Copacabana

I must confess that this is one of my favourite shows and LODS did it proud.  From the opening number the company were energetic and very well drilled.  The two leads were very well cast, Jamie Sampson, playing Tony, is a very talented performer with a wealth of experience in theatre.  Laura Hurrell, playing Lola, is another talented performer and, between them, they created a great on-stage partnership.  Both have beautiful voices, look terrific and produced excellent characters.

Jo Whitnell (Gladys) brought a warmth to her part that is essential to the storyline and her rendition of Copa Girl was a delight.  Michael James (Sam) brought out the humour of his character with just the right balance.  Neil Lands (Rico) was suitably menacing but, equally, charming and I love the Spanish accent!  Sarah Gallucci played the part of Conchita well, her singing and dancing is very strong.

The Ensemble produced some high energy dance numbers and were a credit to Sallie Warrington’s challenging choreography and, dance captain, Dave Gillett’s persistence.  Their singing was, as we have come to expect from LODS, strong and well performed.   So, an excellent cast who worked, really, hard to present an excellent performance.

This show does rely on costumes and, in the first half, I was very impressed with the standard and look of the show.   I have to say, though, that I was a little disappointed with the costumes in the second half.  The second act opening number, Havan/Carumba was not as spectacular as I would have expected for a nightclub of the calibre of the Copacabana.  The dancing was terrific, but the costumes were not as ‘showy’ as they could have been. 

A little later we saw Lola, in a red dress, lying on a red dressed bed, bathed in red lighting!  That’s was just a bit too much red in one go!  It was nice to see that the Sweet Heaven costumes got a second showing, they were beautiful but that only served to highlight the less showy aspects of the other costumes, particularly the girl’s costumes in El Bravo.   However, I am being a bit picky as costumes are my ‘thing’ and I appreciate that, when you hire in a set of costumes, they may not all be what you want.

I liked the minimal set that was constructed by the company, it was effective, looked good and what scene changes were necessary were done with efficiency and speed that meant the pace of the show was maintained.  Interesting to see that the back-stage crew, dressers etc was as large as the cast on stage!  But, again, that meant a slick and well-paced show.

May I also express my thanks to the Front of House team for looking after us so well and for being entertained in the interval.  I appreciate the opportunity to talk to the creative team who have produced the show.

This was, in most aspects, an outstanding production and one that was fully appreciated by the audience.

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