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MADRID, SPAIN (1980)
One month before a Stigwood/Prince Evita premiered in Vienna, the first
non-Prince-directed production of Evita opened in Madrid. This was a
riskier proposition than the other companies had been because Madrillenos have
traditionally avoided musicals like the plague. But producer/adapter Ignacio
Artime had also staged Superstar there to great success and Isabel and
Juan Peron had made Madrid their home for many years.
The Madrid production replicated the others in some ways, but added some
interesting variations. Magaldi was much more realistically portrayed, the actor
garbed in a natty grey suit, homburg and white ascot. "Our dancers are horrible
and I wish we had Bob Gunton," said Artime. He noted that there is practically
no tradition of classical ballet in Spain, the basis of much Broadway-style
choreography. He also felt that opera singer Julio Catania more often went for
the note rather than the lyric behind it, when playing Peron.
The dancing was a bit inferior to the Broadway/London musical norm, but the cast
was larger and the passion greater. Paloma San Basilio, a very popular singer in
Spain, was a luminous, stunning Eva, projecting the same charisma that bound
Eva's admirers to her when she visited Madrid on her Rainbow Tour. Patxi Andion
played Che as intelligently and forcefully as Clarence Darrow, patiently arguing
his case, while beneath the surface lay the threat of violence.
There was no orchestra; the music was done on tape because there were not enough
musicians in the correct union to play all eleven performances per week (the
same thing happened in Mexico City). This allowed a lavish set of orchestrations
to be done for 54 musicians, by an Argentine who added local instruments and put
a true Latin flavor into the score. In addition to a large stage, the actors
used a semicircular ramp around what had been the orchestra pit, now holding
members of the audience. The sensitive translation by Artime and director Jaime
Azpilicueta was impressive; they called "High Flying Adored" "Ya Estan a tus
Pies" (They are at your feet), a brilliant re-interpretation of an
untranslatable idiom.
Paloma seemed to have no problems with vocal strain (she did seven or eight of
the performances each week), but she did have one fear. "I think maybe Isabel
Peron might come backstage one night with a gun," she said, more than
half-seriously. Isabel, generally considered insane, had returned to Madrid
after four years of house arrest after she was overthrown as President of
Argentina. Paloma also said she felt Madrillenos liked the show because the Eva
as presented on stage was very similar to the image of Eva in their own culture.
Perhaps it was the language, perhaps the locale, perhaps the authenticity of the
cast, but seeing Evita in Madrid was the closest thing to going back in
time and seeing the real thing.
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© 2000
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