La Bamba - Curve Leicester / Tour

The Wanted's Siva Kaneswaran joins Strictly Come Dancing champion Pasha Kovalev, and r Inês Fernandez in, La Bamba!

does anyone know who is producing/general managing the tour?

Just saw the matinee at the Peacock Theatre and it was just ok.

The Latin dance choreography and Latin music are upbeat and fun to listen to and watch, and the lead actress is likeable, charismatic and can dance and sing with the best of them, but the story, when it's not being boring, it's being nonsensical.

Spoilers follow. . .

OMG the story: Sofia Martinez (the infectiously upbeat and incandescent Ines Fernandez) ghoulishly wants to perform at the venue Ritchie Valens never got to perform at cos he died. She sets out on a music career, writing a dull song ("Mariposa" aka the Butterfly song, which is nowhere near as good as all the jukebox numbers, about her wanting to spread her wings), but wouldn't you know it, the evil music industry wants her to change her name to "Sophie Martins." When she does it, even the most cuddly of her friends (Siva Kaneswaran's Mateo), suddenly shun her, and treat her horribly, as if politics somehow trumps friendship. Then, get this, she is somehow inspired by Ritchie Valens (who in fact changed his own name from Valenzuela to Valens) to want to change her name BACK (say what!?).

The ridiculous elements, of being shunned by your most loving friends for making understandable compromises, the ghoulish element (of saying you love Valens but then wanting to perform in a venue he died before he could perform at), the nonsensical element, of being inspired to have a Latin surname by a guy who un-Latinned his own name) are blended with such a run-of-the-mill boring girl-succeeds-in-pop-by-getting-Instagram-followers backbone of a plot, that I genuinely couldn't believe what I was watching.

This made the unsurprising run-of-the-mill Rock Follies plot seem like towering genius, in comparison.

Token mentions of Trump and Covid's horrible effects did not counteract how confounded I was.

Storywise, "The Buddy Holly Musical" which celebrates, in passing, the life of Valens by depicting his final glorious concert (instead of focusing on the venue he never made it to), or "On your Feet: the Gloria Estefan Musical," which depicted a real life Latina triumphing (gloriously) against very real odds, made so much more sense, depicting much more believable and dramatic twists and turns, and genuine poignant moments. This pales by comparison.

Where this does triumph is in having two Strictly professionals (champion dancer Graziano di Prima and Pasha Kovalev, and other expert choreographers besides) involved, resulting in what looks like Strictly Level choreographed Latin dances, with 14 or so dancers all dazzlingly in lockstep.

Where this show also triumphs is in having a wonderful lead actress, Ines Fernandes, who is so upbeat, so owns the stage, is so dazzling at singing and dancing along with the talented ensemble, that she almost gaslights you that the story makes sense.

3 stars from me, elevated by the choreography and the lead actress.

PS: Running time was 2 hours, 10 minutes, including an interval.

I'm just happy for Pasha that it gets him out of the house.

He barely does anything, just walks around a lot, then tries to act a bit in the second half. The guy from The Wanted isn't any better either. But it's a success for the dancers at least.