Zorro the Musical

My Zorro review: Great Entertainment!

Zorro! was on our list of must-see shows this summer and last week we settled our selves down into our seats and waited to be entertained. I’d heard a lot about fancy sword work, acrobatics and effects but wondered if all of this would get in the way of the story. Well, I needn’t have worried. The show is a great romp through a simple story and I just found it all incredibly enjoyable from start to finish.

Families go to see Zorro

As I looked round the audience I saw a huge mix of ages with families of young children, teenagers and much older people. I was a little concerned about the large number of quite young children but that turned out to be unfounded. They were all just as entranced as everyone else and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Zorro as the perfect show for families.

Zorro as a musical with dance

The lively hot passionate and at times heartbreakingly tragic flamenco songs and guitar music added hugely to the magical theatre atmosphere. personally, I would have been happy to hear more from the flamenco performers, but this complex and at times challenging music is used fairly sparingly, which is perhaps easier for an unaccustomed audience. There are some great original songs and also some from the Gypsy Kings’ own repertoire are woven into the plot quite cleverly.

I particularly enjoyed some of the chorus pieces, and overall the mix of singing and dancing was full of energy and exuberance to the point of creating a wonderfully inviting festival atmosphere by the end of the show.

The cast of Zorro

My absolute favourite was Lesli Margherita as Inez, the Gypsy Queen. She was smart and funny, playing the role with an archness that connected her beautifully with the audience. Her singing and dancing were brilliant.

Matt Rawle made a superb Diego, feckless and charming with an edge of steel. He’s got a lovely sense of comic timing and some of my favourite scenes were between him and Lesi. He’s also very athletic and we were treated to some fine stunt work at which I could only gasp in amazement.

Adam Levy was a stunningly vile Ramon, the villain of the piece. His acting was excellent and his singing very fine. In the end he made the odious Ramon a believable character, a tortured soul, more to be pitied than hated.

Nick Caveliere was very good as Garcia, playing the role with a lovely mix of comedy and pathos.

Emma Williams as Luisa glowed with light and looked lovely from the start, then rose to the occasion of singing the set piece solo and a couple of nice duets. My only small reservation about this casting was that she just seemed to look and act slightly out of place against the colourful hispanic flavour of everything else. Like a moonflower in a bed of hibiscus.

Final thoughts

By the end of an evening I could hardly keep still. The Gypsy King’s music and this exuberant production had got right under my skin and I, and just about everyone else, danced my way out of the theatre. Grinning at each other from ear to ear whilst reluctantly exiting the theatre, the audience left no doubt that they had been well and truly entertained, a great night out having been enjoyed by all. I would thoroughly recommend Zorro the musical to anybody.

** Book Zorro the musical theatre breaks **

Other Zorro Reviews

Three stars from What’s on Stage : Zorro

Four from Michael Billington in the Guardian : Zorro

“Lacklustre First Night ” by the Independent – aw, shame for them.

“a whale of a time” : West End Whingers

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Zorro took £255,000 in the first week of August! Not surprising then that the producers have extended its booking period until September 2009. The Bristol Evening Post says:

Star of the show Matt Rawle has described the action packed musical as “a family show”. He said: “There are loads of little lads sitting there with Zorro hats and Zorro masks on. Sitting there, not breathing, trying to take it all in. And they love it, they absolutely love it and they come round to the stage door.”

This sounds about right to me. The evening we saw it as we left there were lots of little boys quoting chunks of dialogue and sword fighting their way out of the theatre This makes Zorro the perfect entertainment for the whole family and ideal for family theatre breaks.

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Zorro tickets are included in the latest theatre breaks offer! I was amazed when I realised that you could book weekday performances during the Summer Holidays for Zorro and get a free hotel. This means that you can see Zorro and stay in a 3* hotel for as little as £55 per person! Zorro is full of swashbuckling action and is one of the hottest new musicals in the West End at the moment.

Zorro – dates and performances

The offer is for weekday evening performances from Friday August 1st to Friday September 5th, Monday – Friday – 7:30 pm

The Hotels

The London hotels included in the offer are all at least 3* London hotels. Some are close to the theatre others are a little further away but near other attractions. You can even opt to upgrade to a 4* hotel for as little as £10 per person.

