STAGE: Date Night – Rhumbelow Theatre in Durban’s Cunningham Road, Umbilo
– 7.30pm on Friday, January 31; 7.30pm on Saturday, February 1; and 2.30pm on Sunday, February 2. Tickets cost R200 each.
REVIEW BY BILLY SUTER
YOU know the end of the year is near when Durban’s hard-working husband and wife team, Aaron McIlroy and Lisa Bobbert, come out to play, guns blazing, in another pacy outpouring of music, madness and manic merriment.
Last month proved no exception, Date Night being a festive, bulging mixed bag of good cheer which, enjoyed with a good few wines and good friends, makes for the ideal supper show choice to let down your hair and wash away the many woes of the world.
Now Date Night is having three performances at the Umbilo Rhumbelow Theatre – at 7.30pm on Friday, January 31; 7.30pm on Saturday, February 1; and 2.30pm on Sunday, February 2. And the good news is that I have four tickets to give away to the performance on Saturday, February 1, where seating will be at tables of eight. To be in line to win the tickets see competition entry details at the end of this post.
Not unexpectedly, the show title is only very loosely interpreted. And, yes, if you saw the hit duo’s recent Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre show, Retro Fest, for which MacBob teamed with the Veranda Panda music duo comprising Jane and Liam Magner, you will be sure to recognise a lot of Date Night’s party-mode content. For all that, however, this remains a colourful splash of nonsense and a heap of fun, a show directed with flair, once again, by Daisy Spencer.
First appearing on stage as their popular characters Charmaine and her henpecked husband Bruce, Aaron and Lisa sing Islands in the Stream before briefly reminiscing about their first meeting years earlier – a cue for a well-received delivery of Summer Loving from Grease. Aaron then reflects on the way romance has deteriorated since the advent of social media before Lisa, in a new outfit, returns for a slinky delivery of Britney Spears’s Toxic.
This then opens the sluice gates for a hodgepodge of comic sketches, song and assorted costumes, wigs and accents. Highlights include the duo becoming an earthy Aussie couple having a hook up with a difference; and, a highlight from Retro Fest, the two as sombrero-wearing Mexicans with moustaches, performing a thumping medley of Boney M hits.
We also get Lisa with I Will Survive (leaving the stage to interact with the audience) and a good delivery of Kate Bush’s Babooshka. Aaron’s highlights include him in ‘sexy’ groove for Business Time then prancing about for Queen’s Somebody to Love (presented as the popular VJ Indian character, who goes on to try to distinguish between angels and demons). Also drawing laughs is Aaron as a very believable drunk, in chains and a pink tutu, who has strayed from a Bachelor’s Party pub crawl and stops for a chat…
Jennifer Lopez’s On the Floor also features in the show, along with Village People’s YMCA, Ricky Martin’s She Bangs and Abba classics.
Date Night is a sweet cherry on top of a busy year for Aaron and Lisa, who perform extensively while also running their musical theatre academy in Durban, established in February 2024; and who co-directed the big-scale Elf the Musical jr, staged at Durban’s ICC in December.
Tickets for Date Night cost R200 each and booking is at Webtickets.
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WIN SHOW TICKETS… WIN SHOW TICKETS… WIN SHOW TICKETS
Care to put yourself in line to win FOUR tickets to see Aaron McIlroy and Lisa Bobbert in Date Night, at Durban’s Rhumbelow Theatre in Umbilo, at 7.30pm on Saturday, February 1?
You simply have to be a follower of the SoSuterBill site to win. At no cost.
If you are not already a follower, click on the word ‘…..SoSuterBill…..’ that appears under Billy Suter’s face on the red curtain at the top of this post. Next, scroll down a little and leave your email address in the blank space alongside the ‘Subscribe Free’ banner. You will then be a follower, and receive email notification whenever a new story is filed on the site.
Once you have subscribed (there is no cost), send your NAME and PHONE NUMBER via email (NOT THIS SITE’S CONTACT FORM) to sosuterbill@gmail.com and place the words ‘DATE NIGHT GIVEAWAY’ in the subject field.
Note that the competition closes at 6pm on Tuesday, January 21, and the winner of the four free tickets will be contacted soon after. His/her name will be posted in this spot thereafter. (The lucky winner is Joy Quevauvilliers).
Also note that tickets may not be exchanged for another performance and that the prize is for tickets only (not travel and/or accommodation should this prove necessary).
NOTE: PLEASE READ ENTRY DETAILS CAREFULLY AS SOME PEOPLE ARE ENTERING COMPETITIONS INCORRECTLY.
ALSO NOTE THAT ONLY ONE ENTRY PER SUBSCRIBER WILL BE CONSIDERED.
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.....SoSuterBill..... 