INDEX arts
Don’t cry for me... Madelena Alberto gets to grips with one of Argentina’s most
controversial fi gures and makes the career-defi ning role of Evita her own Words David Leck Photographs Keith Pattison
rather impressive footsteps. The role of Eva Peron in Evita made an international star out of Elaine Paige and was captured on fi lm by Madonna. Since it premiered in 1978 Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ground- breaking show, despite its unlikely subject matter, has consistently played to packed houses around the world.
W
But none of this need bother the Portuguese-born Madelena. Since joining the UK tour a year ago she has emphatically made the role her own – and has a book full of ecstatic press reviews to prove it. And what a role it is. It’s been described as the King Lear of musical theatre parts and is considered one of the most vocally and physically challenging. I met Madelena Alberto between performances in Canterbury – the fi rst of three Kent dates on the 2014 leg of the tour. This month she, her co-star Marti Pellow and the Evita company will be making stops in Dartford and Tunbridge Wells. She is relaxed and remarkably full of energy, given not just the demands of the role but the constant crisscrossing the production is doing of the UK. “It’s a bit like being an athlete so you have to keep well and conserve your energy,” she says, the accent more mid- Atlantic than southern European. “This is a big company with a cast and crew of 50 so one of the challenges is making sure you stay clear of colds and coughs. But, of
The INDEX magazine
www.indexmagazine.co.uk
hen Madelena Alberto steps on stage each night to play a former Argentine fi rst lady she’s following in some
course, the voice is a muscle so the more you work it the stronger it becomes.” I wondered if she’d ever seen a stage
production of Evita or the generally well- received Hollywood treatment? “I saw the fi lm and thought Madonna
was terrifi c but the movie is very different (the complex score was heavily adjusted to suit the superstar’s more limited vocal range). I’ve never seen it on stage but I saw some YouTube clips of Patti LuPone (the barn-storming original Broadway star) and had to switch off. It was terrifying and I just thought ‘how can I do this?’” Well she has done it – and in impressive style. The audience reaction to her performance the night I saw the show was something I’ve rarely seen (or heard) outside of the West End or Broadway. The role requires an actress to play Eva
Peron from the age of 15 when, as a poor teenager, she leaves rural Argentina and heads to Buenos Aires to be an actress, through to her meeting with, and marriage to, Colonel (later President) Juan Peron and her death in 1952 at the age of 33. Eva Peron remains a divisive fi gure to many Argentines – either saviour of the poor or cold and calculating fascist depending on your viewpoint, so how did Madelena go about tackling her? “The show isn’t generally very sympathetic
to her or Peron so I had to fi nd my way in and that was taking her as that 15-year-old girl desperate to escape the poverty into which she’d been born and make something of her life. I’ve always seen myself as an actress so,
although this is a musical, I tackle it as an acting role fi rst,” she says. That’s evident throughout her performance, which is one full of nuances and beautifully judged touches that really do capture the essence of the controversial and often brutal Peronist regime. And, while she may not think of herself primarily as a singer, most audiences would disagree when they hear that voice, at turns operatic, delicate and thrillingly powerful. So how did a 12-year-old in a Lisbon dance class with no real ambition to sing (let alone do musicals) relocate to the UK and come to be playing this career-defi ning role? “Purely by chance. Principals from The Bird College (Sidcup) came to Lisbon, saw me, said ‘you’re coming back with us’ and gave me a scholarship. That was 10 years ago.” That great time has included playing Fantine in the 25th anniversary tour of Les Misérables and she also put on the trademark little black dress and took up the challenge of playing another feisty lady from the pages of 20th century history, the legendary French entertainer Edith Piaf. So what’s next after she packs away
Eva’s couture wardrobe and implores Argentina not to cry for her one last time? “I don’t have a particular role I covet but Bill Kenwright (producer) has several other shows I’d quite like to have a go at so you never know. I do love music and enjoy writing songs so I’ll keep that up as well.” • Evita is at the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells from 30th June to 5th July. Visit
www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk
79
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156