One of the musicals that has surprised both press and audience this season in London is ZORRO, a show telling the story of this famous character and inspired by the Isabel Allende´s bestseller `Zorro: a novel´. Allende also serves as a co-producer of the show. This new musical features songs by The Gipsy Kings.

Flamenco and Andalusian culture are very present on this musical. This is the reason the producers decided to trust spanish flamenco star and coreographer Rafael Amargo to create the coreography of the show. Some of the actors of the cast are from Spain, too, and some of them are very familiar by musical theatre lovers in Spain. This is the case of Sonia Dorado or Lucy Lummis. Other ones have a large curriculum as flamenco dancers, as Vera León or Ramón Ruiz.

ZORRO is a surprising musical for the way it combines flamenco with the purest syle of British musical. All pieces fit perfectly and satisfy followers of both genders (flamenco and musicals) ecqually. The story is agile, entertaining and tender, and includes high doses of action. For these reasons, people who go to see the show spend almost the three hours of running time completely inmersed in what happens above the stage.

It is curious to listen English performers to sing and speak in Spanish. It must be difficult for them to offer a good diction, as there are Castilian phonemes that not exist in the English language. Fortunalety, in the songs sung by the company that have sentences in Spanish, the voices of performers from Spain make it easier to understand the lyrics. It is also a great surprise to see the good handling of castanets by the entire company. Without any doubt, Amargo and his assistants have done a great job getting a fantastic result on the choral choreographies.

The character of Zorro has appeared on several films and television series around the world. He is one of the most human heros, with whom the audience can be identified bacause of his proximity. Antonio Banderas starred next to Catherine Zeta-Jones on the last 2 films based on Zorro: `The Mask of Zorro´(1998) and `The legend of Zorro´(2000). On the musical showing at Garrick Theatre, Matt Rawle plays the main role. Coincidentally, this is the second time that Rawle performs on the stage a role who had been previously played in movies by Banderas: Rawle also starred as Che on the acclaimed version of EVITA at Adelphi Theatre in 2006.

Matt Rawle is a terrific Zorro, he has a beautiful voice and a seductive look that conquer the audience every time he appears on the stage. Next to him, there are a sweet Emma Williams as Luisa, a severe Adam Levy as Ramon and an extraordinary and exulting Lesli Margherita as Inez. The three of them are brilliant in their respective roles.

The music of The Gipsy Kings has been adapted for the stage by John Cameron, who is also the author of some of the songs. Among the musical numbers, highlight some melodic and sentimental themes (as “Hope” or “Falling”) and some choral themes (as “Baila Me” or “Bamboleo”).

The story written by Helen Edmunso and Stephen Clark to bring to the stage the legend of the masked man is effective and dynamic.

The opening of ZORRO at Garrick Theatre wasn´t easy. Some previews functions had to be delayed in order to solve some technical problems. This is so because this musical has shocking action scenes, fast choreographies, sword fighting, magic tricks, etc. Every movement on ZORRO is studied at the smallest detail.

ZORRO is a surprising, entertaining, fun and agile musical that seduces the audience from the very first moment. During its first month, it has been a huge box office success. Not surprisingly, the show has extended its booking period at the Garrick until September 2009.