At The Copa - Review
DAVID CASSIDY AT THE COPA - THE LAST SHOW
January 21, 2001
By Amy Shatze
The show was great! (as usual) I'd just like to share some odds and ends that were different this past weekend, since the show was about to close. Similar to EFX, the cast began to play fast and loose with the script as they took a what-have-we-got-to-lose attitude.
On Thursday night, just before David began "I Think I Love You," he mumbled into the microphone "Only three more nights of this" and laughed. Friday night, when Johnny is talking to Beaumont who suggests he take on a partner, Johnny asked, "Ever thought of working in a tu-tu?" instead of a dress. Just before Johnny's scene with Cookie he could clearly be heard backstage saying "I need more voice and reverb." I'm not sure if he realized his mic was turned on or not. Saturday night, at the end of "River Deep, Mountain High" Ruby not only grabbed Johnny's butt, but rubbed continuously in large circles, then let go and slapped and grabbed again. David just about lost it from laughing!
Sunday, closing night, the audience was wild! Lots of both DC and Sheena fans were up front. David's family: Sue, Beau, cousin Al, Evelyn, Katie and Katie's mother were all seated in the second row. Normally when David is about to begin Mack-the-Knife he's trying to wake the audience up and asks for more applause, but this time the fans were clapping and screaming so loud he yelled, "Well, it's about time!" It was pretty obvious that the cast had carte blanche on improvising here and there. Even the dancers got pretty silly. During the scene when Lefty tells Ruby there's some people he'd like to show her off to and she normally looks him up and down, she stared at his crotch for at least good thirty seconds. The audience was laughing hysterically! Lefty was at a loss. He finally started to thrust his crotch forward, like "get on with it already!" The first time the sword swallower came out, the assistant surprisingly handed him a gun instead of the small knife. Then, when he injures himself with the large knife, instead of stepping in front of him and escorting him off the stage, she grabbed the hole of his vest sleeve and just dragged him off. David cracked up! And, again, lots of laughter from the audience. We knew the show so well that any small change sent us into fits. During the part of Ruby's song "Strut" where the dancers are on the floor at her feet, they started rubbing her legs up and down. She started to laugh and tried to keep singing, but finally cracked up and missed a few words; then she finished the song and yelled "My girls!" Later, when Johnny asked Ruby "How about that number we've been working on?", Ruby said, "What about my dead mother?" David lost it! He was about to crack up so hard he just ran off the stage. Then, Beaumont cracked up and ran off. Ruby was about to leave too and Lefty said, "Oh no, you're not leaving me here all by myself with this." (Or something like that.) Then, when Lefty took off his shirt and tie while talking to Ruby, he did it very strip tease style and kept thrusting his crotch at her and massaging his groin...very funny! At the end of "River Deep, Mountain High" not only did Ruby grab Johnny's butt, Johnny finally grabbed back! He gave her a really good squeeze too. During the pause after David starts "I Think I Love You," the fans were screaming and he looked down and said, "Thanks for the guitar lessons, Mom." Evelyn laughed. During the pause in "Cherish" when Ruby says to Beaumont, "I just wish I could find him" she also added the line, "Because little Johnny needs his daddy." Again the fans went into hysterics!
David's closing speech was very touching. He thanked the president of the Rio, the head of marketing, and the Copa associate producer, Doug Voet. He brought Doug up on the stage and explained that they had worked together on Broadway in "Joseph" in 1983. He thanked the Rio for giving him the opportunity to go out on the road and tour again throughout the U.S. and possibly England and Australia (lots of screams from the British fans). He brought out Robyn, a few others, and thanked the entire cast. He picked up someone's mostly empty glass of tequila from the front row to make a toast, and sang a verse of Sinatra's "Angel Eyes" a capella-style. Very beautiful! Then they all sang "My Kind of Town" and he hugged everyone, including Sheena, just as the curtain was coming down. Very much a weekend to remember.
Thank you to Amy and Erik (David Cassidy Fan Site of Norway) for the review.
