MILESTONES TO THE MILLENIUM
DIRECTOR: Mike McCullagh
CAST: Jonathan Dryer, Celeste Schoeman, Monier Adams, Christian Marais, Candice Thorne
VENUE: Grand West Roxy Revue Bar
UNTIL: January 12
RATING: ***
Mike McCullagh maintains his quirky streak with an introduction only he could concoct.
A deep James Bond-like voice welcomes the audience in the intimate theatre, but is interrupted by a phone call from a guy with a heavy Afrikaans accent looking for the Foxy Snooze Bar.
With R1 000 000 missing, Nigeria and Leon Schuster in the mix, audiences are in for a laugh.
Milestones to the Millenium is one big song and dance, a lively revue show that celebrates the music of the 1960s through to the 1990s.
Our host is the comedic Jonathan Dreyer, known as John E, who introduces the audience to many of the hits of the decades.
Hits from the likes of Bob Marley, James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder were all performed by Dryer and he managed to pull off just about every rendition in his signature crowd- pleasing style.
John E’s local quips and anecdotes in between the song introductions added much flavour to the show and he had the audience’s attention from beginning to end.
Christian Marais (pictured) is the main chameleon of the show as he transforms from John Lennon to Elvis to Freddie Mercury and brings to life a version of Sweet Transvestite, from the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is a show stopper.
Monier Adams shines as Michael Jackson in Billy Jean.
The ladies, Celeste Schoeman and Candice Thorne, bring the fire with their powerful vocals. Heart-felt renditions by Schoeman can be heard in Paradise Road and Thorne and Adams’ duet of Endless Love.
The vocalists are backed by Denzil Thorne on keyboards, Neil Payton on bass, Safwaan Goodenough on drums and Jethro Stanger on guitar who delivers an electrifying guitar piece by Jimi Hendrix.
Milestone to the Millenium is fun and interactive as it encourages the audience to join in the sing-alongs.
On the downside, it’s a fairly static show in that there is no video projection or storyline holding it together like a musical, besides a little voiceover to introduce The Beatles.
All in all good voices, high energy with colourful costumes and quirky moves manage to entertain the crowd.
• Doors open at 8pm, show starts at 8.30pm. Tickets are available from Computicket at R78.
• New Year’s Eve show costs R130. There will be no shows on December 24 and 25.