once more participated in the Portuguese selection for Eurovision, the Festival da Canção, in 2015. With the song À espera das canções, by Tiago Torres da Silva and Renato Júnior, she eventually placed fourth in the final.

Enjoy Simone de Oliveira performing Sol de inverno (Eurovision 1965), and Desfolhada Portuguese (Eurovision 1969):