(Rhumbelow
Theatre manager and entertainment co-ordinator Roland Stansell
peruses the work
progress. Pic by Billy Suter)
Article
courtesy of Billy Suter (www.sosuterbill.com)
The countdown has begun to the July 6
reopening of Durban’s Rhumbelow Theatre in Umbilo, which closed late last
December after it was discovered, during storm damage inspection, that nine
beams in the roof were cracked and posed a danger.
The venue, at 42 Cunningham Road, off
Bartle Road, will reopen with singer-pianist Catherine Simoni saluting the
songs of Abba, in We Luv Abba. Performances
are scheduled for 20h00 on July 6 and 7, and 14h00 on July 6.
A visit to the venue – the theatre is in
the Rhumbelow Shellhole – shows, after roof repairs, a new, bright, white
ceiling with four new white ceiling fans having replaced the old metal fans.
The ceiling’s dated, old fluorescent light fittings have given way to 10
circular lights built into the ceiling.
Walls have been painted white and a dark
grey with hints of a deep blue, and work is about to start on sanding and
restoring the oregon pine flooring in the theatre and on the stage.
The stage is now flanked by curtain
railings that will have black curtaining which will also be used to fully hide
the window areas on each side of the hall. A decision has still to be made
about the colour of the stage’s proscenium arch.
Plans are afoot to complete the sound and
lighting installation and other maintenance in the theatre, and a new sound
desk is soon to be introduced at the centre-back of the auditorium.
Outside, the walls at the theatre entrance
have been repainted a stoney-beige compared to the buttercup yellow they were
before, and Kevin Snyders Pearce, who runs the tuck shop and makes the light
meals at the theatre, has installed a new, tile-top serving counter in his work
area, where a new lighting rig is also to be fitted soon.
A 3m wooden propellor from World War 2 is
waiting to be fitted above the theatre’s entrance door.
Roland Stansell, manager and entertainment
co-ordinator of the Rhumbelow Theatre group, which also has branches at Tina’s
Hotel in Kloof and the Allan Wilson Shellhole in Pietermaritzburg, is happy
with progress and looking forward to the reopening of the theatre.
After Cat Simoni’s Abba show the venue will
host The Blarney Brothers from July 13 to 15, followed by Dave Monks and Marion
Loudon with The Swinging Sixties show from July 20 to 22, then Dave Starke and
Two Bit Mac with their James Taylor and Carole King tribute show from July 27
to 29.
Also of note is that a special fundraiser,
to help cover costs of the Umbilo theatre’s renovation, is to be held at Glenwood
Boys’ High School at 14h00 on June 24. It will feature Barry Thomson and The
Reals with guests.
“This show is a double feature, celebrating
our 17th year operating at the Rhumbelow Moth Hall in Durban, and to assist us
with the renovation and reinstallation of the theatre equipment, ensuring a
brand new revitalised theatre to start our 18th year,” says Stansell.
Tickets cost R150. Call Roland at 082 499
8636 to book. – Billy Suter
Bookings
for the Rhumbelow Theatre shows are through Computicket.
Posts
