Coco

[After Eight]

Posted: 9/11/10 at 9:54am

The Musicals in Mufti series is presenting "Coco" this weekend, starring Andrea Marcovicci in the title role. I went to the first performance last night and found it quite enjoyable. I was surprised, actually, since I didn't like the original production, but this was a very pleasant evening. Neither the book nor score is any great shakes, but it is intelligently written, and there are a number of witty lines that score laughs. Andrea Marcovicci displays feeling and charm as Coco, and I found her to be much more authentic than Katharine Hepburn. It was also good to see Lewis Cleale, Charles Kimbrough and David Turner all doing fine turns. I particularly liked Jessica Grove as the ingenue, and in the thankless role of her boyfriend, Peter Lockyer sings beautifully.

All in all, a very good start for this fall's Mufti series.

[Daniel2]

Posted: 9/12/10 at 3:56pm

I saw Ms. Marcovicci do this role in San Francisco and thought she was pretty amazing. I knew the OCR but didn't care for it much beyond it's camp aspects. I still don't think it's a great show but think everyone who can should see this because it's not going to be done much beyond this. It's fascinating to see it--if for no other reason the unconcsious homophobia on display. Chanel could be the subject of a great musical, but this ain't it. Nonetheless, it should be seen by anyone interested in Musical Theatre.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 9/12/10 at 5:51pm

I wasn't impressed by COCO in its original Broadway version. I felt Hepburn was too grating and butch in the role.

A few years later, there was a version that played the Music Fair circuit with Ginger Rogers (of all people) in the title role and I found myself enjoying the show very, very much. I even liked the music.

As for the obcr, it's done with such incredibly poor quality that I can't bear listening to it. As I've stated in other threads down through the years, the recording sounds like it was done in a tin can.