The Cast Photo by Don Taylor

The latest immersive theatre experience, The Copacabana Supper Club, opened last week in a co-production of the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts (where the show takes place) and Rhizome Productions. The Copacabana Supper Club purports to take guests inside a swanky night club during carnaval, with a cast of seven playing the roles of the club's owner, Morena (Phoenix Rose), a new arrival from Rio, Carioca (Glauco Araujo), and five showgirls: Key Lime (Silvana Sousa), CoCo (Haninah Abdullah, Lady H), Daisy (Sierra Bolar), JuJuBe (Yaadi Erica), and Ginger (Clarisse Nicole).

The Copacabana Supper Club is housed in a ballroom space at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland. The room is set with approximately 20 tables, seating four to eight people each. There is a circular tiered stage at the center of the space, and stairs that lead to the stage at one end of the room where the seven-piece band is placed. Sconces around the room are decorated with sprays of ostrich and peacock feathers, and long streamers of white fabric are hung from a central chandelier to the outer walls.

The show begins as Carioca does a solo dance number. The very fit Araujo moves with a powerful grace and lithe flexibility. Soon, Morena appears and asks him to join the club as its Emcee, though he never actually does any emcee duties, which is confusing. This, sadly, sets a precedent for the evening's story, which is billed as being inspired by Brazilian telenovelas, but never really comes together. There are a few references to Carioca's immigration status (and his parentage), but there's never enough story to really hook us in. And the five showgirls' only participation in the story seems to be as observers and occasional commentators.

The music all has a Brazilian, bossa nova feel. I was pleased they performed Antônio Carlos Jobim's delightful "The Waters of March," but felt the inclusion of "The Girl from Ipanema" (rendered here as "The Boy from Ipanema") and Barry Manilow's "Copacabana (At the Copa)" were a little too on the nose for me. Despite there being some lovely musical moments, several of the singers had trouble staying on pitch, and their voices were far too low in the sound mix, a situation exacerbated by the room's overly bright acoustics.

Being a supper club, food and drink are an important part of the experience, but major improvements need to be made in this aspect, as well. Some of the dishes are served on paper plates, with paper napkins. Cutlery is of the cheapest quality, and dessert came with plastic utensils. To make matters worse, the entrees (a choice of two) arrived only lukewarm and were presented with very little artistry, as though someone had served themselves from a steam table buffet. Portions were also rather undersized. (Dinner comes at an additional cost to your ticket price.) Perhaps this is all due to the newness of the show and will be corrected as the run continues.

Overall, the concept is an interesting one, but the show lacks the festive energy of carnaval, which was further reduced by the fact that on Friday night (when I attended), there were only about 20 of us in the audience. Combine that with a lack of true immersiveness, a paper-thin "story," and some weak voices, and The Copacabana Supper Club needs to significantly lift its game to be worth experiencing.

The Copacabana Supper Club runs through June 29, 2025, at Harry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 10th Street, Oakland CA. Performances Thursdays-Sundays at 8:00pm (doors open at 7:30pm). Tickets from $57.70-$77.27 (including fees), and food and drink (depending on what you purchase) can set you back $50 or more a person. For tickets and information, please visit www.hjkarts.com/copacabana .