La Bamba! A feel good musical and a taste of things to come
The John Keells Foundation and City of Dreams presented La Bamba! The Song of Veracruz! by the London-based theatre company Paul Morrissey Ltd, on April 24-28. The show was the biggest yet to be staged at The Forum at City of Dreams, making it not just a testing ground for the newly revised musical, but also for the venue. This review was made during the matinee of Saturday, April 25.
La Bamba! The Song of Veracruz! is an uplifting show with all the elements of a feel-good musical for the whole family: fun music including some very familiar numbers and some new ones to pull at the heartstrings, colourful costumes and a fairly simple plot with very relatable themes.
Two stars of the show: Madelena Alberto as Elena and Charlotte Dos Santos Chabi as Sofia
If you’ve seen the animated movie “Coco” from 2017, you know the story. We follow Latin American Sofia as she navigates the challenges of young adulthood – managing what seems at first to be a conflict between her personal desire (her search for authenticity as a rising pop star) and what her widowed mother and her community in Pacoima, California expect of her. Over the course of two hours she decides to (literally and figuratively) dance to her own tune, only to find that her tune is, in fact, born from and dependent on the generations-old melodies (the songs of the Mexican state of Veracruz) that she has grown up with, and continues to hear around her. It is a straightforward contemporary coming-of-age story that most audiences can relate to.
This is the story of the hit “La Bamba,” the traditional Mexican song that Ritchie Valens – the inspiration for the show – popularized with his rock-and-roll version, and it is also the story of Latin-American culture that has been told many times in many forms, yet never gets old, because it is also the story of our time: of the quest for authenticity and rootedness in the midst of a fast-changing, homogenized world.
Charlotte Dos Santos Chabi making her professional debut in the lead role of Sofia delivered a sincere performance effectively counterposing vulnerability with gusto as her character’s metamorphosis demanded. She sang and danced with infectious energy, holding the stage with an engaging performance.
Madelena Alberto commanded the stage in her portrayal of Sophia’s mother, Elena. Her vocal prowess held the audience captive during the solo “La Llorna” while her nuanced delivery gently unravelled the image of the well-put-together widow, to reveal the “weeping woman” inside without over dramatization. In this brief yet pivotal transformation, she created a sure space for the more dramatic blossoming of the younger Sofia.
Lankan actors in the Spotlight: A scene with Sofia. Pix by Darren Bell
Joseph Hewlett simply stole hearts with his performance of Sofia’s trusted friend, Mateo. He straddled the range of his solo “The Swallow” with a sensitivity and depth of character that the rest of the play did not seem to give him space for. Eduardo Enrikez, playing Sophia’s now deceased father Ricardo, also delivered an evocative solo “Los Sonadores” that allowed him to bring more depth to the character than the rest of the play allowed.
The cast also included Sri Lankan talent in the form of a locally trained chorus both onstage and backstage. Some familiar and not-so-familiar faces added a multi-cultural twist to the show about multiculturalism. The two parts of the cast reportedly rehearsed together only for a brief period, and while the show was seamless for the most part, there were moments when one sensed the sliver of a gap in comfort and stylistic orientation.
The original music by Ben Dermer was delightful entertainment, and special mention must also be made of the musicians and singers backstage who held the show together without drawing undue attention to themselves. The sound technicians, on the other hand, did draw attention to themselves with multiple instances of malfunctioning mics (across multiple showings, we understand), and there were moments that one yearned for the lighting, set or costume design to fully complement the overall direction, and provide visual cohesion to the production.
Audience members walked out of the matinee buzzing with the inevitable happy vibes generated by two hours of fun music, bright lights and colourful costumes. City of Dreams, still very much the newest exciting venue in Colombo, is positioning itself as a venue for “world-class” entertainment, aiming to ensure “globally-aligned creative direction, production quality, and operational excellence” in entertainment events. As such, this reviewer looks forward to future productions that either have an established global presence, or exceed expectations and present something that is either truly novel or remarkable (or even both!). One might even be as bold as to suggest that a practical step in this direction might be to look to the many diverse and vibrant theatre and entertainment companies at home. If our talent and expertise is backed by the correct resources, Sri Lanka can begin a sure journey towards becoming a hub for world-class entertainment.
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