THE MAMBO KINGS

We went to see THE MAMBO KINGS last week at The Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco. It's running for a couple of weeks out here before it's Broadway opening in mid-July. The female leads were fantastic. My favorite, Justina Machado, from the HBO smash hit Six Feet Under, toar it up! Christiane Noll of the hit Jekyll & Hyde was hillarious and she sure can sing! The audience seemed to love Albita, a Grammy Award-winning Cuban music star, as singer Evalina Montoya. The dancing was eclectrifying as were the sets, lighting and music. The script needs a few cuts here and there and the actors need to put more life into a few of the slower acting scenes. The male leads, NYPD Blue star Esai Morales and Mexican-born actor-singer Jamie Camil, need to work a little more on a couple of their songs. Both singers seem to be baritones but they are forced to often sing in that uncomfortable place between chest voice and falsetto. A little more practice should fix the problem. Both of them act the parts very well. If they get their stuff together by July, I bet it will do great on Broadway.