La Cava
Encyclopedia
La Cava is a musicalMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by Dana Broccoli, lyrics by John Claflin and Laurence O'Keefe
Laurence O'Keefe (composer)
Laurence O'Keefe , also known as Larry, is a composer and lyricist for Broadway musicals, film and television.O'Keefe is a graduate of Harvard College, where he studied anthropology and wrote humor for the Harvard Lampoon and sang with the Harvard Krokodiloes...
, additional lyrics by Shaun McKenna
Shaun McKenna
Shaun McKenna is an English dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter.-Biography:Shaun studied at Maidstone Grammar School and the University of Bristol...
and music by O'Keefe and Stephen Keeling
Stephen Keeling
Stephen Keeling is a British composer and musician who works predominantly in musical theatre.- Biographical details :Born in 1966 in Staffordshire, England, he trained at Goldsmith's College, University of London, gaining an honours degree in music...
.
Based on Broccoli's novel Florinda, its title is derived not from the sparkling wine but for the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
word for a scarlet woman. The plot, based on the legend of Julian, Count of Ceuta
Julian, count of Ceuta
Julian, Count of Ceuta was a legendary Christian local ruler or subordinate ruler in North Africa who had a role in the Umayyad conquest of Hispania — a key event in the history of Islam, in which al-Andalus was to have a major role, and the subsequent history of what were to become Spain and...
, focuses on the feisty daughter of a Spanish general whose love triangle involving King Roderic
Roderic
Ruderic was the Visigothic King of Hispania for a brief period between 710 and 712. He is famous in legend as "the last king of the Goths"...
sets a massive war in motion. In the 8th century, Roderic was the last ruler of Visigothic Spain and was overthrown by the Moorish
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
invasion.
The show was originally presented at UCLA's Freud Playhouse from the 1st-23rd July 1995 under its original title 'Florinda', starring Julie Heron as the title character and directed by David Galligan. At this point in the show's development, the music and lyrics were by O'Keefe and Claflin only.
Directed by Steven Dexter
Steven Dexter
Steven Dexter is a theatre director and writer. Born in South Africa, he moved to London in 1984 and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.- West End productions :...
and choreographed by Mitch Sebastian, the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production opened on June 8, 2000 at the Victoria Palace Theatre
Victoria Palace Theatre
Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, opposite Victoria Station.-Origins:The theatre began life as a small concert room above the stables of the Royal Standard Hotel, a small hotel and tavern built in 1832 at what was then 522 Stockbridge...
, where it ran for six weeks before transferring to the Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
. It remained there until closing on February 3, 2001. The original cast included Oliver Tobias
Oliver Tobias
Oliver Tobias is a UK-based film, stage, and television actor and directorBorn Oliver Tobias Freitag in Zürich, Switzerland, he is the son of Austrian-Swiss actor Robert Freitag and German actress Maria Becker. He came to the United Kingdom at the age of eight and trained at East 15 Acting School,...
as King Roderic, Julie-Alanah Brighten as Florinda, Marilyn Cutts as the Queen, Paul Keating as her servant Agon, Daniel Redmond as Florinda's Moorish lover, David Bardsley as Florinda's father, Louisa McCarthy as Florinda's friend at court, and Patrick Romer as the evil, Jew-hating Archbishop.
Reviews were mixed. Sarah Hemming of The Financial Times described it as "not dislikeable, just rather relentless . . . Everything about La Cava is huge: big themes, grand passions, epic story, towering set, soaring score. It is like being swallowed up by a historical romance." http://www.albemarle-london.com/Archive/ArchiveShow.php?Show_Name=La%20Cava%20The%20Musical In CurtainUp London, Lizzie Loveridge wrote, "It is an effervescent mix of stars with sex appeal, original choreography, sweet music, tongue in cheek lyrics, and high drama."http://www.curtainup.com/cava.html David Benedict of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
observed, "Laurence O'Keefe and Stephen Keeling's score has size, energy, and even a bit of soul."http://www.albemarle-london.com/Archive/ArchiveShow.php?Show_Name=La%20Cava%20The%20Musical The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
review began, "Another day, another doomed musical. Yet of all the turkeys that have arrived on our stages recently, La Cava is the one I've enjoyed most."http://www.albemarle-london.com/Archive/ArchiveShow.php?Show_Name=La%20Cava%20The%20Musical The review went on to say "Although the bovine stupidity of producers continue to baffle me. The backers of this show would have had a better chance of getting their money back if they had chucked it into the Thames."
Synopsis
Florinda Espatorias is the daughter of the SpanishSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
general who is governor of Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
in the early 8th century. When the colony is threatened by Moorish invasion, she is sent away to be schooled in the womanly arts in the court of King Roderic in Toledo, Spain
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
. This takes her away from her childhood sweetheart and secret lover, Somal, the son of a Moorish rebel leader. She has also been promised in marriage to an army officer.
King Roderic has shunned his queen, Exilona, because of her apparent infidelity while he was away at war. He is attracted to Florinda immediately upon meeting her. Florinda’s lover is killed, almost accidentally, by Roderic’s soldiers. Florinda, heart-broken, is spurred on by Exilona’s loyal servant Agon to seek revenge by accusing Roderic of rape. Slowly, however, Roderic wins her heart, and she discovers that she is carrying his child. In regret, she tries to send a messenger to redact her claim. The messenger is killed, however, and her father joins with the Moorish army to defend her honor, and massive bloodshed ensues.
Song list
Act I- I Am Proud to Call Mine
- I Will Hold You
- Little Girl
- My Dream Came True - I & II
- Within These Walls
- The Bazaar
- Why Did I Kiss Her?
- First Kiss
- Death of Somal
- A Woman's Hands
- The Seduction
Act II
- Vengeance
- Montage
- Say Goodbye
- Berber Dance
- What Would You Do For Your Child?
- Theo's Stars/The Wedding
- La Cava
- I Fall With You
- Here I Am
- I Stayed Behind/The Battle
- Finale Ultimio