Book now – these tickets won’t last!

This is such a good offer that you really have to act quickly and book as soon as possible.

** Free Hotel offer **

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Free London Hotel Deals

The summer sale at Show and Stay continues with the craziest London hotel deals for August. They are actually giving away one night’s stay in a posh London hotel for absolutely nothing! I don’t know how they can do it, its just mad. The only snag is that you have to sit through an entire performance at one of the West End’s top musicals. Better choose wisely then!

The Deal

It’s your chance to spend a free night in a three star London hotel after a great night out, just by buying theatre tickets for a weekday (yes, that includes Friday nights) in August 2008 out of a range of eleven of the best West End musicals or two plays (see below). In fact the offer extends right up until Friday 5th of September so this could also be very interesting to those who live just close enough to London to get home after a night out, but would relish the opportunity to stay over and do something in London the next day. You could turn an enjoyable evening at the theatre into an unforgettable city break for as little as £42.50 per person. That price would be for two people seeing The 39 Steps and then sharing a double room at the Jury’s Inn Islington.

The Hotels

You can stay in a 3* hotel from amongst the prestigious list available at Show and Stay. Some of these are closer to Theatreland whilst others are in the popular South Kensington area – it’s up to you. Or you could upgrade to a luxurious Four Star Hotel for as little as ten pounds. What?!? Ten pounds is just ridiculous, I mean you probably couldn’t get a dingy bed and breakfast in drizzly Morecombe for that price! We’re talking about prestigious international style Hotels in central London, where the jet set business community stay over and celebrities hang out.

The shows

These are the popular shows included in the free london hotel offer, together with the total inclusive show and hotel deal price per person (including a £5 supplement for the first three shows listed)

• We Will Rock You – £60 Rock On! book
• The Sound of Music – £60 book
• Billy Elliot – £65 book
• Never Forget – £54.50 Take That! book
• Chicago – £52.50 book
• Spamalot – £55 Monty Python’s hit comedy musical book
• Blood Brothers – £50 book
• Female of the Species – £47.50 *comedy book
• Marguerite – £60 book *recommended classy new musical at the Haymarket
• The 39 Steps – £42.50 book
• Buddy – £55 Rave on book
• Zorro – £55 book *recommended for the fantastic flamenco music and special effects
• Stomp – £45 book

Click on any of the shows above for more information or here to transfer to the special page on the booking site. All you have to do to get the free London hotel deals is to keep within the 13 qualifying shows, choose a weekday before September 7th 2008 and then pick one of the first hotels that comes up, with the golden “offer hotel” badge. then start looking forward to your best ever summer theatre break in London. Have a good one.

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Zorro – The Musical, should have started previews on June 30 at the  Garrick Theatre. The opening of the show has now been delayed until July 2.

According to The Stage the producers said they are:

“disappointed to delay the first preview but the safety of the cast and crew is their priority.”

As Zorro involves lots of stage trickery, sword fighting and high energy aerial acrobatics, the staging has to be perfect. It seems likely that the staging will be even more dramatic than it was for the tour so health and safety need to be a priority.

Personally I can’t wait! This is one I really want to see

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Zorro the Musical

Zorro The Musical begins previewing in London on June 30th at the Garrick Theatre near Trafalgar Square. This is a show that promises a very special combination of great music, dance, acrobatics and drama in the fabulous Flamenco style.

** Book Zorro the musical theatre breaks **

The plot re-tells a legendary story of good versus evil set in hispanic America and uses sensational aerial acrobatics, closely choreographed sword-fighting and special effects magic. The traditional flamenco music and dance is authentically brought to the West End stage via world famous flamenco dancer Rafael Amargo and leading flemenco musicians and singers of the renowned Gypsy Kings.

* Director:
Christopher Renshaw directs having experience from We Will Rock You and The King and I.

* Score
The Gipsy Kings provide the score including some of their best known numbers: Bambeleo, Baila Me and Djobi Djoba.

* Choreography
By world famous flamenco dancer Rafael Amargo

* Cast
A cast of 30 includes some of the West End’s leading musical theatre performers and authentic flamenco artists.

