Looking for a performance accompanist?
Steve Vesely is available for hire for your occasion.
Weddings. Solo performances. Accompaniment. Have a need? Steve can fill it.
Reasonable rates upon inquiry.
Upcoming performances:
Jagged Little Pill
Great Canadian Theater Company
TotoToo Theater Productions
Fall 2026
Musical Director
Based on Alanis Morissette’s world-changing music, this Tony and Grammy Award-winning new musical about a perfectly imperfect American family is brimming with joy, strength, love, courage and life.
After doing numerous more fun shows recently I’m taking a stab at some more serious subject matter while still getting to rock out to this Canadian icon’s music.
Recent performances:
Hansel & Gretel Go West
Great Canadian Theater Company
Ottawa Musicals
Winter 2025
Musical Director
Playing my first panto this Christmas season! My first truly professional experience with a condensed three week rehearsal schedule surrounded by professional actors doing professional things. A real treat to be part of it.
Rocky Horror Show
Gladstone Theater
TotoToo Theater Productions
Fall 2025
Musical Director
In this cult classic, sweethearts Brad and Janet, stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker and a creepy butler. Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named “Rocky.”
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Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Meridian Theater
Orpheus Musical Society
February 2025
Keys 3 / Backup MD
Stoked to be playing in the orchestra pit for the first time!
The SpongeBob Musical
Gladstone Theater
TotoToo Theater Productions
December 2024
Musical Director
Plunge into this stunning all-singing, all-dancing, dynamic stage show! When the citizens of Bikini Bottom discover that a volcano will soon erupt and destroy their humble home, SpongeBob and his friends must come together to save the fate of their undersea world. With lives hanging in the balance and all hope lost, a most unexpected hero rises up. The power of optimism really can save the world!
The SpongeBob Musical is based on the beloved animated series created by Stephen Hillenburg and features a book by Kyle Jarrow, with original songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady A, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants and T.I., and songs by David Bowie, Tom Kenny and Andy Paley. Additional lyrics are by Jonathan Coulton, with additional music by Tom Kitt. The musical production was conceived by Tina Landau. An exciting musical featuring irresistible characters and magical music, this deep-sea pearl of a show is set to make a splash with audiences young and old. The future is bright, the future is bold, the future is The SpongeBob Musical.
The Lightning Thief
Centrepointe Theater
Suzart Productions
May 2024
Musical Director
As the half-blood son of a Greek god, Percy Jackson has newly-discovered powers he can’t control, a destiny he doesn’t want, and a mythology textbook’s worth of monsters on his trail. When Zeus’s master lightning bolt is stolen and Percy becomes the prime suspect, he has to find and return the bolt to prove his innocence and prevent a war between the gods. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the thief. He must travel to the Underworld and back; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and come to terms with the father who abandoned him. Adapted from the best-selling book The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and featuring a thrilling original rock score, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical is an action-packed mythical adventure “worthy of the gods” (Time Out New York).
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Showtune Showdown 2024
Centrepointe Theater
Presented by Tone Cluster – quite a queer choir
April 2024
Musical Director & Accompanist
Show Tune Showdown™ is a popular musical theatre performance and trivia competition– a unique blend of the best of Broadway and show tune trivia similar to Name That Tune.
Three teams of singers from Orpheus Musical Theatre, Suzart Productions and Broadway Nights Ottawa will perform in front of three celebrity judges for the chance to win. Our judges are Lynn Miles (singer/songwriter), Alan Neal (CBC Radio, All in a Day), and Jeff Leiper (Ottawa city councillor).
The teams perform show tunes for points from the judges. Throughout the show, there will also be “showdown rounds” where teams will be asked song title trivia questions and the team that guesses it correctly, performs it on the spot. There will also be an audience showdown round where an audience member volunteers to perform the song and give their points to the team of their choice. Comedian and Fresh Radio 104.3 host, Jesse Reynolds is back as our emcee.
Don’t miss the 17th edition of this perennial favourite!
Yes I Can
Centrepointe Theater
Maple Leaf Theatre Productions
October 2023
Musical Director
The story of Michelle Obama. The little black girl who grew up in a small rented upstairs apartment in the southside of Chicago, and who was inspired by the example of hard-working parents to never quit and to always affirm “Yes I Can”.
