PAUL SAVIDENT: Press Release for Copacaban Summer / Autumn Tour 2003

Following 18 months of sold-out performances in London’s West End and a previous two-year tour of the UK, Barry Manilow’s Copacabana kicks back it’s heels to embark on a new eighteen week tour of the UK in which time the production will visit Birmingham, Oxford, Liverpool, Bristol, Hastings, Cardiff, Stoke, Grimsby, Sunderland, Woking, Edinburgh, York, Manchester and Brighton.

"Her name was Lola." The unforgettable opening of Barry Manilow’s Grammy award-winning hit song, Copacabana is the inspiration for this exciting and passionate musical coming to your town soon! Copacabana is a captivating tale of love and romance set amidst the swinging nightclub scene of the 1940’s. “This show is feel-good entertainment that will leave you humming for days".

This spectacular new production stars Gemma Craven, heading a cast of Britain’s most talented musical performers. Gemma’s first film role was as Cinderella in Brian Forbes’ film The Slipper and The Rose which was chosen as the Royal Film Performance and brought her two major film awards: The Variety Club’s Film Actress of the Year and the Evening News Film Awards’ Most Promising New Actress.

With music by Barry Manilow and lyrics by Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman, the book the result of the collaborative effort of all three, Copacabana features a Latin-themed score including Copacabana, Ay Caramba!, Lola, Who Needs to Dream? and Sweet Heaven - all set against a back-drop of dazzling costumes, spectacular sets and sensational choreography, Copacabana tells its glamorous tale of old-fashioned love, jealousy, and murder in the entangled lives of Lola, Tony and Rico. The show is filled with beautiful costumes, beautiful people and beautiful voices, with glitz and glamour aplenty, and more feathers than ever before seen on stage, the show-stopping numbers and thrilling musical score make for an unforgettable evening of good old-fashioned feel-good entertainment.

Barry Manilow has certainly got it right. For 25 years, the man who writes the songs the whole world sings has been carrying the tune to Copacabana around with him. Through its various incarnations as a hit single, a TV movie and a casino revue, its music and love triangle scenario were never far from his mind. Along with lyricists Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman, Manilow has been reworking, re-writing and re-thinking Copacabana into a new version that he calls a real treat. "I think everyone is going to love it," he says. "It's like `42nd Street' and `Crazy for You,' a real crowd pleaser. I always wanted to see it served up as an American musical comedy".

Manilow has written four new songs, including a tap dance number, I Gotta Be Bad, beefed up the role of the nightclub manager and re-envisioned the entire concept. "The bare bones are still there. The story is still the story," he says. "But the structure has changed".

Lola still starts out as a hopeful showgirl launched on a path to stardom at The Copa through the efforts of a bartender named Tony. The villainous Rico still spirits her away to his nightclub in Havana, and gunshots follow. But this time around, the story is a fantasy set inside a frame. Tony is an aspiring songwriter carried back to the era when music and passion were in fashion. He imagines his song as a glittery Technicolor movie musical.

"There was blood and a single gunshot, but just who shot who…"

Details may also be obtained from Richard Arnold or Paul Savident at Paul Savident on 020 7734 8400, email richard@savident.com or paul@savident.com, or view www.savident.com.

Summer / Autumn Tour Dates 2003

10 - 26 June	BIRMINGHAM, Alexandra Theatre	0870 607 7533
24 - 28 June	OXFORD, Oxford Apollo	0870 1583 5353
1 - 12 July	LIVERPOOL, Empire Theatre	0870 606 3536
15 - 26 July	BRISTOL, Hippodrome	0870 607 7500
28 July - 2 August	HASTINGS, White Rock Theatre	0870 169 0108
4 - 9 August	CARDIFF, New Theatre	02920 878889
11 - 16 August	STOKE, Regent Theatre	01782 213800
19 - 23 August	GRIMSBY, Auditorium	0870 602 1161
2 - 13 September	SUNDERLAND, Empire Theatre	0191 514 2517
15 - 20 September	WOKING, New Victoria Theatre	01483 545900
23 Sept - 4 Oct	EDINBURGH, Playhouse Theatre	0870 606 3424
13 - 18 October	YORK, Opera House	0870 606 3595
21 Oct - 1 Nov	MANCHESTER, Opera House	0870 401 9000
3 - 8 November	BRIGHTON, Theatre Royal	01273 328488

Details may also be obtained from Richard Arnold or Paul Savident at Paul Savident on 020 7734 8400, email richard@savident.com or paul@savident.com, or view www.savident.com.