(Jonathan Roxmouth as the Mikado)Jonathan Roxmouth just gets better and better. (Review by Maurice Kort)
Jonathan Roxmouth, multi award winner, just gets better and better every time one sees him. Topsy Turvey is a perfect vehicle to show his versatility. Written and performed by him, Topsy Turvey is based on the topsy turvey world of the librettist W S Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan who together wrote 14 comic operas between 1871 and 1896 – the Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice of their day. Their shows are still as popular as ever and often performed. True to the spirit of their shows, Topsy Turvey also has an alternative title The Magical World of Gilbert & Sullivan and it also has the publicity byline of A Fresh Look at Gilbert & Sullivan. This is indeed a fresh take on G & S, and indeed on Jonathan Roxmouth as well.
Durban audiences were first introduced to the talented Jonathan Roxmouth in the Johannesburg Northcliff School musicals that toured to Durban (Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma!, The Mikado, Me and My Girl and The Pirates of Penzance), as well as in Grease (as Vince Fontaine/Teen Angel). Since then he has gone from strength to strength having starred as Danny in a far better production of Grease as well as in The Buddy Holy Story, The King and I, and in the much-acclaimed Handful of Keys (Naledi nominations) and Beauty and the Beast (Naledi Awards and Fleur Du Cap Award).
He was also in the sold-out one-man show In Black & White which entertained at the Rhumbelow Theatre last year and Topsy Turvey had a brief run at that same venue in February this year. Roland Stansell has now brought him to Durban in the larger stage of the Seabrooke’s Theatre. This has allowed the production to be fleshed out with the full stage to be used with better effect and for some quick costume changes to be made offstage so that the audience can be newly impressed by the different characters portrayed.
The words and music of Gilbert & Sullivan are given life by Jonathan Roxmouth in brilliant form, often with tongue in cheek and with hilarious contemporary quips. After the Overture and the introductory number Topsy Turvey he introduces the storyline of Trial by Jury and as the Learned Judge delivers The Judge's Song. Next is a superb rendition of My Name is John Wellington-Wells from The Sorcerer. With rapid costume changes he morphs from one character to another, often doing two characters at the same time, such as Captain Corcoran and a lowly sailor as a duet in a couple of songs from HMS Pinafore. His costume change from a bowtie to The Pirate King (The Pirates of Penzance) in simple rapid moves while continuing his patter is brilliant. He also enacts Frederic and Mabel from this operetta as well as a superb rendition of Major-General Stanley's difficult I am the very Model of a Modern Major-General.
In the second act Jonathan Roxmouth demonstrates how to write your own Gilbert & Sullivan operetta in Gilbert & Sullivan D.I.Y. (The Political Pirates of Polokwane) while seated at a piano using the premise of the Taxi Driver's Association (TDA - pronounced TaaDaaAaa) with as many characters and as convoluted as any of their well-known operettas. He then launches into the many characters and songs of the well-known and delightful The Mikado. One cannot fail to be captivated by that great song A Wandering Minstrel, I (Nanki-Poo) and this rendition is no exception. In addition to his versatility, stage presence and talent, Jonathan Roxmouth has a great voice, and a huge range, covering Yum-Yum's Three Little Maids from School. The Lord Chancellor's Behold the Lord High Executioner/As Someday it May Happen, Ko-Ko's Tit Willow! and the Mikado's A More Humane Mikado. If you thought the duet in Act 1 performed by Jonathan Roxmouth was a tour de force, witness his trilogies from The Mikado in Act 2, the various roles expertly performed with the help of many costume changes, many on-stage, and the use of several wigs and many props, such as spectacles, parasols etc.
With 12 numbers in Act 1 and 11 songs in Act 2, the audience is treated to the best of Gilbert and Sullivan's repertoire and snippets about the two composers and the England of their time. Jonathan Roxmouth is indeed an accomplished performer and his script is brilliant.
One either loves G & S or hates them but, in the words of one audience member leaving the theatre, “I still don’t like Gilbert & Sullivan but this show is terrific and Jonathan Roxmouth is amazing, what a wonderful show”. Be prepared to be similarly amazed, impressed and entertained by rushing to Computicket to book. This one-man show is only on until the end of next week and this week is already pretty well booked. I strongly suspect that next week’s houses will fill rapidly. They certainly deserve to do so. See Topsy Turvey at the Seabrooke’s Theatre, Durban High School (DHS) to enjoy the best of G & S if you're a fan, to get a delightful take on the duo if you are not, or to meet them for the first time and get to love them if you've never heard of them. You will not be disappointed and will be thoroughly entertained.
Performances at Seabrooke’s Theatre at DHS are from July 13 to 24. Tickets R100 Tuesdays to Thursdays and the Saturday and Sunday matinees (R120 Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening performances) booked at Computicket. For more information contact Roland Stansell on 031 205 7602 or 082 499 8636 or e-mail: roland@stansell.za.net Also visit www.rhumbelow.za.net There is a bar available so no alcohol may be brought on to the premises. – Maurice Kort
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