WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL
Momia en el closet, The Return of Eva Perón
In English with Spanish supertitles
June 4-28, 2009
Thurs-Sat 8 pm
Sun 3 pm
Spanish
Hugo Medrano, fundador y director artístico del Teatro Hispano GALA, viajó con su equipo artístico a Argentina en febrero de este año, con el fin de desarrollar y trabajar el guión de un nuevo musical latinoamericano producido en el extranjero, “Momia en el closet: El retorno de Eva Perón”.
El Teatro Hispano GALA (Grupo de Artistas Latino Americanos) es una de las instituciones artísticas latinoamericanas de mayor prestigio en Estado Unidos ubicada en Washington DC. Desde 1976 GALA se ha dedicado al desarrollo del teatro escrito en Latinoamérica y España, y también a la promoción de actores de todo el mundo que guarden un vínculo con la cultura latina.
Esta nueva comedia musical sigue las vicisitudes de Evita en su intrincada vida después de la muerte, un tema quizás todavía reciente para muchos argentinos, pero que GALA, lo revive con el fin de honrar la historia y revelar unos de los íconos nacionales más venerados de Argentina.
Medrano prefirió darle la responsabilidad del libreto al dramaturgo venezolano Gustavo Ott, pensando en capturar con una mirada objetiva un tema histórico-político tan sensible para los argentinos. Sin embargo, el concepto de producción y la música es del argentino residente en Washington D.C. Mariano Vales, la dirección está en manos del joven director argentino Mariano Caligaris y la coreografía es de una de las bailarinas de tango de mayor reconocimiento en Estados Unidos, Carina Losano.
El elenco de esta sátira musical lo conforman los artistas argentinos Laura Conforte como Eva Perón; Martín Ruiz como Lanusse, Doctor Ara, Aramburu y Videla; Diego Mariani personifica al Coronel Moori, Genaro y López Rega; y Sebastián Vitale a Moraga y Montoneros. A éstos se les suma el cantante uruguayo Antonio Soto como Juan Perón y Belén Oyola-Rebaza como Isabelita, entre otros actores secundarios. En este musical no podía faltar el tango y la milonga, ritmos que serán acompañados por el argentino Emmanuel Trifilio en el bandoneón.
“Momia en el closet, el retorno de Eva Perón” tiene como base una historia que conlleva una intriga política social que ha sido analizada bajo numerosos puntos de vista pero nunca como una obra musical teatral. Este hecho sumado a la excelencia artística de la producción augura la presencia de miles de espectadores que tendrán la oportunidad de ver este trabajo desde su estreno el 4 de junio hasta el 28 del 2009 de jueves a domingo en el Teatro Hispano GALA.
English
This musical comedy, with dark underpinnings and historical intrique, follows Eva Peron’s corpse around the world as political puppeteers manipulate her legacy. In 1952 Evita, the spiritual guide of modern Argentina, dies of cancer at age 33. The government, led by her husband General Perόn, decides to erect a mausoleum in her honor and calls Dr. Ara to mummify the corpse. According to the Peronists, Evita will live for eternity, but eternity in Latin America is relative. In less than two years, a military coup, led by General Aramburu defeats Peron and the Evita’s mummified corpse is found abandoned at the central offices of the worker’s union. The military brass, afraid that knowledge of the mummy’s existence could provoke popular rebellion against the new government, decides to hide the corpse and for two years she is passed from office to office and town to town. A Coronel decides to take the mummy to his home and hide her in his basement. He falls in love with the dead Evita, and lives with her as if she were his wife, swearing that she has come to life and is pregnant with his child. The military officials become aware of this situation, retrieve the mummy, and hide her in a closet in the quarters of the secret service. For two more years rumors fly around about the location of the mummy. Afraid of being discovered, the government, with the help of the Vatican, sends the mummy to Italy under the name of Maria Maggi, and she is finally buried in a cemetery in a small town. Meanwhile, Peron, exiled in Madrid, is living with a new wife, Isabel. In Argentina, Aramburu is ousted from power and the masses clamor for the return of Evita. The interim president, Lanusse, tries to make a pact with Peron so that he can return to Argentina and restore calm. Peron, in exchange, asks that Evita’s corpse be returned to him. Thus the mummy is dug up in Italy and shipped by train to Madrid. Reunited with the mummy, Peron, assisted by his sinister advisor Lopez Rega, conducts spiritual séances to transfer the soul of Evita into the body of Isabel, so that the country will have its spiritual leader back. When Peron and Isabel return to Argentina, they run for office together as president and vice-president and win the election because of the restored image of Evita. But the real power lies in the hands of the manipulative spiritualist, Lopez Rega, who starts a series of abductions, murders and disappearances that is the prelude to the infamous “dirty war”. The opposition kidnaps and murders ex-president Aramburu and demands the return of Evita’s body in exchange for his. Finally, between travelling corpses and mummies, Peron dies, leaving Isabel as president. She sends for Evita’s corpse, which is returned after undergoing heavy cosmetic work and is finally given a proper burial in La Recoleta in 1976. Isabel is then overthrown by Generals Videla and Massera, who begin a bloody dictatorship that will last for 10 years. The country, fascinated by the Mummy and eternity, becomes a nation of ghosts frozen in history. Eva remembers that events are never isolated and that “where men see ordinary events, angels see a stairway.”
