Quirky cabaret show comes to the Rhumbelow

TWO of cabaret’s most consummate, interesting, accomplished and whimsical performers, Godfrey Johnson and Roland Perold, will be reuniting around the piano to bring their tantalising show, The Good News Cabaret, which comes to Durban’s Rhumbelow Theatre in December for a two-week festive season, from December 15 until December 31.
Featuring the talented fingers and distinctive voices of this dynamic duo, Johnson and Perold are well known for their cabaret work throughout South Africa and abroad. Both sing and play piano simultaneously and bring their uncompromising talents and unique musical arrangements to the Durban stage.

“The Good News Cabaret features a carefully handpicked selection of music/comedy material from across the globe – songs that are funny and witty, or strange and unusual. Perold, who is also producing, explains, “We live in a social-media-crazy world where everyone seems to be ‘doing fab’, but if you scratch below the surface, you realise that it’s another story. ‘Good News!’ on the surface, yes, but boy-oh-boy, one level down, and it’s a quagmire.”
Johnson continues, “We acknowledge this. And by seeing the humour in the situation, we can all start to heal. Music is such a great tool to facilitate this. It has the ability to find the smiles, irrespective of the situation.”

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Their song list includes an array of cutting-edge new material as well as standards by composers like Tim Minchin, Noël Coward, Fats Waller, Randy Newman and others. Johnson and Perold have managed to extract the bittersweet sentiment present in so many works that form part of these composers’ discographies. Both Johnson and Perold are also established songwriters, with Perold winning the Writers’ Guild of South Africa’s MUSE Award for his musical, The Pitch. The audience can also look forward to original songs. Johnson explains, “With the state of the world, there is so much to talk about; we can’t resist!”

Johnson has performed over 20 one-man shows locally and internationally. He has worked extensively as a musician, director and composer and is a stalwart on the cabaret scene and no stranger to Durban audiences. Johnson has been nominated for six Fleur du Cap awards, most recently for his solo performances in Vaslav, and won Best Performance in a Cabaret for his work in Kissed by Brel.

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Perold is a skilled performer, producer and cabaret artist with 12 years of experience across Revue, Cabaret, Plays, Musicals and Pantomime. Since returning to Durban, he has launched the CAB Festival which supports the development of new musical theatre composers, at the behest of the Centre for Creative Arts. He was recently featured at the Hilton Arts Festival. Perold is thrilled to reunite with Johnson after the sell-out success of Coward and Cole, their previous collaboration.
This show had a very short run in Cape Town at the now-defunct Alexander Bar. This is the first time it comes to Durban.

Tickets are available at www.computicket.com or call 082 499 8636 or email roland@stansell.co.za.
For more information, visit: https://rolandperold.com/cabaret/good-news-cabaret/