Copacabana

The Mellow Dramatics    Copacabana    Brewhouse Arts Centre   13th-17th January       

Music and passion was certainly the fashion at the Brewhouse Arts Centre, as The Mellow Dramatics presented their production of the Barry Manilow show – Copacabana.

Copacabana is a show-within-a-show.  At the start the audience is introduced to singer-songwriter Stephen who is sketching out the melody and lyrics for a song called Copacabana. He begins to tell the story of nightclub pianist Tony and his romancing of a chorus girl called Lola. Lola is determined to make it in showbiz and Tony helps her achieve this. However, Lola catches the eye of the mysterious Rico who spirits her away to his club in Havana hoping that she will replace his long time leading lady and lover Conchita. Tony and Lola’s Grumpy boss, Sam silver, set out to rescue her and with a little help from Conchita, and it all ends happily ever after, well maybe not for Rico but you know what I mean!

The setting of a nightclub allowed for some big showy numbers to be presented. The Mellow Dramatics presented these numbers very well with some lovely costumes and well- rehearsed choreography. At times however the stage seemed a little small for the number of people and the size of the costumes. The set worked well with scene changes offering slick transitions between scenes. The higher platform and the steps leading down each side added much needed space and variety.

Stand out performances for me in this show were Edward Moore who played Stephen/Tony and Alison Broadley as Conchita Alvarez. Edward sang, danced and played the piano with such confidence and life; you couldn’t help but like him from the very outset. What a talented young man, well done Edward. Alison gave a beautiful performance as Conchita. She was confident, sassy and handled the humour very well.

Emile Arnoux as Samantha/Lola seemed a little inexperienced compared to the man she played opposite but she was extremely likeable, obviously an accomplished dancer and was very funny particularly in the audition scenes. Tony Ramsay as Sam silver was great to watch, just be careful Tony to keep your eye line up so that those high up at the back get to see your fabulous facial expressions. Steve Wood gave a good performance as Rico Castelli, suitably strong and a little dangerous.

As always, the company in this group showed great enthusiasm and commitment to what they were doing, this always makes them a joy to watch.

This is a quirky little show with some fabulous musical numbers but it has a very predictable story line. It certainly isn’t big on depth but it provided a very light hearted and enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

Well done to all involved, your hard work was certainly appreciated by the audience.

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