COPACABANA

Old Fire Station, until Saturday 9th March

Copacabana is a colourful, extravagant Barry Manilow fest. And Deep Blue Theatre Company really got the spirit of the thing right. The frankly bizarre story of a young composer who imagines a musical based on the shenanigans that go on between a dancer (Lola) and a young composer (looking quite a lot like himself), with club rivalry and kidnap thrown in for good measure, actually says a lot about the nature of musicals too. Or maybe it just said a lot about glitz, and I mistook one for the other.

Now it seems to me that Oxford musicals always fall down in two areas - the dancing, and the costumes. Yes, I understand that it’s hard to find people who spent their whole childhood limbering up against a bar, wearing a tutu in this University - in the school library, wearing glasses is more like it. Similarly, I realise that though everyone I met in the bar tonight could work a computer; none of us knew how to thread a sewing machine. Now we know why. Deep Blue have kidnapped all the dancers and sewers in Oxford. Thus, the stage was continually full of talented people in exotic outfits. The fabulous “I Gotta be bad” number, “Havana / Caramba” and “Dancing Fool” were particularly well choreographed, but all of the dancing was tight and together, (and there was no obligatory ugly girl who only made it into the chorus because she owned her own tap shoes). Add to this a glamorous singing chorus in cocktail dresses, tuxes and fine voice and you can’t go too far wrong. (Although I thought that perhaps the design could have been bit more over the top - a few feathers and a bit of glitter wouldn’t have gone amiss)

Guy Grimsley did well with the vocal nightmare that is Stephen / Tony. He sauntered around the stage looking very suave, sang his songs with charm, and acted every inch the young Barry Manilow (which I hope he’ll take as a compliment). Mathew Osborne shone as the dastardly baddy, rival club owner Rico, and James Harris (Sam) cleaned up laughs-wise, putting in a great performance. Susie Braun as the aging singer Conchita did a fabulous accent, swung her hips like a real Latino and gave her song some Jo Lo style. Bethan Jones, with her never-faltering New York accent seemed to enjoy “Copa girl”, and made the most of her laughs. Both girls were also adept at engaging with the audiences’ sympathies, which gave their characters another dimension. But the star of the show was undoubtedly Sara Rajeswaran, who belted out songs about wanting a man, and being a bad girl, like a true diva. Great stuff and worth seeing the show for her, really. The band under the baton of Kimon Daltas provided the icing on the cake. Apparently they’d only had three rehearsals, but they sounded as though they’d been playing together for years, and they swung, rocked and generally sounded happy.

Yes, it’s Barry Manilow. Yes, it’s a bit cheesy, but the cast play it with such confidence and charm that you can’t help smiling. Wayne Ives the director did a good job, and it was a fun night out.

Right, back to the bar for a pina colada with double rum and a little umbrella please, oh and do you have any of those glacier cherries …?

Katherine Knowles 05.03.02