(Clockwise: Marion Loudon, Tory Du Plessis and Tammy Saville)
Life In Harmony is a cabaret out of the top drawer and I would highly recommend it.
(Review by Keith Millar)
In recent times it has been easy to be disenchanted with Durban’s cabaret scene. A lack of anything new beyond a few tribute shows, venues closing down, a decrease in audience numbers. One has to ask if we are really the cultural desert, we have often been accused of being?
And then like a light in the darkness along comes Life in Harmony. A genuinely charming, sophisticated cabaret show featuring three of Durban’s leading singers, Tory Du Plessis, Tammy Saville and Marion Loudon. They are accompanied on keyboards by the urbane Evan Roberts.
The show is running this weekend only at the Rhumbelow Theatre in Umbilo.
All the songs in the show, and an excellent selection it is, are sung in close three-part harmony with the ladies beautifully-blended voices creating a sound that is truly delightful and sits very easily on the ear.
Under the directorship of Stephen Stead, the show is kept simple. The women are dressed in classy black outfits throughout the show and dialogue and choreographed movements are kept to a minimum.
The music rules – and that is as it should be.
The first half starts with Queen’s Somebody to Love and runs through the likes of Alicia Keys' I Aint Got You, Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You, Beatles’ Ticket to Ride (the Carpenters version) and Here Comes The Sun, Lorde’s Royals and Dolly Parton’s Jolene.
After interval, there is a blast from the past with a nod to the original three-part harmony whizzes, the Andrews Sisters. Their Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy and Mr Sandman are beautifully sung.
Also in the second half are The Carpenter’s We Have Only Just Begun, Adele’s Easy On Me (with Tory on the keyboards), The Bee Gees’ To Love Someone, Simon and Garfunkel’s Homeward Bound, Abba’s My Love My Life and Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody.
There are a few superb arrangements of the music in the show. None more so than Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive and Cher’s Believe.
The singers all perform with a great amount of sensitivity and emotion and the obvious hours of rehearsal tell in the perfection with which they deliver the show.
Life In Harmony is a cabaret out of the top drawer and I would highly recommend it. But there are only two shows left – today and tomorrow (Sunday afternoon) so book right away.
Performances take place on October 14 at 19h30 and on October 15 at 14h00. Venue opens 90 minutes before show.
Tickets R200. Bring food picnic baskets or buy at the venue. Bar available (no alcohol may be brought on to the premises).
Booking is essential through Roland on email: roland@stansell.co.za or Computicket.
For more information contact Roland on 0824998636.
Rhumbelow Theatre is situated at 42 Cunningham Road off Bartle Road, Durban. – Keith Millar
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