Mile High With Cathy Specific
- What kind of music? Theatre
- Mile High With Cathy Specific
Creators: Brendan van Rhyn and Maralin Vanrenen
Director: Maralin Vanrenen
Cast: Brendan van Rhyn, Sean Redpath, Phumi Mncayi Musical director: Chris Harper
Where: Liberty Life Theatre on the Square
When: Tuesday to Friday: 8.15pm. Saturday: 6 and 9pm. Sunday: 3pm. Ends December 31
Rating: *
Fasten those seatbelts for a (naughty) flight into airline comedy.
As a sometime steward, song and dance man Brendan van Rhyn dishes the skinny from deep inside the cabin with a blend of cockpit camp and musical theatre sass. Conceived by this drag queen (with wings) and director Maralin Vanrenen, who knows her way around a kickline and sight gags aplenty, Mile High with Cathy Specific is a musical revue with heavy aspirations to being a spoofy, original, South African musical.
Think of nearly every song with a flying connotation (and many that don’t, like Singin’ in the Rain, which conveniently rhymes with plane) and you have a fair idea of where the butch blonde air hostess and her gorgeous crew, and not so gorgeous passengers, are heading. Straight for a satiric romp which rings a whole lot of topical bells given our own daily, not so funny, airline shenanigans .
All those familiar flying rituals – the bulging luggage compartment, the safety drill, the food service, the unruly passengers, the horny crew and other members of the mile high club – are unleashed via bitchy asides, sketches and several pretty nifty dance routines, thanks to choreographer Vicky Friedman.
A pinch of Broadway meets the runaway led by Van Rhyn, who has beautiful legs and a voice to match. Sean Redpath and Phumi Mncayi aren’t outshone by the outrageously sassy stewardess who is “here to serve your arse not kiss it”. Their terrific acting, singing and dancing is the glue which holds this pastiche, which ranges from the predictably clichéd to the freshly funny, together.
Musical director Chris Harper doubles as the pilot and steers this cleverly manipulated compilation of material from shows such as iconic as Cabaret, and Chorus Line to songs as classic as The Lady is a Tramp (The Lady has a cramp).
The set, in the cockpit area, is not as good as it could be and the sound in the opening numbers is distinctly tinny.
Cathy is the new girl on the entertainment block and man, oh man, is she talented and meanly funny. Mile High with Cathy Specific has the potential to be a jumbo hit. In the meantime it’s the ticket to plenty of laughs.