What exactly is the point of Another Suitcase Another Hall- Page 2

[gossipguy215]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 1:00am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9nbX2NY23Q

Imagine this when she sang it in 2:06 mins
The only track I wish was on the OBC instead of the real track (it's lifeless in the OBC).

She plowed through it, and it was simply amazing. You could tell she really meant every word she was singing, especially when she had to get that shirt on in 3 secs to continue.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 1:02am

Bandanas was good though.

Banderas

My only reason for somewhat liking it is it adds another female character's song. It also, like was already said, shows how far she has come. The song was true about her, and she is essentially stepping over even herself to get what she wants.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 1:09am

I agree with Ray, with her persona she would've been spectacular in the role.

It's fun to wonder what would've happened if Liza had starred in Evita instead of Elaine...

Would Patti still be the legend that she is? Would Liza be even bigger? Would she had starred in more ALW shows eventually turning Sunset Boulevard into a long running hit?

The only other person I would've kill to see as Evita is actually Liza's mother. Judy's performance would've been legendary.

[gossipguy215]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 1:16am

I thought Patti was a revelation in both "Evita" and "Sunset Boulevard" (despite bad reviews in both). Glenn never did it for me and I am honestly surprised she got that Tony when she couldn't sing and was crazy right from the beginning (she should have waited until after her breakdown). I don't think Liza would have been a good Eva, but she WOULD have nailed that score. Judy and Liza both would have made great Norma's (to be honest, I think Liza was better than Gwen in Chicago). But Patti probably wouldn't have gained that kind of fame without Evita. Although CM might still have cast her as Fantine, and that might have given her a boost. I actually wish Liza had done the musical version of "Cabaret", so she had more to sing (Imagine her and Fosse in the stage version. It would have been electric. They would have added "Maybe This Time" and "Money", of course).

[broadway guy]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 1:18am

"Imagine this when she sang it in 2:06 mins
The only track I wish was on the OBC instead of the real track (it's lifeless in the OBC)."

This clip is honestly the reason I fell in love with Patti Lupone. I use to watch this video everyday for hours on end mimicking her blocking in my bedroom HAHAH wow thats really embarrassing

parts 1:15-1:24 give me chills Every single dam time. I LOVE how she sings "ANYTHING GOES" at 1:23 with that extra Umph to it.

I love Patti's Evita so much. No one can top her. Her Eva was so fearless and strong and over the top. Eva was a crusader much like Patti and its hard to picture anyone else in the part but I would have loved to find out how Liza or Streisand ( who was also rumored for the film version) would have their take on it.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 1:32am

I wish they brought the Hal Prince staging back instead of the current one about to go on tour

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 1:47am

The movie's approach to this song was one of my least favorite parts because it demonstrated the total misunderstanding of the show that became a major problem. The film seemed to almost attempt to portray Eva sympathetically (giving her "Another Suitcase" helped accomplish this), which contradicts the point of the show. Evita is meant to question celebrity and the blind faith we have in people by presenting a well-loved woman as a total bitch constantly screaming crazily in the top of her range. However, we don't know if we can even believe this story because it's being told by Che Guevara, constantly crazily screaming in the top of his range, so we really don't know who to trust and we are left with this message to question everything. It's a very progressive technique to tell the story that apparently went way over the heads of the directors of the film and the revival.

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 8:07am

I think when the song is first sung in the stage version, the audience gets to see a metaphor of Eva's life and where she is progressing from one stage to the next. I think that prior to that point in Eva's life, she has been the mistress (if not literally, then figuratively) and has been kicked out and told to "move along".

In Another Suitcase... the audience can see that she has changed roles. She is no longer the victim on the receiving end, but is the one who is in control. She is ruthless and uncareing of her victim.

I think the song is a metaphor of the harder-edged Eva singing to a younger, more naive, and more sympathetic version of herself (the mistress). Eva is cold-heartedly and ruthlessly ousting the mistress from the life that she knows. I think that's important at this point in the show because I also think the song is foreshadowing a larger metaphor that happens later.

Another Suitcase..., in the stage version, is almost like a prayer (to my mind) with Che serving as a God-like figure. The mistress repeatedly asks, "So what happens, now?" and "Where am I going to?". Che responds with comforting words of assurance until he finally says, "Don't ask anymore".

Those lyrics are repeated at the end of Dice Are Rolling by Peron, Eva and Che, but Eva's role has changed again. In spite of all her previous determination to overcome being 'the victim' by taking control, she is back in the same victimized circumstance as the mistress in Another Suitcase.... She is being cold-heartedly and ruthlessly ousted from the life that she knows by cancer. Just like the mistress, she asks, "Where am I going to?". Again, a God-like Che responds, "Don't ask anymore". For me, it's a "circle of life" moment with a possible moral regarding how much "control" one really has over their own life, with a God-like figure instructing "Don't ask anymore".

I think having Eva sing Another Suitcase... in the movie gives away the final metaphor too early. For me, it's spelling out to the audience what will happen later. I don't think that needs to be done.

Of course, it could also be that Madonna really liked that number and wanted to sing it herself, but I have no idea if that is true or not.
Updated On: 6/11/13 at 08:07 AM

[broadway guy]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 9:16am

"The film seemed to almost attempt to portray Eva sympathetically (giving her "Another Suitcase" helped accomplish this), which contradicts the point of the show."