* Matt Rawle takes the title role of Zorro aka Diego

Matt’s West End credentials include Miss Saigon, the title role in Martin Guerre and he also performed as Che in Evita.

* Emma Williams stars as Luisa, Zorro’s love interest, having played Johanna in Sweeney Todd and been in the original production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

* Adam Levy as Ramon.

Adam Levy’s London stage credits include Nick Hytner’s Henry V at the National Theatre.

* Lesli Margherita as Inez

* Other cast members for this new production of Zorro The Musical include Nick Cavaliere and Jonathan Newth.

** Book Zorro the musical theatre breaks **

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Zorro the musical

Originally uploaded by Andyrob

Not long to wait now for Zorro the Musical with action packed drama and flamenco music from the Gypsy Kings at the Garrick Theatre.

** Book Zorro the musical theatre breaks **

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Emma Williams as Luisa

Zorro the Musical will feature Emma Williams as leading lady, Luisa, according to an interview in The Evening Courier. Emma will play Zorro’s love interest, the role played by Catherine Zeta Jones in the film. Emma has impeccable West End credentials having played Johanna in Sweeney Todd at the Royal Festival Hall. She also took leading roles in Sex, Chips and Rock ‘n’ Roll, Batboy The Musical and Promises Promises. This was based on the 1960s Billy Wilder comedy The Apartment. Emma played Fran Kubelik, a role made famous by Shirley MacLaine. Her first West End performance was as Truly Scrumptious in the original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2002, when she was only 19. More recently she played Madonna in the ill-fated Desperately Seeking Susan.

Matt Rawle as Zorro

Matt Rawle is Zorro. Zorro is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega, a wealthy caballero and master swordsman living in Spanish California, who defends the people of the land against injustice. Matt also has a host of musical credits, including Chris in Miss Siagon, the title role in Martin Guerre and Marius in the touring production of Les Miserables. Most recently he played Che Guevarra in Evita at the Adelphi in the 2006 production.

Zorro the Musical

Johnston McCulley created the the iconic character Zorro in 1919. Two blockbuster films were made in recent years, based on McCulley’s story, Mask of Zorro in 1998 and Legend of Zorro in 2005, both featured Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta Jones in the lead roles.

In 2005 Isabelle Allende wrote Zorro: A Novel in which she retells the tale of the original Zorro legend adding her own brand of magical realism and South American culture to McCulley’s original story. It is this book rather than the earlier one which was the inspiration for the musical.

The combination of Allende’s story, two fine leading actors, the music of the Gypsy Kings, lots of spectacular sword play, extraordinary aerial acrobatics, incredible magic trickery and genuine flamenco dancing, should make for a really stunning evening in the London theatre.

Zorro the Musical opens at the Garrick on June 30th.

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Zorro The Musical will be playing at the Garrick Theatre from June 30th 2008 to January 10th 2009.

Zorro The Musical, with music by the Gipsy Kings, will be a great spectacle with aerial acrobatics, sword-fighting and authentic Spanish flamenco. Here’s a taster of the Gypsy Kings at the rehearsals to get you in the mood:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The story of Zorro is a dramatic and passionate tale of a romantic hero but with enough action to keep the most macho of companions interested. The high energy production combines authentic traditional Flamenco with the showmanship of the Gypsy Kings. This exciting group of musicians are already famous for bringing their popular version of traditional Spanish music to a worldwide audience.
A spokesperson for Zorro The Musical said:

“Crackling with action and adventure, this multi-million pound musical thrillingly brings to life the legend of the masked Spanish hero, the original crusader of justice.

“Zorro promises an evening of highly charged, swashbuckling musical entertainment.”

I’m sure it will – this is one I really have to see. I love flamenco!

** book Zorro theatre breaks **

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The swashbuckling spectacular “Mask of Zorro” is a old theatre favourite, I remember seeing a lovely production at Theatre Royal, Stratford East back when my children were small. A new production is due to start touring this spring with a very good chance of transferring to the West End later in 2008. This version comes from the same prodction team behind We Will Rock You and features a musical score by flamenco band The Gipsy Kings. The Mask of Zorro opens as a world premiere in Woking’s New Victoria Theatre on the 13th March 2008.

** Book Zorro theatre breaks **

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