Unexpected Publicity

[mrdreamjeans]

At rehearsal on Thursday, our production stage manager took me aside and asked me if I would help out with a fundraiser. An ABC affiliate anchor in Spokane (part of the Inland Northwest region) was living out her “dream job’ by making an appearance in our show. The station would make a donation to BC/EFA in our behalf if Susanna made a cameo.

The powers-that-be decided with union approval, that Susanna would appear in the Nightclub scene where Magaldi sings “On a Night of a Thousand Stars”. She would dance with me in the background and react with the other actors as Eva persuades Magaldi to take her way from rural Hunin to Buenes Aires.

Our dance captain, Gia, one of the female dancers, Brianna, and I met at 7:15pm with Susanna, discussed what would happen; we practiced a bit of dancing and discussed the intent of the scene, all the while being filmed for a piece that aired this morning. It went well and our cast was very welcoming.

This morning, the 10-minute piece showed Susanna being fitted for a costume, having her hair and makeup done and bits of interveiws with various people connected to the show. A short follow-up clip aired later in the day. In both pieces, I’m shown in close-up dipping Susanna (making sure she’s in the spillover light from Magaldi’s spot.

I’d be happy, except the night before I’d eaten Mexican food at 11pm (after the show with my friend Cheryl). You know how they say the camera adds 10 lbs? Well so does late night Mexican food and salting chips:) It’s nice to be noticed, but the publicity served to as wakeup call that I need to refocus on my fitness.

In addition to our performances right now, we’re signing posters, organizing our San Francisco benefit and negotiating with Equity to auction off further televised cameo appearances in “Evita”. The appearances will be used to raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and local organizations in Los Angeles and San Fran.

In other news, after my post on mentalpause, I experienced an episode this afternoon. I had a rehearsal and wrote down 3pm, instead of 1:30pm. Luckily fellow cast member Mary dialed me on my cell. I was only two blocks away attending a Western and Wildlife Art Show. I wasn’t late, but only because a friend called to check on me.

We finish out this weekend in Spokane with five more shows and then hop a plane to Los Angeles on Monday morning. Unfortunately, we arrive in LA at 6pm, so it will most likely be awhile before we get to our hotel in West Hollywood. For two weeks we’ll play the historic Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. I’m looking forward to it!

Spokane has been an unexpected pleasure. The houses have been full and appreciative, the Riverfront Park which surrounds the Spokane River Falls (yes, right downtown) and the sunny 50 degree weather have been a delight; I appreciate my little bit of unexpected publicity, but it is a kick in the pants to watch the eating and get back to the gym.

Comments

[backawayslowly.livejournal.com]

man, I gotta tell you, it would rock to make a cameo in the show, but, man, I really hate On This Night Of A Thousand Stars. I really think the scene slows down the momentum launched by Oh What A Circus. Yes, I know Eva has to swoon for Migaldi, but, man, that song feels so unnecessarily slow. I always skip it on the soundtrack and in the movie.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

"Night of a Thousand Stars" is the first musical sequence after the opening and signals the step back into time when Eva is 15. Magaldi, performing in the small town of Hunin, sleeps with Eva. She uses his weakness for young women against him; with pressure from her family, she paints him into a corner forcing him to take her to Buenes Aires. Che, flows in and out of the scene as a waiter commenting on the action. "Do all your one night stands give you this much trouble?"

Magaldi was a real person and it is the way Eva got out of Hunin. Gabriel Burrafato who plays Magaldi in our production is of Argentine descent, raised in Toronto. I think he gives a really strong performance and his song and the exchanges that follow between Magaldi, Eva and her family carry the story along. I'll be interested in hearing what you think when you see the stage production.

I have no idea how the scene was handled in the movie, as I've always avoided it because of Madonna and I've never heard the film soundtrack:) I really do mean I'll be interested in hearing what you have to say. Hugs!

[backawayslowly.livejournal.com]

My first exposure to Evita was when I bought the original cast recording back in 1991 (Mandy!). I learned the story from the liner notes and listening to the songs, and I still feel (independent of my strong positive opinion of the Alan Parket film that came out 5 years later) that On This Night Of A Thousand Stars is a weaker moment in the play. I love Evita because the songs are the dialogue, narration and (in the case of Che) commentary of the story - but in the case of Migaldi's part of On This Night Of A Thousand Stars - the song itself doesn't really add anything to the structure of the story (however Che's part of the song DEFINITELY does). (See, if you skip Migaldi's part of the song, you still get the story.) In that sense, it's extraneous. Almost every other line of song in the play advances the story. In terms of pacing, I really feel like Migaldi's portion of On This Night Of A Thousand Stars creates a lull between the otherwise forward moving songs Oh What A Circus, and Eva and Magaldi / Eva Beware of the City... and of course my favorite song of the musical: Buenos Aires. (I concede that, as a creator of sketch performances, where the disjunct/unrelated "little parts" all add up to a larger show "experience" - I tend to be obsessed with, and perhaps overanalytical about, pacing.)

If you're a member of the Evita touring company and you've NOT seen the Alan Parker film, I can't imagine I could say anything that would make you watch the movie, but I'll have you know it's really an extraordinary film - an obvious "labor of love" from the director Alan Parker and Madonna - who gives the screen performance of a lifetime that she will never, EVER out-do. Some "theatre people" (of which I am not one) are quick to say that the film murders the play (it's really the easy/conservative answer)...but the translation of a stage play to cinema (or cinema to play, or novel to film or film to novel, etc.) is of interest to me as both a writer and student of film, and I can see how it might be of less interest to an actor. I saw Chicago in NYC in the late 90's (and hated it) but went to see the film a few years ago because I wanted to see the choices made in the "translation." I also disliked the film (because of the same themes I hated about the play) but I feel like I learned something about storytelling from the experience of having seen both, and I place a lot of value on that... so I came out ahead.

I look foward to seeing the play for the first time on 3/16 - and without a doubt I will enjoy it because my love of Evita is the design of the story...if I fell in love with it on CD and the film simply enhanced that - the stage version can't possibly disappoint me. If you have time to kill when you're in SF for a few weeks, I'd be happy to provide a screening of the film - I would imagine the discussion that might follow would be enlightening for both of us! ;-) Just a thought.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Dave, I very much appreciate your thoughtful, detailed comments. It will be interesting to see if you like the stage version of "Evita" in which the staging is abstract and strongly metaphorical in its approach.

We can agree to disagree on Magaldi's number:) I've spent many years on the road in various touring versions of "Evita" and and I approach the material from a singer's point of view first and foremost. I am happy to have songs like "On A Night of a Thousand Stars"or "Another Suitcase in Another Hall", etc to break up the cynicism and darkness of the material. I'm sure the movie version is lovely to look at and tells the story well. I would also agree that it is probably Madonna's best work on film, as she certainly looked like the real Eva Peron.

However, I've worked with more than a dozen fantastic women who performed the material on stage, singing it in the original keys (which were lowered and simplified for Madonna). They were and are thrilling to watch and listen to, belting the vocals like nobody's business. Whenever I listen to any musical or musical film, I always expect great vocals. If they aren't up to snuff, I won't like the film or show.

I loved dancing to the Disco version of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", but in hearing and seeing clips from the film, I was disappointed in Madonna from a singer's point of view, just as you would be in poor pacing in sketches. It's what we do, so our expectations are high. I'm not close-minded about seeing the film, but I don't go into it as a fan of Madonna's.

I really appreciate the dialogue between us. I like strong opinions from people. Hugs!