2023-07-01 06:58:04
First it was the movie, in 1988 and in 2010 Heathers, the musical, premiered in the United States, but only now has it arrived on Corrientes Avenue. It will be the first version in Spanish, preceded by several awards and it is Fernando Dente who took on the challenge of directing it, in what is his debut in that field. Since July 1 they are in the Opera theater and confirm that they will continue daily during the winter holidays. Beyond the numbers and the casting (See box) the same emotion is palpable in all of them. The dialogue was established with Dente and those who face the greatest challenges due to their leading roles: Sofi Morandi, Nicolás Di Pace and Julia Tozzi.
It will be the second musical with an English title, the first Come From Away and now Heathers. “Impossible to translate it – Dente underlines – it’s a name like Mary Poppins. Our society has many topics to discuss and improve. There are people who say that they do not understand adolescents, this proposal is like a zoom on the intimacy of youth. It shows what the limits are, why they would risk it, who they would betray or what is most important to them. All of this makes the show very empathetic.”
Why did it take so long to be released here?
FERNANDO DENTE: This musical had a strange journey. It never premiered on Broadway, always in the off. In the only commercial place where it was presented was in London, it is the one we had as a reference. We took that setting: the London one, the one that is on today and is considered the official one. Another peculiarity is that teenagers love this show. Every school and school of musical comedy that exists in any country in the world make Heathers, sing their songs and dress like them. With saying that on Halloween they usually dress up as these characters. It is part of society’s pop culture. They are visual icons and it is a classic.
—How were your beginnings, where did you study and what is the biggest challenge?
JULIA TOZZI: I started at Julio Bocca’s school, then I worked at Raúl Serrano’s (NdR passed away on June 21 of this year), with teacher Alejandra Aristegui. For five years I have been studying singing with Sebastián Mazzoni, who is my mentor. It will be the first time that I will do a show in such an important role. He had done Mommy is Smaller, The Rocky Horror Show and Fiddler on the Roof. I think the biggest challenge is physical and vocal, with an almost athlete’s training to be able to do the entire play, which lasts an hour and forty, almost without leaving the stage. Besides being able to act and enjoy it. We are very pampered, united and content. There were many months of rehearsal.
—Is it the other side of Dear Evan, since there too the protagonists are adolescents?
D: Indeed, it is the other side. Heathers is more absurd, bizarre and unrealistic. Here what is marked is that unconsciousness, the lack of registration of fear and danger that is usually experienced during adolescence can lead to making bad decisions and suddenly being immersed in tragic or gloomy situations.
—Did this style of musicals with “problems” begin with Almost Normal?
D: When I started I thought that almost normal might never be released in Argentina where the protagonist was a woman with bipolar disorder. Here she had a huge success with ten years on the bill. I think it did open up the game for a lot of other stories to be released. The producers were encouraged and our public always supports them. Our idea is also to be able to tour Argentina and Latin America.
—How was it working with a rookie director like Dente?
T: It was wonderful, because Fernando has so much experience in musicals… and he showed us what we didn’t understand. He did it and that allowed us to understand much more. We feel very pampered and he is very considerate. I think it is because he is very aware of what we need. We did everything with discipline and joy.
—Subjects like suicide, drugs or bullying: aren’t they scary?
D: It all depends on how it’s counted. The show is through the eyes of young people. It has a lot of fantasy and always borders on the absurd. That itself shakes the viewer, because these characters live it with that naturalness. Today adolescents seek to survive.
—It opens at a time when all societies show racial, sexual, religious intolerance, even with violence…
D: If I connect with non-tolerance, I don’t leave my house, I seek to connect with the other part, which is many and powerful. We seek to illuminate what we need to illuminate. This new generation with whom I have the honor of working lives differently, mine was more aware of the news, this one is more preserved.
Both Sofi Morandi and Nico Di Pace were seen together in Kinky Boots, although they remember another shared job: Heidi, welcome home by screenwriter Marcela Citterio for Nickelodeon (2017).
—What musical marked you?
NICOLAS DI PACE: In school I did Mamma mia, then I saw the movie and it’s my first memory.
SOFI MORANDI: I was seven years old when I saw Cats. From that moment I knew I wanted to do musicals.
—What are the particularities, as performers and for the public?
M: It is what one aspires to interpret. The characters are very recognizable and I think the public will feel very identified with this period of life: adolescence. Some love that time and some don’t.
DP: I have the same situation as the character, I’m outside. Luckily I didn’t meet anyone at school with these characteristics. It seems to me that viewers will be able to review their past and look for similarities with these protagonists.
“Hasn’t it out of date?”
M: Not at all, also Fernando (Dente) sought to bring it closer to our days, although the action takes place in the eighties. The colors and the world are pop. Bullying and drugs are shown at a very dizzying pace, and sometimes the proposal seems a bit bizarre or absurd. The songs are a fire and there is humor. We will tell a story and in the middle they will have a recital.
DP: There were always these bad boy or not so nice stereotypes. Although the film is from 1988 and the musical is from 2010, its themes are very current, especially because of the way the show treats them. They will realize how small decisions lead to serious mistakes… taking a little can have a very bad end. Fernando (Dente) transmitted to us everything he learned and it was very safe. The setting is his look, much more rock and with a humor with which the public will feel identified. This musical is different.
Possible Title: Numbers on Stage
The numbers behind the premiere of Heathers, the musical, are impressive. Of the nineteen members of the cast, only four were defined and did not pass the exams: Sofi Morandi, Nico Di Pace, Flor Anca and Chechu Vargas. The production with Fernando Dente at the head traveled through Mar del Plata, Córdoba and Rosario taking tests to find the other interpreters. Six thousand young people showed up and were left: the protagonist Julia Tozzi, plus Martu Loyato, Rocío Caldes, Pablo Turturiello, Santiago Toledo, Andrés Pasari, Sebastián Ziliotto, Ana Petrich, Giuliana Tagliamonte, Lázaro Balista, Ludmila Piovano, Nico Esquivel, Paz Gutiérrez, Santiago Leguizamo, Santiago Toledo and Sol Wainer.
“You have to sleep at least eight hours a day – reflects Sofi Morandi, who participated in several reality shows by Marcelo Tinelli – add nebulizations. We have to follow a routine, eat well, train and above all be very disciplined.” “The show –continues Nico Di Pace- is very demanding both vocally, physically and emotionally and we are happy with the results”.
They were five hundred hours of rehearsal and so far they have confirmed twenty-two performances. They will go during the winter holidays from Tuesday to Sunday always at 6:00 p.m. at the Opera (Corrientes 860). In London there were six musicians, here there will be four: Juan Pablo Sosa (bass), Juan Pablo Sosa (drums), Nico Lautaro Valese (guitar) and Giuliana Sosa on keyboards and musical direction. Tickets will range from $3,500 to $9,500.
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