(Roelof Colyn & James Smith)
If you
like brilliant and masterful piano playing mixed with a glorious send-up of the
piano stars, don’t miss this! (Review by Caroline Smart)
I wonder
if Ian von Memerty and Bryan Schimmel had any idea how hugely popular and
highly acclaimed their show, A Handful of
Keys, would turn out to be when they launched it in 1994? Over the last 23
years, it has played to more than 420,000 people in over 1,450 performances around
South Africa and it is back in KZN in response to public demand.
So KZN fans
should be happy and waste no time in booking for the show which is running at
Sibaya Casino until November 19!
Ian von
Memerty, who has been appearing in the show for many years now takes a back
seat, making way for younger performers. Although he’s not in the show, we hear
him in the opening voice-over telling the audiences that they’d better not use
their cellphones “otherwise they will be shot!”
Roelof
Colyn – a long time member of the show - is back with his laidback charm and easy-going
nature. This time he is joined by tall (6ft 6”!) James Smith with a generous
head of hair who, at 19, is the youngest performer to have appeared in A Handful of Keys. Young he may be but
his talent is considerable and he has a beautiful singing voice with an
impressive range. They complement each other perfectly – the one highly
energetic and the other more restrained but when their four hands hit their two
pianos, they create double magic.
Expect
dazzling virtuosity, astonishing versatility, flying fingers, fooling around by
scooting between instruments on wheeled stools, and in one scene, actually
getting undressed which still playing!
There’s
lots of banter and send-up of composers and piano legends: Bach – precise,
Beethoven – passionate and frustrated by his deafness; Chopin contemplative and
consumptive; Mozart – (child prodigy) seen on his knees sporting a dummy); Debussy
– drawing on a joint, Liszt – musical virility; Bartok – tortured and
schizophrenic. The ladies don’t escape and fun is made of Adele, Norah Jones,
Vanessa Carter, Lady Gaga, Alycia Keyes and Nina Simone. The send-up of Richard
Clayderman is hilarious and Liberace is portrayed to be-ringed perfection. Figaro’s
aria from The Barber of Seville sees
Smith in full operatic flight!
Amid the
fun and nonsense, with some highly amusing costumes, are beautifully performed
numbers. The content is rich with the music of Paul McCartney, Fats Domino, Nat
King Cole, John Legend and Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Barry Manilow, and Elton
John. Hits from a couple of South African musicals also make the programme.
The most
brilliant part of the show is The
Complete History of The Broadway Musical in 12 Minutes which starts off in
1917 and goes from year to year covering 148 musicals – sometimes with a number
of lyrics – and occasionally with one word.
As has
been the case with this tour of A Handful
of Keys, the show features a local guest performer who gets to play a
couple of numbers and is then expected to take part in a hilariously funny sequence
without skipping a note. The Sibaya season sees Durban pianist David Langley
holding his own with this madcap duo. Most impressive, particularly as he only
had three days rehearsal to handle the madcap bit!
If you
like brilliant and masterful piano playing mixed with a glorious send-up of the
piano stars, don’t miss this!
Present
by Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom, A
Handful of Keys runs at the iZulu Theatre at Sibaya until November 19,
2017. Tickets R100, R130 and R160 at Computicket and the Sibaya Box office. For
more information visit www.suninternational.com or follow Sibaya on
www.facebook.com/yoursibaya or on Twitter @SibayaCasino – Caroline Smart
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