''La Cava'' is a musical with a book by Dana Broccoli, lyrics by John Claflin and Laurence O'Keefe, additional lyrics by Shaun McKenna and music by O'Keefe and Stephen Keeling. Based on Broccoli's novel ''Florinda'', its title is derived not from the sparkling wine but for the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

word for a scarlet woman. The plot is based on the legend of

Florinda la Cava Florinda la Cava, or simply La Cava, is a character who, according to legend, played a central role in the downfall of the Visigothic kingdom in Spain in 711. Although she was treated as historical in Spain for centuries, there is no evidence for ...

, daughter of Julian, Count of Ceuta, whose love triangle involving King Roderic sets a massive war in motion. In the 8th century, Roderic was the last ruler of

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

Spain and was overthrown by the Moorish invasion. The show was originally presented at UCLA's Freud Playhouse from the 1–23 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 with "striking choreography" by

Mitch Sebastian Mitch Sebastian (born 1966) is a British theatre director, choreographer and performer. He has been nominated for an Olivier Award and Whatsonstage Award for writing, directing and choreographing '' The Rat Pack: Live from Las Vegas.'' He was Ar ...

, the West End production opened on 8 June 2000 at the

Victoria Palace Theatre The Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, opposite Victoria Station. The structure is categorised as a Grade II* listed building. History Origins The theatre began life as a small conc ...

, where it ran for six weeks before transferring to the

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, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...

. It remained there until closing on 3 February 2001. The original cast included

Oliver Tobias Oliver Tobias Freitag (born 6 August 1947), known professionally as Oliver Tobias, is a Swiss-born UK-based film, stage, and television actor and director. Biography Born in Zürich, Switzerland, he is the son of the Austrian-Swiss actor Robe ...

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 The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' 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.

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

David Benedict of

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

observed, "Laurence O'Keefe and Stephen Keeling's score has size, energy, and even a bit of soul

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

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

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 The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Synopsis

Florinda Espatorias is the daughter of the

general who is governor of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

in the early 8th century. When the city 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 ( , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESC ...

. 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

References

Description of the showInformation about and reviews of the show

Review of the UCLA production

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cava 2000 musicals Musicals based on novels West End musicals