Spanish La Cava Transfers to Piccadilly
Date: 10 July 2000
The new Spanish musical, La Cava, starring Oliver Tobias, has announced that it will transfer from the Victoria Palace to the Piccadilly Theatre next month. It was initially thought that the show would be closing early, after just seven weeks, but producers have now revealed that it will simply be shifted to a more centrally located West End home. The award-winning musical Spend Spend Spend will close at the Piccadilly in early August, with La Cava moving in from 21 August. La Cava finishes its run at the Victoria Palace - where it premiered on 1 June, following previews from 15 May - on 22 July 2000.
Set in Spain and Morocco in 711, La Cava is based on the true story of a Spanish general who starts a war between Spain and the Moors in the belief that the Spanish King Roderick has seduced his daughter, Florinda. But Florinda has in fact fallen in love with Roderick even though she has been promised in marriage to an army officer and has also attracted the devotion of an Arab teenager.
Oliver Tobias leads the cast as the Spanish king. Tobias' recent work includes the films The Brylcreem Boys and Grizzly Falls and the TV series Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married and Real Women. He is best known for the 1970s soft porn film The Stud. Julie-Alanah Brighten plays Florinda and Paul Keating is the Arab teenager besotted with her. Also in the cast are David Bardsley, Aeva May and Patrick Romer.
La Cava has a book by Dana Broccoli, music by Laurence O'Keefe and Stephen Keeling, and lyrics by O'Keefe, John Claflin and Shaun McKenna. The production is directed by Steven Dexter, whose credits include the 1997 production of Romance, Romance at the Gielgud.
Spend Spend Spend, starring Barbara Dickson and Rachel Leskovac and directed by Jeremy Sams, tells the true story of pools winner Viv Nicholson who won and spent a fortune in the 1960s. Written by Steve Browne and Justin Greene, the musical is based on Nicholson's autobiography, co-written by Stephen Smith.
Spend Spend Spend has won two Best Musical awards (Evening Standard and Critics Circle) and a Best Actress in a Musical Olivier for Dickson. The singer is due to be replaced by Diane Langton from 24 July. It had been booking at the Piccadilly until 6 October. It opened there on 12 October 1999, following previews from 5 October, and its premiere at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 1998.
