MUSICAL THEATRE DANCE CLASS

By popular demand the RSPA Theatre School will be starting an Adults (ladies only, sorry Gents) and Young Persons (16 years +) Musical Theatre Dance Class.

“This class will be a fab way to have fun, get some exercise, de-stress, meet new friends and - best of all ….no experience is necessary!” says RSPA’s Gill Brunings

Classes will be led by popular Heritage Theatre performer and owner of The Dance Space, dance studio, Leigh Meyer.

Classes will take place every Tuesday from April 8 (except on a school or public holiday) from 17h00 to 18h00 at the Westville Theatre Club, Attercliffe Road, Westville. Cost: R80/class

Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Contact Gill Brunings on 083 326 3257

KZN AT NALEDI THEATRE AWARDS

(Minister Paul Mashatile & Nondumiso Tembe. Pic by Zoom Photography)

The theatre industry stepped out in style for the 11th annual Naledi Theatre Awards to applaud and cheer their peers who won against the strongest competition to date in 25 categories.

The awards event, which was for productions staged during 2013, took place in Johannesburg.

A number of nominations came from KZN, with one winner emerging. Nondumiso Tembe received the Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play/Musical for her performance in Race which was produced by The South African State Theatre in association with The Playhouse Company.

A Life Time Achievement Award was presented this year by the chairman, Dali Tambo, to Mbongeni Ngema for his vast body of international work such as Sarafina (a major movie) and, more recently, The Zulu – which he wrote and performed in an impressive tour de force about the history of the Zulu nation.

JEEVES AND THE WEDDING BELLS

A remarkable and very accurate replication of PG Wodehouse style. (Review by Keith Millar)

There is no doubt that Sebastian Faulks is a very accomplished and gifted novelist.

He has written a number of best-sellers and has been the recipient of many awards. Including been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to literature. He has been called one of the most impressive novelists of his generation.

However I find that some of his works, as brilliant as they may be, are profound, intense and sometimes rather dark and disturbing.

So it was with absolute pleasure and delight that I read his latest offering, which is a homage to the late great PG Wodehouse, called Jeeves and the Wedding Bells. It is a wonderfully bright, happy and very funny book which captures the essence and spirit of Wodehouse’s stories perfectly.

PG Wodehouse was a prolific English humourist who wrote over 90 books in a career which spanned seven decades. He is probably best remembered for his Jeeves stories which featured the bumbling but always well-meaning Bertie Wooster and his quintessential gentleman’s gentleman Jeeves. Bertie is always getting into scrapes, often of a romantic nature, and Jeeves has to use guile and a superior intellect to rescue him.

Set in the 1920’s, Jeeves and the Wedding Bells follows the tried and tested Wodehouse formula. It features stately country houses, eccentric upper classes, mistaken identity, love lost and found, a village cricket match and a country fete. The plot is gloriously convoluted and thoroughly entertaining and witty throughout.

The story starts with Bertie taking a spring break in the South of France There he meets the beautiful Georgiana Meadows and falls hopelessly in love (as usual). When he returns to London he and Jeeves are asked by an old friend, Peregrine ‘Woody’ Beeching, to travel to the country house of Sir Henry Hackwood to help him revive his failing engagement to Sir Henry’s daughter, the lovely Amelia.

Then things get complicated. Jeeves is mistaken for Lord Etringham by Sir Henry and is invited to stay in the main house Consequently Bertie has to stay with the servants “below stairs”.

By an amazing coincidence, it turns out that the love of Bertie’s life, the beautiful Georgiana Meadows, is Sir Henry’s adopted daughter She is reluctantly engaged to a Mr. Venables whose fortune could be used, if they marry, to save the family home.

Jeeves has to use all his skill and ingenuity to solve the resulting complications. And just maybe he has a personal interest in the outcome.

The jolly character and light hearted cheeriness conveyed in the Jeeves stories derives from the Wodehouse’s particularly skillful and effective use of the English language. Faulks has been able to do a remarkable and very accurate replication of this style and, as a result, has produced a book which is very fitting homage to the great man.

PG Wodehouse fans will love this book. If you aren’t a devotee yet or have never read the Jeeves stories, now is the time to start. You won’t regret it.

