From: murray@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (Thomas Murray)
Subject: OBA, OBA...
Organization: The Institute for the Learning Sciences, Evanston, IL
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 20:03:09 GMT


Another item from clarinet, this morning.  

-tom murray

From: clarinews@clarinet.com (FREDERICK M. WINSHIP, UPI Senior Editor)
Newsgroups: clari.news.arts,clari.news.interest.people,clari.news.top
Subject: Broadway welcomes Brazil's ``Oba Oba '93''
Keywords: plays, stage, entertainment industry, misc industry, people,
	human interest
X-Supersedes: <broadwayU2O51145ae@clarinet.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 92 8:51:20 PDT
ACategory: usa
Slugword: broadway
Priority: major
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 608; Id: z3160; Sel: xxesp; Adate: 10-5-1150aed; Ver: 0/1
Codes: yesprxx., yboerxx., ynhprxx., tncn....
Note: (brazil)

	NEW YORK (UPI) -- ``Oba Oba '93,'' Brazil's best entertainment export
since Carmen Miranda, has settled into the Marquis Theater for six weeks
just in time to give the faltering Broadway season a transfusion of
glamor, glitz, and good-natured fun -- and music that will have you
dancing in the aisles.
	The samba line that ends the show calls for audience participation
(shades of ``Five Guys Named Moe'') and suddenly it's Carnival in Rio!
Cafe au lait bodies in just a hint of costume make the normally clothed
ladies and gents they lure from their seats look overdressed and self-
conscious, but who cares?
	This is a show that demands little more than leaving your cares at
home. It is a tonic for the blurred eye and the weary ear, bringing
zesty rhythm, bombastic color, and not a little sex to bear on the
worries of the world which are held at bay for about two-and-a-half
delightful hours.
	This is the latest edition of Italian impresario Franco Fontana's
Brazilian revues choreographed by Roberto Abrahao that have served as an
important cultural ambassador for that nation's exotic mix of
Portuguese, African and native Indian cultures.
	``Origins of Brazil'' is the show's opening number, dramatizing the
melting pot aspect of the nation's history in song and dance, and the
second act opens with a sensationally choreographed macumba ritual
peopled by popular voodoo saints who pass as Catholic divinities.
	If the cast of 75 can be said to have a star, it is Eliana Estevao.
Her thrilling, full-blown voice is a force of nature at its best in 
``Aquarela do Brazil,'' the alternative national anthem which
rhapsodizes on Brazil's natural splendors. She shares her stardom with a
score of wonderful musicians performing on exotic instruments under the
direction of Wilson Mauro.
	All of Brazil's rhythmic gifts to the world of music and dance -- the
samba, bossa nova, lambada and the new samba reggae -- are brilliantly
performed and hit parade songs of the past such as ``Brasil'' and ``The
Girl from Ipanema'' are presented as a medley by nine singers seated on
high stools in front of a stage curtain, a nice contrast to the
otherwise lush staging.
	The most amazing act is a combination of martial art and dance
performed by the maculele, groups of male acrobats who use swords and
batons in combat. There also is a demonstration of the capoeira, another
male dance form from Angola using an arcing single string instrument
with a coconut shell soundbox that is struck by a wood stick.
	This authentic Brazilian entertainment is mixed but not overshadowed
by the Las Vegas treatment accorded other aspects of popular culture.
There is an homage to Carmen Miranda that is true to her brand of
costuming (flounces, flowers, fruits) but falls short of recreating her
firecracker personality exemplified in the ``chica-chica-boom'' number.
	The panorma of 13 scenes provides for just as many changes of
costume, many providing for maximum nudity. There are the all-white
costumes of the Northeast and green and white costumes for the Eastern
Amazon region, a watercolor palette for ``Aquarela do Brazil'' gowns,
and the metallic glitter of carnival finery for the finale.
	Scenery is elaborate and provocative, particularly sets evoking
jungle and river settings. A backdrop with the figure of Christ facing
Rio harbor is less successful as a setting but serves as a reminder of
the blend of the childlike innocence and worldly carnality that gives
the Brazilian personality its irresistible charm.

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