Comedian Marc Lottering’s stage musical 'The Aunty Merle Things Get Real' made its debut on the big screen. Picture: marc_lottering/Instagram
Comedian Marc Lottering’s stage musical Aunty Merle: Things Get Real made its debut on the big screen and the show is seemingly as infectious on a monitor as it is when watching it live on stage.
“The first Aunty Merle screening last week was just “above and beyond”, as my younger fans have said. The audience went mad,” Lottering told The Citizen.
The show was filmed professionally and now audiences have the opportunity to watch it on a massive screen with the cast scattered among the audience said Lottering.
Aunty Merle is a character the comic came up with, inspired by women in his life.
“The Aunty Merle character comes from a space of a lot of love, because my mother is in her character. When I perform the character I feel like my mom is there on stage,” said Lottering.
The big screen victory, however, comes just after the Aunty Merle Things Get Real musical shows for Gauteng were cancelled by its producers, Blu Blood.
“As experienced producers and supporters of the arts in South Africa, we are never happy to be in a place where we have to pivot from a scheduled show,” Blu Blood Head of Communications: Africa and Middle East, Monica Steyn told The Citizen.
Without expounding, Steyn said there were “numerous contributing factors that informed the ultimate decision of cancelling this show”.
There will be another screening this weekend at The Pam Golding Theatre at The Baxter in Cape Town. “When we decide on screening dates for other cities, we will post details across all social media as well as on [my website].”
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The seasoned comic who is this year’s Savanna Comics’ Choice Comedy Awards Hall Of Fame Award recipient will be the master of ceremonies at next month’s Finding The Light musical at the Artscape.
The cast will be made up of entertainers from New York’s Broadway, London’s West End and South Africa with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
All proceeds from the event are raised for the Kolisi Foundation.
“I know that the Kolisi Foundation does crucial work for South Africans in need. So when I was approached to host the event, and I was told that all the proceeds will go to Rachel and Siya’s foundation, I had zero hesitation in coming on board,” Marc averred.
“Also, I love music and musicals, and this promises to be a spectacular evening featuring local and West End musicals stars.”
Bok Captain Siya and his wife Rachel Kolisi founded the Kolisi Foundation in 2019 with a vision to change the stories of inequality in South Africa, to see thriving communities.
“We work alongside others, adding our story to the stories of communities and individuals who are changing the world. By ‘remembering the one, one by one’, we will impact the nation,” it states on the foundation’s website.
Marc said the work done by the couple through the foundation, helps unite an already tense South Africa.
“We all know that as much as some South Africans love to fight on social media, it is sport that unites us,” said Marc.
“It’s people like Siya that unites us. Life is shorter than we all think, and Siya (with Rachel alongside him every step of the way) is using his international rugby platform for good.”
“This is the kind of energy we need to keep our country going. We would never survive if we only waited on handouts from government.”
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