Michelle Pretorius is a South African singer, actress, researcher and lecturer. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Commercial Music at the School of Music at NWU. Michelle holds a BMus from the University of Pretoria, an MMus from the South African College of Music, a MA Musical Theatre from the Guildford School of Acting in the UK, and a PhD in Musicology from Wits University. She is a passionate researcher within the studies of theatre, audience, celebrity and fandom. In 2024 Michelle also did a TEDx talk at the University of Chester in the UK.
Michelle’s performance and direction credits include Sister Act the musical at Joburg Theatre in 2015, the role of Urusla the Sea Witch in the production of The Little Mermaid at the People's Theatre in Johannesburg in 2015 for which she received a nomination for a Naledi Award for best actress in a children's musical. The Afrikaans Pantomime, Sneeuwitjie, at the Marcealous Theatre at Emporers Palace in Johannesburg in 2016.
After relocating to the United Kingdom Shelly took part in the development of a new musical, The Crocodile of Old Kang Pow, with Bunker Theatre Productions in London, in the workshop as the of role of Momolow in 2017. In 2021 Shelly performed in South African Stories Through Song at the Ludlow Fringe Festival.
As a director, Shelly directed Carrie the Musical, Ruthless the Musical and her own song cycle UnSeen at the Walker Theatre in Shrewsbury in the UK between the years of 2022 and 2024. She also directed and performed in Fred the Musical, a new work, at the Liverpool Theatre festival in 2023. Furthermore, Shelly performed in her own musical song cycle, UnSeen (for which she is lyricist and book writer), at the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton for the LEAP Festival.
NWU Conservatory / Konservatorium Office 208
