One of "South Africa's best known theatre personalities", Petersen was born in the multi-cultural neighbourhood of
Cape Town,
District Six. He first sang publicly aged six, at the
Coon Carnival. His first theatre performance was a part in a 1974 production of
Hair, followed by
Godspell and
Jesus Christ Superstar. In the 1980s, Petersen formed a band, called Sapphyre, that played interpretations of traditional
Cape Malay songs. In 1986 he and David Kramer collaborated on the first of a number of musicals together,
District Six: The Musical, exploring the culture and history of the
Coloured community in Cape Town. This was followed by
Poison,
Fairyland,
Crooners,
Kat and the Kings,
Klop Klop and
Spice Drum Beat: Ghoema. A number of these toured internationally;
Kat and the Kings had runs in Las Vegas, New York's
Broadway and in London's
West End. Ghoema had opened in London's
Tricycle Theatre shortly before Petersen's death. In 1999, he and Kramer won the Best New Musical Olivier Award for
Kat and the Kings, with the cast sharing the Best Actor in a Musical award. In 2001, he presented a television series about District Six called ''O'se Distrik Ses
and has featured on South Africa reality talent shows, Idols and Joltyd. In 2002, he created a sitcom called Alie Barber
. In 2005, a second season of Alie Barber
was shown and Petersen released songs from the series on the 2006 album Deur Dik en Dun'', his first in
Afrikaans. == Death ==