I hadn't read anything about it because I wanted to be surprised. I guessed, since it was a television show, there might be those huge, rolling TV cameras on stage. I was right. The show was a 1952 recreation of the filming of two episodes before a live audience with commercials throughout. Complete with high hanging applause sign that flashed on and off, giving us our direction, the stage was divided in half by two sparkling gold curtains, which slid back like shower curtains to reveal Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's living room on the right and Ricky's club band on the left.
Everybody knows how being in showbiz is a driving goal of Lucy's and it's included here. From singing off-key with Fred, Ethel and Ricky to jitterbugging like a loon due to having distorted vision from unexpected eye drops, you were transported to a time when entertainment was wholesome.
An announcer wisecracked and stirred the audience throughout. And the commercials were a favorite for me, with all the actors, except Lucy and Ricky, playing multiple parts, singing and dancing and gyrating in colorful clothes of the decade. Brylcreem ( a little dab'll do ya), Chevrolet (see the USA in your Chevrolet) and Alka-Seltzer (with Speedy, himself) were pure nostalgic.
Cuban-born Euriamis Losada, who played Ricky, and Thea Brooks, who played Lucy, were convincing actors. I feel disloyal saying this, but Losada was as good-looking as Desi Arnaz and a much better singer. When he let go with Babalu and pounded on his conga drum, the audience went wild. Brooks, in her curly red wig had more than massive shoes to fill. Her delivery, body language and crazy dancing mimicked Lucy's very well. We all just wanted her to wear Lucy's face. Impossible, but that would have made the show perfect.
If the "I Love Lucy" Live on Stage traveling company comes to your area, try and see it. The long trailer outside the theater reads: LIVE AND IN COLOR for the very first time! - and is it ever.
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