December 1, 2003
By Lucille Davie
TWO talented musicians, two handsome grand pianos, 20 fingers, a wardrobeful of glitzy costumes, lots of very funny lines . . . the recipe for a very entertaining evening in A Handful of Keys, on at the Tesson Theatre.
The two musicians are Ian Von Memerty and Roelof Colyn, who, while proving they're very talented pianists, playing music composed over the last 300 years, provide an almost non-stop repartee of funny lines and send-ups on a number of pianists, some of whom, like Barry Manilow, Liberace and Richard Clayderman, are not difficult to take off with their exaggerated affectations and musical style.
Von Memerty and Colyn prove at the same time that they know their stuff, particularly in Elton John's Funeral for a Friend, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Fats Waller's A Handful of Keys.
Von Memerty created the show together with Bryan Schimmel 10 years ago, and has an impressive list of show business credits to his name, including 14 Vita Theatre Awards for best musical performances, best musical productions and best original scripts. Shows include A Touch of Webber - A Taste of Rice, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Mae West and the Boys and Camelot.
Colyn 's talents have been explored as pianist, arranger and musical director in Let's Rock, A Lad 'n a Lamp and Mercury rising, among others.
The two sing their way through most of the show, most memorable being a very slick rush through the history of the musical, cleverly embroidering 114 musicals together in 10 minutes.
But perhaps the slickest piece of piano playing was the nifty undressing of Von Memerty from full suit down to his underwear, while accompanying Colyn singing The Bare Necessities, in an act of upstaging one another.
And those costumes. "King of Camp" Elton John came on in glittering silver suit and platform boots, with costumed pianos running up his arms and legs and matching silver bowler hat and glasses, but outdone by the "Fairy Godmother of Showbusiness", Liberace, in a gold suit with matching fur-lined gold cloak, also with piano stitched up his legs. No one was listening to the pianos with these dazzling characters on stage, perfectly mimed by Von Memerty and Colyn.
All this spectacle was reflected in a slanted mirror hanging above the performers, quadrupling the double act, quadrupling the fun.
And to end the act, the two dashed on in tartan pyjama outfits, and did a take on pretending to be the audience wanting to go instead of the performers wanting to go, singing "We're nothing without you", alternatively rushing on and off, grabbing their jackets, their scarves, their bags, their keys, in an effort to leave.
They finally did leave, to much audience applause and laughs - a great show.
The show runs until 30 December at the Tesson Theatre in the Civic Theatre complex in Braamfontein.
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
