Circle of Life - a Celebration

When I first heard about The Von Memertys: A Celebration, I’ll admit I was a little dubious. Renowned piano player and song-and-dance man Ian von Memerty has previously teamed up with his dancer wife Viv to great effect: everyone enjoys watching a dancing duo knowing that the partners share real-life romance as well as onstage chemistry. But throw their two children, Oscar and Kasvie, into the mix – a singing, dancing “family Von Memerty” – and, well ... doesn’t that just make for self-indulgent, sentimental schlock?

From the first moment on opening night, however, it was clear that this would be no cheap or cheesy family spectacle. The show begins with a single spot on Ian at the piano, striking the resonant chords of a brief overture before launching into Irving Berlin’s “I Love A Piano” – one of many solo numbers he performs in A Celebration. This is fitting, as Ian’s ability on the keyboard has been the core of his success; A Handful of Keys, the two-man piano extravaganza that he and Bryan Schimmel created in 1994, is still running to popular acclaim.

Ian’s relationship with the piano, he explains to the audience, is the first of many significant relationships that are to be celebrated. During the course of the show, he narrates the development of his own career, his marriage to Viv, the growth of their family and the trials they have faced – interspersing this narrative with a healthy dose of self-deprecating comments and light-hearted anecdotes. It’s clear that Ian relishes the role of raconteur and he has an easy rapport with a crowd (as followers of Strictly Come Dancing will attest).

His banter serves to string together a series of dance numbers. Many of these are between husband and wife – ranging from sensuous ballroom pieces to a lampoon of 80s “funk” – often with Ian singing at the same time. Occasionally the sound balance at the performance I attended was off, leaving his voice drowned out by the backing track; there was another technical hitch when some of the lower notes on the piano began to stick, although this gave him a chance to demonstrate his virtuosity by changing key mid-way through his “Simple Life Medley”.

When the couple dance, Ian’s playfulness offsets Viv’s earnest grace. Indeed, a fusion of the serious and the ridiculous characterises the whole show. Assured in their talent, they pretend to be old and tired (Ian, in particular, wheezes and complains of mock-injuries) but the audience isn’t fooled: Ian’s brazen pelvic thrusts when singing “You Don’t Have to be Rich” are evidence enough that he still feels young on stage.

And then there are the kids. Anyone who doesn’t know the Von Memerty family history would simply look at Oscar and Kasvie joining their mom and dad on stage and say, “Oh, that’s so cute!” But, as Ian explains, Oscar – now 13 years old, although he looks closer to 5 – hates being called cute.

In the 1990s, Oscar and his late sister Valeska were diagnosed with a rare and life-threatening genetic condition. Ian and Viv managed to raise millions of rands to pay for bone marrow transplants for both of them. Tragically, Valeska died a few years later; but Oscar has prospered and is now a hip-hop dance fanatic. He brought the house down with an impressive solo that would put any streetwise mover from Detroit or the South Bronx to shame.

The “family numbers” are polished and sustain the combination of professionalism and parody introduced by Ian and Viv. Making fun of their own attempts to live a bucolic lifestyle on a smallholding in the Eastern Cape, and embracing the obvious comparison to the Swiss family Von Trapp, the Von Memertys put on overalls and galoshes to present what Ian calls “The Sound of Music gone tribal”, complete with gumboot dancing and some inventive percussion.

All in all, the musical variety, the dancing ability, the numerous costume changes and the sheer energy on stage make this a winning production. The Von Memertys are well attuned to the possibility of being overly sentimental, and ensure that their celebration is both fun and funny: it’s too over-the-top to be kitsch. There are also, however, some stirring moments. Ian’s renditions of “Viv” (which has acquired greater significance since he first wrote it for his wife before the family’s difficulties began) and of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” are particularly captivating, and it must be said that this is a show to warm one’s heart with pride in the talent, fortitude and joie de vivre of compatriots like the Von Memertys.