Once again I found myself at the Palace Theatre to see a show I knew very little about simply because of the group that were performing.
Leigh Operatic and Dramatic Society, have produced some amazing shows over the years many of which I have had the good fortune to watch.
Copacabana as a show, as already said, I knew very little about apart from the Barry Manilow song of course, and a comedy drag cabaret version I saw at Funny Girls in Blackpool many years ago!
When I walked in I knew there was a showgirl, whose name was Lola ... and there was something about someone getting shot ... and that was about it, if truth be told!
Well there was a showgirl called Lola, played by the talented Laura Hurrell, but there was also a backstory and a whole host of other colourful characters who did an amazing job of portraying the story based on the Manilow song.
Laura's portrayal of Lola was superb - her acting was spot on and her singing throughout was brilliant. Playing alongside her as Tony was Jamie Sampson, who had a voice that was smooth and powerful at the same time. Their rendition of This Can't Be Real was superb because of the excellent singing and the chemistry between the two.
Playing alongside the two leads were Neil Lands as Rico - every bit the archetypal evil villain, Sarah Gallucci as Conchita, Rico's long suffering wife, who did an excellent job in Havannah/Caramba, Jo Whitenell as Gladys, an excellent comedy role whose lines were sadly lost at times due to the sound not being quite right (in my opinion) and Michael James as Sam who really came into his own in the second act in the Who Am I Kidding song / scene.
They were supported by a host of dancing girls / ladies and a small group of dancing men (who looked fine in the Spanish flamenco outfits!) all of whom did amazingly well. In fact for me the show began to really get going with the first big dance number.
A special mention to the band, it is a musical after all, who did an amazing job with the range of musical styles.
Overall I have to sat that the cast performed excellently in a show that isn't (in my opinion) fully rounded. The idea that ... spoiler alert ... the whole Lola story is just in the head of the character of Stephen, felt a bit weak to me, but I suppose that the original Copacabana song was just a story in Barry Manilow's head really!
Anyway, a huge congratulations to the cast, crew, production team and band for once again putting on a high quality show and I am glad that the Copacabana finale was, for the most part, the actual Manilow song as it was a great upbeat way to end the show, after the soppy lovey-dovey stuff!
Copacabana runs until 12th May and LODS' next outing will be Spring Awakening in October.
Leigh Operatic and Dramatic Society, have produced some amazing shows over the years many of which I have had the good fortune to watch.
Copacabana as a show, as already said, I knew very little about apart from the Barry Manilow song of course, and a comedy drag cabaret version I saw at Funny Girls in Blackpool many years ago!
When I walked in I knew there was a showgirl, whose name was Lola ... and there was something about someone getting shot ... and that was about it, if truth be told!
Well there was a showgirl called Lola, played by the talented Laura Hurrell, but there was also a backstory and a whole host of other colourful characters who did an amazing job of portraying the story based on the Manilow song.
Laura's portrayal of Lola was superb - her acting was spot on and her singing throughout was brilliant. Playing alongside her as Tony was Jamie Sampson, who had a voice that was smooth and powerful at the same time. Their rendition of This Can't Be Real was superb because of the excellent singing and the chemistry between the two.
Playing alongside the two leads were Neil Lands as Rico - every bit the archetypal evil villain, Sarah Gallucci as Conchita, Rico's long suffering wife, who did an excellent job in Havannah/Caramba, Jo Whitenell as Gladys, an excellent comedy role whose lines were sadly lost at times due to the sound not being quite right (in my opinion) and Michael James as Sam who really came into his own in the second act in the Who Am I Kidding song / scene.
They were supported by a host of dancing girls / ladies and a small group of dancing men (who looked fine in the Spanish flamenco outfits!) all of whom did amazingly well. In fact for me the show began to really get going with the first big dance number.
A special mention to the band, it is a musical after all, who did an amazing job with the range of musical styles.
Overall I have to sat that the cast performed excellently in a show that isn't (in my opinion) fully rounded. The idea that ... spoiler alert ... the whole Lola story is just in the head of the character of Stephen, felt a bit weak to me, but I suppose that the original Copacabana song was just a story in Barry Manilow's head really!
Anyway, a huge congratulations to the cast, crew, production team and band for once again putting on a high quality show and I am glad that the Copacabana finale was, for the most part, the actual Manilow song as it was a great upbeat way to end the show, after the soppy lovey-dovey stuff!
Copacabana runs until 12th May and LODS' next outing will be Spring Awakening in October.