Something Rotten
Centrepointe Theater
Orpheus Musical Society
June 2023
Apprentice Musical Director
How do you get better? By mentoring with someone who knows more than you! One of my goals is to musically direct a show with Orpheus Musical Theater. And what better way to know what’s involved in such an enterprise than apprenticing with someone who’s got over twenty years of experience doing exactly that. Spring 2023 I’ll help out MD Paul Legault with what’s sure to be the funniest show of the season!
Something Rotten rehearsal
Great Gatsby! It’s Murder
NAC Fourth Stage
Paper Picture Productions
January 2023
Musical Advice
Knowing what you can and cannot do is important. I consistently try to undersell myself and typically over deliver as a result. Stepping in late with six weeks before opening night to help out a show musically is not easy. It requires making immediate judgement calls on what you can and cannot do and making snap decisions on how much a cast you’re unfamiliar with can and cannot do. With that in mind, this comedic play filled with flappers, gangsters, zoot suits and murder (and a few musical bits) should be a fun night out on a winter evening!
Scream Queens
Richelieu-Vanier Community Centre
Lost Baggage Musical Theater
Halloween 2022
Musical Director and Accompanist
“They sing – they dance – they die!”
A hotel ballroom, 1998, and six voluptuous B-movie “Scream Queens” revive their fading acting careers by presenting a musical revue for their fans at a science fiction and horror film convention. From young newbie to seasoned grand dame, the Queens strut their stuff in song and dance to prove “I Got All of the Talent I Need.” For 90 minutes of hilarious musical mayhem, they take the audience into the world of no-budget movies with awful scripts, fake monsters and gooey “Special FX.” They even involve the audience in a screaming contest and zombie talent search. As each Queen reveals her personal story, we share their hopes and dreams, from Tonya’s love of her idol “Fay Wray” to Alexis’ advice that “Everybody Starts at the Bottom” to DeeDee’s secrets of Scream Queen longevity: “Don’t Open That Door.” British screen veteran Nadine savors her joy of being “Still In Demand” while Bianca celebrates the lifetime achievements of “Roger Corman” and Richelle laments her own elusive “Happy Endings.” They also screen original clips from their direct-to-video “scary movie” spoofs such as “Revenge of the Psycho Bimbos” and “Malibu Vampire Vixens,” all hoping to attract the attention of a popular young horror film director lurking in the audience.
One of the cooler features of this show was that all cast members had their own back stories of horror films they had starred in and the script allowed for creative license in making them. Check out the results!
Shari & Steve Duo
Various locations around Ottawa
Ongoing
Keyboards
Classic cover songs performed by talented Ottawa singer Shari Rozon on lead vocals and Steve Vesely on keyboard.
Long Story Short Festival
Online performance
Suzart Productions
February 2022
Artistic & Musical Director
The perfect town of Ridgington, everyone follows a strict regimen of routines, rituals, and traditions. Today is Cleansing Day, the only time when each family has the right to tell each other the truth that’s been pent up all year. Every other day, they must smile and nod, just as they do in public to hold their lives and families together.
Something a little different – with COVID still wreaking havoc with live theater production, Suzart organized a festival of short musical theater films and I improved my video and audio editing skills producing the musical tracks, directing the cast, and editing the film into a short musical film.
Under the Christmas Tree
Lifetime Television
December 22, 2021
Piano hand double for Canadian actor Enrico Colantoni
Being an extra in a movie is was on my bucket list. Three months ago I had the opportunity to be a piano hand double for a Christmas movie being filmed in Ottawa. Tonight was the CTV premiere and my ten seconds of film fame made the cut!
Check out the awesome hand positioning! And look for Under the Xmas Tree on your TV screen in repeats this week.
My doppelganger is Enrico Colantoni. You may have seen him in Galaxy Quest. I knew instantly we were soul mates because our birthdays are one day apart. And he’s damn good looking.
Ten hours of wait time and ten minutes of actual playing time resulted in less than ten seconds of screen time and a pay cheque!
Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier
Algonquin College Theater
Moonlit Theater
December 17-18, 2021
Musical Director and Accompanist
Hop on your flying carpet, because this musical parody retells the classic tale of Aladdin… from the villain’s point of view! Long ago in a Magic Kingdom, one misunderstood Royal Vizier will go on a quest to save his city from its bumbling sultan, an invading prince, and the most notorious thief to ever live! With the help of the Kingdom’s free-spirited, teenage Princess, the Vizier must find a magical lamp containing a wish-granting Djinn (who’s really funny, by the way) and defeat the city’s most-wanted criminal… Aladdin! This musical adventure celebrates and lovingly pokes fun at everyone’s favorite series of hand-drawn, animated films.
Review – Covert Ottawa Guy!
Review – Apt 613
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Showtune Showdown 2021
Online performance
Orpheus Musical Society team entry
April 24 to May 6 2021
Musical Director and Accompanist
Mark your calendars – Saturday, April 24th. Ottawa’s musical theatre performance game show is back this year in virtual form for two weeks only! Come join Ain’t Seen Noth’n Yet, Orpheus Musical Theatre and Zucchini Productions as they battle it out with guest judges CBC’s All in a Day host Alan Neal, choir director Robert Filion and singer songwriter Lynn Miles!
Photo credit: Maria Vartanova
BARE: A Pop Opera
Gladstone Theater
TotoToo Theater Productions
February 27 to March 7 2020
Musical Director
Rehearsal Accompanist
Set in a private Catholic high school, BARE is a story about Jason and Peter, two gay high school students. The musical mainly elaborates on their struggles and deals with issues such as coming out, college, pregnancy, drugs and basically anything a teen can go through. As they struggle to come to terms with who they are, and who the world thinks they should be, they seek answers from their Church, their friends, and ultimately, from within themselves. Its rich, vibrant score draws on many styles of contemporary music.
Its cult status is established. The beautiful musical, Bare: A Pop Opera, was first performed in 2000. And although it never premiered on Broadway, it’s been performed Off-Broadway in the US, UK and Canada. Twenty years later, the stunning show is enjoying a revival on stages around the world.
Mamma Mia Musical
Studio Theater at Centrepointe
Suzart Productions
December 2019
Keyboard 1 and Rehearsal Accompanist
ABBA’s hits tell the hilarious story of a young woman’s search for her birth father. This sunny and funny tale unfolds on a Greek island paradise. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited 20 years ago.
The story-telling magic of ABBA’s timeless songs propels this enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship, creating an unforgettable show. A large cast, non-stop laughs and explosive dance numbers combine to make Mamma Mia! a guaranteed smash hit for any theatre. A mother. A daughter. Three possible dads. And a trip down the aisle you’ll never forget!
Review – Covert Ottawa Guy December 8, 2019
Bad Broadway: Broadway Backwards
NAC Fourth Stage
Tuba Czar Productions
October 2019
Musical Director
Bad Broadway: Broadway Backwards. The latest in the Bad Broadway series. Good songs from Broadway flops are given a new twist with gender-reversed performances. Featuring songs from musicals that didn’t get the respect they deserved. Hosted by Will Verreault Milner and Anna Seguin.
Bad Broadway: Love Never Dies
LIVE on Elgin
Tuba Czar Productions
February 2019
Music Director
Love Never Dies, Tuba Czar’s third celebration of good songs from Broadway Flops. This show will focus on love songs from Broadway musicals.
First Date: The Musical
Arts Court Theater Ottawa
Tuba Czar Productions
November 2018
Music Director
When blind date newbie Aaron is set up with serial-dater Casey, a casual drink at a busy New York restaurant turns into a hilarious high-stakes dinner. As their date unfolds in real time, the couple quickly finds that they are not alone on this unpredictable evening. In a delightful and unexpected twist, Casey and Aaron’s inner critics take on a life of their own when other restaurant patrons transform into supportive best friends, manipulative exes and protective parents, who sing and dance them through ice-breakers, appetizers and potential conversational land mines. Can this couple turn what could be a dating disaster into something special before the check arrives?
With a contemporary rock score, the 2012 musical First Date gleefully pokes fun at the mishaps and mistakes of blind dates and gives hope that there could be that one perfect moment.
Review – Apt 613.ca November 8, 2018
| My First Music Recital Some High School Auditorium in Toronto 1978 Seven-year-old Steve playing Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer. |
 Pretty decent posture and by memory! |
 Rocking the blazer |