Jeeves and the Wedding Bells is published by Hutchinson. The ISDN Number is 9780091954055. The recommended retail price is R270. -  Keith Millar

CHATS_WORTH

(Jayshree Parasuramen)

ABH (Aryan Benevolent Homes) and The Nelson Mandela Youth Centre in association with J Zee Entertainment will present Chats_Worth, a one woman play about stories from the hood!

Inspired by the book, Chatsworth - The making of a South African Township written by Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed. The play is written by Jayshree Parasuramen and part proceeds from this show will be donated to ABH and the Nelson Mandela Youth Centre.

The show tells stories inspired by actual events and the writings in this thriving Durban township. It is aimed to inspire many people, educate youth and keep them off drugs but most especially aimed at not forgetting a rich history.

Parasuramen hopes to gain the interest of many so that soon, government will build a Museum in Chatsworth where all Indian history should be recorded.

“The production is being launched in Chatsworth due to its significance and the aim is to have a full house at every performance in order to spread our message,” says Parasuramen. “There is an urgent need to sponsor tickets for scholars and senior citizens. Many may never afford to see this production.

“I am currently funding this production myself and it has not been easy,” she adds. “All the help and support is much appreciated With a good run in Chatsworth, the play will certainly go on a national tour!”

Chats_Worth will be staged at the 600-seater ABH Pattendeen Theatre from April 4 to 20. Tickets R60 (R25 senior citizens and scholars) have been kept reasonable so that the production may be affordable to the community of Chatsworth. Five shows have been allocated to schools and two for senior citizens.

Opening night on April 4 is at 19h00 followed by an after-party. Tickets (R60pp) available direct from Parasuramen on 083 610 9931.

Tickets for all other shows available at Nagiah's and Barcelos outlets in Chatsworth. More information from Sagie on 083 556 3237.

Should you wish to sponsor tickets, the bank details are as follows:

J Zee Entertainment; NedbankAcc : 1067424466; Branch Code: 131426

KZNPO CONCERT: MARCH 27, 2014

(Avigail Bushakevitz)

Avigail Bushakevitz gives splendid performance of Mozart violin concerto. (Review by Michael Green)

Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 was the superior item on the programme of the last concert of the KZN Philharmonic’s summer season in the Durban City Hall.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the king of concerto writers: 27 for the piano, five for solo violin, and others for horn, clarinet, flute, bassoon and various combinations. The five violin works were written in Salzburg in 1775, when the composer was 19 years old. They are all lovely, and No. 5, in A major, K.219, is generally reckoned to be the finest, an astonishing achievement for a boy of 19.

This composition was given a splendid performance by the 26-year-old violinist Avigail Bushakevitz, who was born in Jerusalem but came to South Africa when she was one year old and grew up at George in the Cape.A graduate of the Juilliard School in New York, she has at a relatively tender age built up extensive concert experience here and in America and Europe.  She has played in Durban before, and in this latest appearance she amply confirmed the glowing opinions formed earlier by those who have heard her.

Her tone, phrasing and dynamics were first class, and she showed the skills of a true virtuoso in the concerto’s joyous rapid passages.

The orchestra, under the direction of the visiting German conductor Frank Cramer, were again in fine form.  Mozart’s graceful and effortless flow of melody was articulated with accuracy and style, and the results were warmly applauded by the audience.

The concert opened with a spirited account of Weber’s well-known overture to his opera Der Freischutz, The Marksman, and after the interval we had Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 5 in  D minor, the Reformation Symphony, so named because it was written for a major anniversary of the Lutheran church.

There are some ironies here. Mendelssohn had a Jewish background and he, with other members of his family, became Lutherans for reasons of convenience rather than conviction. This symphony was written when he was 20 years old and it is, I think, portentous rather than profound (the composer himself did not care for it much). Nevertheless it has its moments, particularly in the famous Dresden Amen in the first movement, in the typically Mendelssohnian Vivace of the second movement, and in the scoring for the brass instruments.

It is not the greatest symphony ever written, but the orchestra gave a fine and  convincing performance of it. - Michael Green