COPACABANA RETURNS…BUT WHY?

F. J. Hartland 

           Barry Manilow’s COPACABANA, The Musical played Pittsburgh in 2000.  It’s back this week.  The only question is…why?

              According to the program notes, the public voted and Copacabana was the choice.  This is, of course, not the first time the voting public has made a ghastly mistake.

            The songs (with the possible exception of “Who Needs to Dream?” and the infectious title song) are lackluster and forgettable, the dialogue is wooden, the jokes old and the book…what book? 

           The team of Manilow along with Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman have come up with a real clunker.  By now, everyone knows the story (“Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl…”  Tony tends bar.  Rico wears a diamond, etc.), but now it’s a story-within-a-story of Stephen, a composer, writing the musical.  My advice is “Don’t quit your day job..”

            Somehow the cast manages to shine even when weighted down with this leaden material and cardboard characters.

            Tony Yazbeck as Stephen/Tony is charming and an impressive dancer.  Chandra L. Schwartz (Samantha/Tony) has a powerful voice and looks quite stunning onstage.

            The dynamic Robert Cuccioli (so brilliant in Les Miserables) is wasted as Rico, the villain.  Also wasted were the talents of local favorite Tim Hartman in a variety of small roles.  Elise Santora shines as Rico’s fading lover Conchita.

            Early in the show, Stephen informs us that the story takes place right after the war when everything was full of color—no beige, no white, no brown.  Then the Copacabana set glides on—all white and beige and brown.  The costumes look ill-fitting and some are actually ragged at the edges.  Sadly, on opening night a technical glitch took the thunder from the climactic moment when the plot (such as it is) is resolved.

            All in all, it seems like a cheap way to cash in on Manilow’s Grammy-winning hit.  But one song does not a musical make…

            While filing out of the Benedum after the show, a woman behind me remarked, “It was bad the first time, but this was WORSE!”

            Amen to that!

           Barry Manilow’s Copacabana, the Musical continues through July 26.