Her name was Lola -- and judging by the way the cast bellowed, they must have heard it in Abingdon, writes Paul Stammers.

The high-decibel delivery was one of several features that failed to endear me to this production during the first half.

However, things improved dramatically after the interval, as the brassy veteran singer Conchita (Gemma Craven) galvanised the decidedly kitsch show.

The curtain rose on a set that looked rather cheap. A veil over the stage proclaimed 'Barry Manilow's Copacabana', which descended at regular intervals in case we had forgotten what we were watching.

The story begins as songwriter Stephen (Nik Stoter) becomes captivated by a catchy riff.

His imagination carries us into a 1940s world of brash nightclubs, where a naive girl from Tulsa, Lola La Mar (Louise Freeman) turns from gaffe-prone frump to raunchy Copacabana girl by the corniest means available to a scriptwriter -- taking off her glasses and untying her hair. Later, she is kidnapped by Cuban gangster Rico (Mark Faith), who wants her to star at his Tropicana club. It all ends in tears -- and more.

If only the entire musical had the va-va-voom of Who Am I Kidding?, a silly number early in the second act. Instead, while the dancers were gorgeous, the routines sometimes looked patchy and the production seemed unsure whether it wanted to be a gaudy floorshow or a foot-tapping singalong. Copacabana runs until June 28.