At The Copa - Reviews
David Cassidy at the Copa, co-starring Sheena Easton
June 2000
By Erik
David Cassidy and Sheena Easton at the Copa is a fun show with a lot of wonderful and familiar songs, and set in a 1940’s style lounge act. It is presented in the beautiful Copa lounge at the Rio Hotel. The show has a live orchestra, the Lon Bronsons Orchestra, and a core of dancers and supporting cast members which are all great.
The songs are built around the semblance of a forties style lounge act and story. David Cassidy plays the role of Johnny Flamingo, a waiter that is thrust into the spotlight due to the death of another entertainer, and immediately becomes a star. Sheena Easton plays the role of Ruby Bombay, the diva of the lounge who has taken an interest in Flamingo, and subsequently falls in love with him. Through a certain amount of intrigue, Flamingo loses Bombay, falls into a deep depression, only to be reunited with her moments before she is killed.
The story is told very cleverly with short little scenes between songs, as well as with songs. The ensemble deftly jumps in and out of different characters to support the story in a style that is very reminiscent of the musical Chicago. Narration helps move the story forward and cover a lot of the transitions.
Initially, the story seems to be set in the forties, but after the first couple of scenes, the adherence to time period seems to be lost. The production really seems to be more of a vehicle and showcase for the two main performers, and with this in mind, it serves them well. After all, it is Cassidy and Easton that we have come to see. We have come to see them sing and perform, and not just act in a role, but we also come to see them with their own personalities. Not only do we get to hear each of them perform some classic oldies, but we also get to hear them sing some of their greatest hits. Cassidy seems to know this and works the room and the crowd wonderfully.
One of the best elements of this production is the live orchestra - an element increasingly hard to find in a lot of productions. So many productions on the strip have opted for taped music for the sake of consistency and expense. This is always done, however, at the cost of the spontaneity and the dynamics of live performances. So often performers become static and uninspired with taped music. This will not happen with this production. The orchestra is great, and they follow the singers through all of their play with the songs and with the audience. The musicians also handle a tremendous variety of music and styles. "David Cassidy at the Copa" is written and produced by David Cassidy and Don Reo.
The songs of the show includes "Fever" (Sheena), "Mack the Knife" (David), "Try a Little Tenderness" (David), "River Deep Mountain High" (David and Sheena), "I Woke Up in Love This Morning" and "I Think I Love You" (David), "Cry" (David), "Morning Train" and "For Your Eyes Only" (Sheena), "If They Could See Me Now" (Stewart Daylida) and "My Kind of Town".
DAVID CASSIDY AT THE COPA - THE LAST SHOW
January 21, 2001
By Amy Shatze
The show was great! (as usual) I'd just like to share some odds and ends that were different this past weekend, since the show was about to close. Similar to EFX, the cast began to play fast and loose with the script as they took a what-have-we-got-to-lose attitude.
On Thursday night, just before David began "I Think I Love You," he mumbled into the microphone "Only three more nights of this" and laughed. Friday night, when Johnny is talking to Beaumont who suggests he take on a partner, Johnny asked, "Ever thought of working in a tu-tu?" instead of a dress. Just before Johnny's scene with Cookie he could clearly be heard backstage saying "I need more voice and reverb." I'm not sure if he realized his mic was turned on or not. Saturday night, at the end of "River Deep, Mountain High" Ruby not only grabbed Johnny's butt, but rubbed continuously in large circles, then let go and slapped and grabbed again. David just about lost it from laughing!
Sunday, closing night, the audience was wild! Lots of both DC and Sheena fans were up front. David's family: Sue, Beau, cousin Al, Evelyn, Katie and Katie's mother were all seated in the second row. Normally when David is about to begin Mack-the-Knife he's trying to wake the audience up and asks for more applause, but this time the fans were clapping and screaming so loud he yelled, "Well, it's about time!" It was pretty obvious that the cast had carte blanche on improvising here and there. Even the dancers got pretty silly. During the scene when Lefty tells Ruby there's some people he'd like to show her off to and she normally looks him up and down, she stared at his crotch for at least good thirty seconds. The audience was laughing hysterically! Lefty was at a loss. He finally started to thrust his crotch forward, like "get on with it already!" The first time the sword swallower came out, the assistant surprisingly handed him a gun instead of the small knife. Then, when he injures himself with the large knife, instead of stepping in front of him and escorting him off the stage, she grabbed the hole of his vest sleeve and just dragged him off. David cracked up! And, again, lots of laughter from the audience. We knew the show so well that any small change sent us into fits. During the part of Ruby's song "Strut" where the dancers are on the floor at her feet, they started rubbing her legs up and down. She started to laugh and tried to keep singing, but finally cracked up and missed a few words; then she finished the song and yelled "My girls!" Later, when Johnny asked Ruby "How about that number we've been working on?", Ruby said, "What about my dead mother?" David lost it! He was about to crack up so hard he just ran off the stage. Then, Beaumont cracked up and ran off. Ruby was about to leave too and Lefty said, "Oh no, you're not leaving me here all by myself with this." (Or something like that.) Then, when Lefty took off his shirt and tie while talking to Ruby, he did it very strip tease style and kept thrusting his crotch at her and massaging his groin...very funny! At the end of "River Deep, Mountain High" not only did Ruby grab Johnny's butt, Johnny finally grabbed back! He gave her a really good squeeze too. During the pause after David starts "I Think I Love You," the fans were screaming and he looked down and said, "Thanks for the guitar lessons, Mom." Evelyn laughed. During the pause in "Cherish" when Ruby says to Beaumont, "I just wish I could find him" she also added the line, "Because little Johnny needs his daddy." Again the fans went into hysterics!
David's closing speech was very touching. He thanked the president of the Rio, the head of marketing, and the Copa associate producer, Doug Voet. He brought Doug up on the stage and explained that they had worked together on Broadway in "Joseph" in 1983. He thanked the Rio for giving him the opportunity to go out on the road and tour again throughout the U.S. and possibly England and Australia (lots of screams from the British fans). He brought out Robyn, a few others, and thanked the entire cast. He picked up someone's mostly empty glass of tequila from the front row to make a toast, and sang a verse of Sinatra's "Angel Eyes" a capella-style. Very beautiful! Then they all sang "My Kind of Town" and he hugged everyone, including Sheena, just as the curtain was coming down. Very much a weekend to remember.
Thank you to Amy and Erik (David Cassidy Fan Site of Norway) for the review.
