Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
By CHRISTOPHER BLANK
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 28, 2000
CLEARWATER -- Some musicals are based on books. Some on historical events. This one is based on a pop song that begins:
Her name was Lola. She was a showgirl.
While many songs could lend themselves to dramatic interpretation, Barry Manilow's Copacabana out step-ball-changed the others. At Ruth Eckerd Hall on Tuesday night, the lyrics came to life -- an existence so air-headed and yet so innocuously sweet that in another life its name was Mandy.
It makes for a fun and pleasant evening of theater, but that's as far as it goes.
Copacabana the song already had dramatic elements. For instance, the "music and passion" of Tony the hero and Rico, the rich seducer. For years Manilow has performed his samba-tinged ditty with an array of dancers and proper homage to glitter and schmaltz.
The same went into the musical, directed by David Warren. Manilow's music, combined with lyrics by longtime collaborators Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman, has the appeal of Manilow's catchy little musical hooks. The show isn't just about Lola and Tony; it's about writing a hit song and the creative process. The show opens in the present day with a songwriter, Stephen, trying to work the word "Copacabana" into a song lyric. Understudy Thom Christopher Warren played the role Tuesday, though Franc D'Ambrosio, not appearing due to illness, is expected to return for future shows.
As his imagination takes off, his mind travels to New York's Grand Central Station, circa 1947, where he sees Lola, played by Darcie Roberts, stepping off the train from Tulsa. Her first number, Just Arrived, shows the hayseed trying to make it as a star.
After bombing many auditions, she gets a job at the Copacabana nightclub with the help of Tony (Stephen's alter ego), a smiling dancer-singer-songwriter. Tony is smitten, singing, "sweet heaven I'm in love again."
Technicolor song and dance routines abound before Rico Castelli finally shows up at the end of the first act. He's a mobster who owns the Tropicana, a popular club in Havana, Cuba. Philip Hernandez as Rico has only a few moments of singing, mostly in the Bolero De Amor.
Lola is kidnapped, Tony and friends make a rescue attempt, and the end elicits the first effortless laugh in the show, something reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz.
The plot is air-thin, the dialogue bland and unfunny, but the music is jazzy, well-orchestrated and never dull. The singers and dancers turn out a cornball show that is, perhaps, as corny as the song. Fans will certainly hear Manilow's touches throughout.
Copacabana continues through Dec. 31 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. Tickets are $25-$45. Call 727-791-7400.
The reluctant pop superstar (December 24, 2000)