(Pic: Marno van der Merwe, Suzzi Swanepoel, Clare McIlroy and Craig Hawks)Non-stop party show sees Durban actor Grant Jacobs pull in most of the laughs. (Review by Caroline Smart)
Running at uShaka Marine World’s Upper Deck is the non-stop party show Party Police. Produced by Mainstreet Management and directed by Neels Clasen, it is an out of town production and features some very welcome new faces on the Durban theatre scene.
Marno van der Merwe as Officer Awesome, Suzzi Swanepoel as Lieutenant Luscious and Craig Hawks as Captain Chaos are joined by Clare McIlroy (sister of Durban comedy icon, Aaron McIlroy) as Constable Curvacious.
This foursome of good-looking men and attractive ladies comprise the main ensemble and they drive the show at a high energy rate from beginning to end … and then there’s Grant Jacobs. Not that he’s not good-looking or attractive but his role requires a stronger dramatic element. Representing the Party Police’s various clients (The Granny, the Raver, and the Biker Dude) he pulled in most of the laughs
The members of the Party Police team have a mission – to rid the world of boring social gatherings. The show is structured around their response to calls for help from desperate individuals who want to spice up their parties. It’s fast moving – incredibly so - and hats off to the compiler of the extensive song list where we sometimes hear only a few phrases of a number before it morphs into something else.
With a variety of the best party songs of all times, the show is divided into medley sections. Here are some examples with a few of the numbers in each - Sexy Medley (My first, my last, my everything and Hey, sexy lady), a Car Medley (Roadhouse Blues and Born to be Wild), a Retro Rock Medley (Great Balls of Fire and Hound Dog) and a Pub Medley (Mustang Sally and Alice) And that’s only the first half. Altogether there are close on 60 songs represented! And in a nice touch, the DJ is revealed at the end.
Eloise Clasen’s choreography is effective with much macho body language and I particularly liked the repositioning of mic stands between Chain Gang and Chain of Fools. One of the highlights for me was Craig Hawks’s amusing and ironic choreography to Single Ladies, one of the few times where we got to enjoy a full musical number.
Well done to a hard-working cast who keep up the energy level right to the end, despite – on the night I went, anyway – some major sound balance and mic problems. Hopefully, these have been attended to because they impact on the audience’s enjoyment of the show as well as the cast’s concentration.
As the Durban weather at last starts cooling and the humidity levels decrease, there’s nothing more enjoyable than sitting at uShaka under the weather-proof canopy and feeling the breezes wafting off the sea, while enjoying an entertaining show. Party Police is no exception.
Party Police runs every Thursday to Saturday until May 22. Tickets R185 include show and buffet (R60 show only) with drinks extra. Booking is at Computicket or at uShaka on 031 328 8107. – Caroline Smart
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