He made light of the fact that the theatre was half-full ,saying that as long as there is enthusiasm from the audience, everything would be all right.
During Mustang Sally the audience joined in singing along with Robert du Pont, clapping and tapping their feet with the livelier instrumental music.
An excellent two hours' performance covering several decades of movie theme-songs, took the audience on a nostalgic trip with romantic instrumentals like Somewhere over the Rainbow from Wizard of Oz. Breakfast at Tiffany's Moon River, Germaine Jackson's Fallen in Pretty Woman.
The soulful saxophonist went from Nobody Does it Better of the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, to the Pink Panther, to Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World, St Elmos Fire, to Chariots of Fire. As encore the band played Baker Street and Strangers on the Shore.
George Arts Theatre Manager Beatrice Esterhuyzen got into the act by singing a lively rendition of Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive, wearing a dazzling red dress.
She enjoyed being part of a superb show. A member of the audience, Bill Ashmole, expressed what we all felt by posing the question, "Why on earth do Georgians not support a show featuring an internationally acclaimed artist such as Andrew Young? Don't they realise that we will get a reputation as a lacklustre town not worth visiting."
It is a given that if the theatre does not get the necessary support it may have to close down. It needs ticket sales to cover its overheads.
Young is travelling the country with his show. Young has been nominated five times for the South African Music Awards, and his debut album Soul People, topped the SA charts twice.
He has among others toured with Dionne Warwick, Shirely Bassey, Jonathan Butler and Joseph Shabalala.
Making the saxophone sing. Andrew Young with Beatrice Esterhuysen giving a lively rendition of "I Will Survive."
ARTICLE AND PHOTOS: PAULINE LOURENS, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
