(The uShaka Santa
Mascot with Lyle Buxton, Shemual Mahabeer, Lisa Bobbert, Peter Court and Gambit
the Dolphin)
Festive season
extravaganza back and grander than ever. (Review by Keith Millar)
uShaka Marine
World’s fabulous festive season extravaganza, Dolphins by Starlight, is back and is grander than ever.
Featuring some of
Durban’s leading musical and theatre talent along with uShaka’s magnificent
team of performing dolphins, it is fantastic family festive entertainment which
offers something for everyone.
The unquestionable
stars of this show are uShaka’s glorious dolphins. These beautiful animals did
not fail to impress with their effortless power as they performed their tricks
with grace and dignity. The four queens of the pool, Afrika, Tombi, Khanya and
Zulu, along with showmen Kelpie, Jula, Khwezi, and Ingelosi were all given the
opportunity to strut their stuff to the roars of approval from the full house
audience.
However, as far as
the dolphins were concerned, the best was kept to the last. A regal performance
by the incomparable Gambit. At 41 years of age and weighing in at 490 kg, he is
thought to be the biggest bottlenose dolphin in captivity in the world. He is
the father of seven of the nine dolphins born at uShaka and is the grandfather
of one. This remarkable animal has been performing since 1976. He has a
wonderful stately and gracious presence in the pool.
It is said that
performers should avoid sharing the stage with children and animals as they will
inevitably come off second-best. However, the human performers who took part in
Dolphins by Starlight certainly held
their own in a production of elegance and sophistication.
The music performed
was taken from the bestselling Christmas albums of international stars Michael
Bublé, Mary J Blige and Kenny G.
Singing the Bublé
hits was accomplished Durban singer Lyle Buxton. He was all charm and class
with songs such as Its Beginning to Look
a Lot like Christmas and All I want
for Christmas Is You. Londiwe Dhlomo was superb with Mary J Blige’s version
of The Little Drummer Boy while her
duets with Buxton, accompanied by the brilliant Sebastian Goldswain on acoustic
guitar, were memorable.
Ex Durbanite Andrew
Young reminded us of just how good he is on the saxophone while playing Kenny
G’s Christmas hits such as Winter
Wonderland and Let It Snow.
The performers were
backed by the KZN Youth Choir and a first-rate 12 piece orchestra led by Shemual
Mahabeer. The choir also sang a few songs of their own – the most notable being
an adaptation of Handel’s Messiah.
The comedy segments
in the show were provided by the classy Lisa Bobbert and Peter Court. They got
up to all sort of hilarious antics as a strange pair visiting from the North
Pole. They showed their versatility by singing a few songs as well.
Add to this mix, an
appearance by the uShaka Ocean Warrior mascots, the arrival of Father Christmas
and snow falling from the roof of the grandstand and you will understand that
it was a jam-packed, fast-moving and entertaining programme.
Congratulations as
well to the events company Black Coffee for the outstanding quality of the
sound mix and for their excellent lighting which created a wonderful Christmas
atmosphere.
Dolphins by Starlight was produced and directed by Wayne R Scott
and Charon Williams-Ross.
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