A Lotter famous faces turn out for a giggle with Aunty Merle
● Holly Ha! Who would have thought that spending a night out with a salt-of-the-earth tannie from Athlone in Cape Town would be the highlight of my social week?
But that’s just what happened when I found myself attending the opening night of Aunty Merle The Musical at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein last Sunday.
This rollicking show is the brainchild of funnyman Marc Lottering and his husband, Anwar McKay, who have taken one of the comedian’s most endearing characters and created an entire storyline about the goingson in her life after her daughter gets engaged to “a good-looking white chap” called Alan.
Stepping into the theatre, I spot someone who has had quite a few nods for her forays treading the boards in musicals, such as in David Kramer’s adaptation of Blood Brothers.
That’s singer and performer Bianca Le Grange, who, I am glad to say, has gone back to her signature peroxided, cropped do, which she sported when she competed in the very first season of Idols 17 years ago.
Bianca, there with her dishy hubby David Johnson, is heading backstage to deliver a skin-care hamper to her mate, Tracey-Lee Oliver, who plays Aunty Merle’s daughter.
Then it’s a quick hello to
Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp, who is back in Joburg after joining Jacaranda FM in August last year.
“How’s the new gig?” I ask the bubbling personality.
“They’re treating me like a princess. Can’t you see my crown?” she says, referring to the chic head-wrap she’s sporting.
At the bar, I greet another radio personality, Metro FM’s Melanie Bala, who is ordering some much-needed H2O after an afternoon zipping around town to help her son finish a school project.
Typical of Lottering’s pulling power — and the lure of the show, which enjoyed two sellout seasons in the Mother City — everywhere you turn is a familiar face: folks such as business legend Reeva Forman; television host Zuraida Jardine and husband Josh Lindberg (who came along with their kids); Rachel Tambo, who pitched with her mom Colette Szymczak; and my fave funny gal, Tumi Morake, who is looking all svelte and arrived with her husband, actor Mpho Osei-Tutu.
In walks that great South African treasure Shaleen Surtie-Richards. As we greet each other, I can’t help but wish to see this true acting luminary’s name up in lights again.
Inside the theatre, I find myself seated next to another thespian, Clint Brink, whose 2019 started off on a horrible note when he and his wife were held up at gunpoint on New Year’s Day. But the actor is taking it all in his stride.
Up come the stage lights and it doesn’t take us long to all be rolling around with laughter, the quips and come-backs flying thick and fast — as expected.
What I’m not expecting is that I’m equally
They treat me like a princess. Can’t you see my crown?
in awe of the soaring musical numbers, but of course it all pales in comparison to how Marc’s Aunty Merle lights up the stage.
A smart touch is how the comedian keeps things ultra-topical — he’s updated the script with, for example, references to Angelo Agrizzi and says how Aunty Patty de Lille called her party “Good” because she didn’t know how to spell “excellent”.
Make sure you head out and see it — it’s a nice distraction from all those Zondo commission theatrics.