This year, the much loved performance, featuring two men behind two grand pianos and a mix of comedy and songs from Elton John to Norah Jones, and The Beatles to Alicia Keys, will celebrate its 20th anniversary and will run at the Theatre on the Bay in Cape Town from 9 July to 10 August, and then at Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre in Fourways from 13 August to 5 October.
Hutch, was part of the production team right from the start in 1994. "Bryan Schimmel and Ian von Memerty initially put the show together at the Youth Theatre with Alan Swerdlow directing," he recalls. "We wondered if we could get through the five week run which we were booked for."
When the theatre crew started fighting about who would be working on the show - you don't see that often - Hutch knew something extraordinary was taking place. "We opened, got fantastic reviews and were sold out! Twenty years later we are still doing the show."
A few minor changes have occurred over the years. For one, the set which featured a giant (7x4m) mirror overhead so that audiences could see the pianists' hands and the piano mechanisms, was not originally intended for touring, and after four or five years, and numerous knocks and bruises along the way, it was time for a new and more practical touring design. "I still miss the original though.
"The lighting remained identical until last year, and then only changed because the Theatre on the Bay and Pieter Toerien's Montecasino Theatre had bought new equipment, which meant they no longer had the gear used in the original rig," explained Hutch. "So out of necessity I had to relight." The new design is LED driven, and has brought a contemporary facelift to the production in terms of colour. "Although conceptually the show is very similar, the feel is much more contemporary."
(Jim Evans)
