Braaivleis, rugby, old tunes and Gee Jays
ACOLOURFUL riksha; a wood and iron shanty; a stately home with sugar cane displayed in urns; a fairy godfather; ugly sisters with frocks held together with safety pins, pegs and clips; a phallic-shaped pumpkin; “bare-breasted” dancing maidens...
All find place in Durban’s 18th mini panto, the annual lucky dip of naughty innuendo, over-the-top flamboyance, assorted song and endless silliness, which, like the slowly increasing heat and humidity, always heralds the start of the holiday season.
Produced by Sue Clarence, Sinder-Fellamay take great liberties with the fairy tale everyone knows, what with local settings, character gender switches and an unexpected replacement for the tale’s crucial glass slipper.
However, as a show it is every bit as familiar and intentionally tacky as the Boney M Christmas songs that have been churned out at malls since the end of last month.
Curiously, seemingly leaner in content and with a little less gloss than usual, the show offers a good few recycled jokes and staple situations – the singing with a mouthful of apple moment is here, along with the amusing line song and the spook-in-a-dark-wood routine – but none of the happy patrons at a preview this week seemed to recognise or care about any of that.
Scripted and directed by Darren King, who wore the same hats for last year’s Romeo and Juliet: An East Side Story and, before that, the far superior The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland, Sinder-Fella turns spotlights on two panto stalwarts, two relative newcomers and two panto virgins.
Golden oldies of the gang are drag diva Anthony Stonier, who has appeared in every mini panto to date, and again wears costumes emphasising legs women half his age are sure to envy; and Thomie Holtzhausen, whose gutturalaccented characters have made him a firm favourite over the years.
Stonier is ugly sister Candida (Candy), playing opposite an amusing, but not-camp-enough Clinton Small, the surfer dude in last year’s panto, who has been cast as Chlamydia (Clammy).
Candy and Clammy are the bitchy Burns twins of KwaMashu, related to the show’s jovial title character, played by tall, slender and animated newcomer to the fold, Mpilo “Straw” Nzimande, who wears a sparkly kitchen suit and wild Afro wig with a comb embedded therein
Katy Moore, who was last year’s Juliet, makes a bubbly Pandora Hugetit, a sugar baroness of Ballito, while her loyal supporter, Button, is portrayed by charming and ebullient panto novice, Rowin Munsamy.
Holtzhausen is a constant scene-stealer as Sinder-Fella’s fairy godfather, who first appears in goldie locks and puff dress, then transforms into a chef with a way with a cream can, then a pink-haired gent with a long cigarette holder doubling as a wand.
Jokes, as usual, vary from corny to naughty, amid loads of nudge-nudge, wink-wink.
Sprinkled among the slapstick and send-up are a mix of 11 songs, including Michael Bublé’s A Beautiful Day, George Michael’s Faith, Margaret Singana’s Mama Tembu’s Wedding, Miriam Makeba’s The Click Song, Kurt Darren’s Loslappie and I Feel Pretty fromWest Side Story.
Standout moments are Stonier’s strong delivery of Anthony Newley’s What Kind of Fool Am I?, complete with writhing on the floor, and Moore’s perky performance, in a cowboy-themed dance sequence, of Nothing Dirty Going On, from the hit Dolly Parton musical, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
The cast performing I Will Follow Him, from the musical Sister Act, is also a lot of fun.
Sinder-Fella is booked in until December 30, with performances every Tuesday to Saturday at 7.30pm and at 2pm on Sundays. Doors open 90 minutes before the show for bring-your-own meals and snacks. A full bar is available.
Tables seat eight and tickets cost R150 a head. Seating is reserved.
Booking for the show is at Computicket. For block bookings or more details, contact Ailsa at 083 250 2690. ONE of Durban’s most seasoned and popular cabaret troupes, the Gee Jays trio, will present one of their classic shows, Don’t Tune Me Ek Se, at Tina’s Hotel in Kloof from this week.
Covering all things South African, and with a particular nod to nostalgia of the 1970s, the show, by Gary McKenzie, John Didlick and Grant Bell, will have eight performances – the first at 7pm for 8.30pm tomorrow and on Friday, and at 12.30pm for 2pm this and next Sunday.
Presented in supper-theatre format, the show will also have lunch-time performances today and on Friday, and also next Wednesday and Friday, to cater for the festive season corporate market.
Don’t Tune Me – Ek Se offers a fun mix of song and sketches relating to all things nostalgic and local.
Songs performed include classic South African chart favourites such as Pretty Belinda, Yellow River, Tie a Yellow Ribbon, Rhinestone Cowboy, Let Your Love Flow and Have You Ever Seen the Rain.
Tribute is also paid to the music and memories of great ’70s acts such as Lobo, Neil Diamond, Bob Marley, Paul McCartney and Wings, Village People, Bee Gees, Bellamy Brothers and Cliff Richard.
Tickets cost R195 each for the meal and show. Show-only tickets cost R120 each.
For bookings and more information call 031 764 7843.