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A Gaye old time: Cele shines in ‘Let’s Get It On’

A Gaye old time: Cele shines in ‘Let’s Get It On’

Local singer and ‘Idols’ runner-up Lloyd Cele has landed the lead role in this Australian production, and he does it with passion and panache. He narrates as well as sings, because Let’s Get It On has a storyline, which instantly makes it far more entertaining than those lame shows that just dish up song after song. By LESLEY STONES.

It’s always great to hear a few good old soulful Motown classics.

You hear a lot of them in Let’s Get It On, a tribute show to Marvin Gaye, who was responsible for more hits than you probably give him credit for.

Local singer and Idols runner-up Lloyd Cele has landed the lead role in this Australian production, and he does it with passion and panache. He narrates as well as sings, because Let’s Get It On has a storyline, which instantly makes it far more entertaining than those lame shows that just dish up song after song without bothering to tell the life story of the star they are cashing in on.

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Gaye’s tale is the all too common story of fame and fortune being washed down the drain by pressure, drink and drugs. Add an abusive father, a background of poverty and racial tension in the US, and you see why Gaye had such a rich pool of emotions to inspire his lyrics.

Cele sings alongside Vika Bull, an Australian whose character represents a combination of the women in Gaye’s life. Sadly there’s not enough chemistry between Cele and Bull, and that lack of intimacy is a deficit in a show where Gaye’s penchant for women and getting it on is such an essential ingredient.

Hearing Bull telling an American story to a South African audience in an Australian accent is a little incongruous, and her patter wasn’t always as polished as it ought to be. Cele, on the other hand, is confident enough to add his own ad libs to the lines of narrative, in a nice easy manner that further endears him to the crowd.

The show features all the most famous songs that Gaye wrote or sang, including ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘What’s Going On’ and ‘Sexual Healing’, written when he had shacked up with a new young girlfriend in Belgium. Cele delivers ‘Wherever I Lay My Hat’ as a slow and soulful number and explodes into a fabulous version of ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’.

He’s backed by The Funk City Band, led by musical director John McAll on keyboards and including four local musicians among the core Australian crew.

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The show is produced by Simon Myers and Moira Bennett, who seem to specialise in tribute shows to fading stars like Johnny Cash, Etta James and John Denver, perhaps because a rival production company has beaten them to all the top tier artists.

Gaye’s story is interesting enough to tell, and his songs certainly deserve a showcase, but this two hour long event felt much longer. The interval butts in too soon as an unwelcome interruption. Then the second half starts with some powerful numbers but just drags on too long. Losing some of the weaker songs that felt like extra padding would sharpen it up considerably. On that note, the entire show starts in a limp way that does nothing to spark any initial excitement.

A bit of tweaking and cutting and reminding Bull to try and get it on with Cele would work wonders. DM

Let’s Get It On runs at Joburg Theatre until May 16. Tickets from R180 to R350 from www.joburgtheatre.com, or on 0861 670 670.

Photos: Mariola Biela

www.lesleystones.co.za

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