I think I read in an interview that Madonna wanted to make Eva more sympathetic and not just a crazy bitch. The film really did a disservice to the musical IMO. The film wanted to be internal and make everything more natural so keys were lowered and the flair was completely lost. You can't do EVITA in an internal state it has to be external. It has to be a release but all the film did was bring it in to a closed space.

For example: Buenos Aires is suppose to be one of the highlights of the show. The Song is suppose to be this big celebration for Eva claiming her Mark on Argentina. Its suppose to be huge with a large ensemble and what does the film do? They make her sing it on a freaking train! They finally get off the train and still miss the mark by putting it in a club or something. The flair and style of that song was completely lost on film cause Parker wanted to tone things down and make EVITA more conversational instead of OPERATIC like it should have been in the film.

Another reason why the film suffered was because Madonna simply couldn't sing the score the way it were suppose to be sung. When you do a sung through film people are going to expect ferocious singing and Big Vocals and Madonna just didn't deliver. Did she look the part? Yes, but Evita is written in such a high register for the actress because Eva had a high voice but also because It suppose to be almost head numbing to hear Eva sing the songs she sings in such a high register. If you lower the keys it takes out all the tenacity and frankly Madonna just looked like a wimp when she tried to sing those songs.

For example: In the film she sings RAINBOW HIGH and you can tell she is in the zone and is getting all dolled up and when she gets to the money notes " I have to be rainBOW HIGH!!!!" She completely wimps out and her voice almost fades on the "HIGH". It should be " HIGHHHHHH!!" not "highh.." Madonna made Eva look like a wimp when she chickened out on the notes.

It really was just a misfire of a film. You can't do EVITA without ferocious singers and the film just didn't have that. It lost its Star Quality and now we have to settle for a crappy film version with half assed vocals. Tragic.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 9:16am

The only other person I would've kill to see as Evita is actually Liza's mother. Judy's performance would've been legendary.

Slightly ironic, as I hear ALW has cited Judy's disastrous stint at London nightclub Talk of the Town as inspiring "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina."

Of course, it could also be that Madonna really liked that number and wanted to sing it herself, but I have no idea if that is true or not.

Count on it.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 9:22am

"Slightly ironic, as I hear ALW has cited Judy's disastrous stint at London nightclub Talk of the Town as inspiring "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina."

I think you mean Eva's Final Broadcast perhaps?

ALW has said that his inspiration for "Eva's final broadcast" was watching Judy Garland at the end of her career sing "Over the rainbow" and she sounded horrible apparently and just couldn't get through it. The song that use to be an anthem for Her swallowed her up. That Happens with Eva also. Her anthem "DONT CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA" IS SUNG at the end of the show but at that point she is sick and dying and can't get through the number without sobbbing. The incredible irony is just sad and really hits home:

"Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I shall not leave you
Though it may get harder for you to see me
I'm Argentina, and always will be

Have I said too much?
There's nothing more I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do is look at me to know
That every word is true.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 9:26am

I actually think Another Suitcase shows us a different type of woman in the story. The Mistress in the same "game" as Eva, but she is a victim of her fate, rather than a master of it.

They both were used by men for convenience and pleasure. Both were adored, then cast aside.

But one gave her heart to it, even though she knew it wouldn't last, hoping she would be the girl who finally got the gold ring, while the other used men right back, for as long as she could, to get to the next step.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 9:30am

Darwinism of mistresses

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 9:33am

Without it, Evita would have little mellow kindness. little sincerity other than political outrage, and its sentimentality would be limited to the chorus's mass idolatry of Eva. Another Suitcase in Another Hall provides some balance, a little gentle pathos. In addition, it resonates with social/bed climbing and thematic sexual politics; that there never has been a lover, male or female, that hasn't an eye on, in fact they rely on, tricks they can play on their partner. And, as has been said, the Mistress's complacency is a foil for Eva's ambitions.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:00am

I agree with Wynbish in that it needs to be in the show to have another woman's presence. Evita is such a male heavy show that it's refreshing to have another woman sing.

I also think the show needs something there to portray Eva's ruthlessness and Peron's weakness. He leaves it to Eva to clean up his mess. She treats someone in the same situation as she is in very poorly.

I also think it's there to show the path many girls are in but Eva is able to turn the tables and become the most powerful woman in the country and rebrand herself as a saint. I don't think it's an effective song when Eva sings it as was done in the movie. We have to see another woman who isn't Eva.

Now can someone explain the song "Doatsey Mae" in The Best Little *house in Texas?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:13am

I think that prior to that point in Eva's life, she has been the mistress (if not literally, then figuratively) and has been kicked out and told to "move along".


I thought that only happens in the film--in the musical, IIRC she and Magaldi break up during "Goodnight and Thank You." However, Magaldi was really against her going to Buenos Aires so I guess you could say that indicates that he was trying to ditch her.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:38am

Cut the song if you must, but I think it serves not only as a contrast in mood (as best12bars points out) but demonstrates just how ruthless Eva is (as Danny implies above).

Just don't give the damn song to Eva, as in the movie. Doing so reeks of pandering ("Oh, how will we make Eva sympathetic?"). The best thing about EVITA is that its protagonist is neither "good" nor likable.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:42am

Looks like I'm in the minority here. I've always taken it as a chance to indicate what easily could have happened to Eva had she not been so determined not to let herself get kicked around. For the same reason it doesn't really work in the movie. It's crucial that Eva leaves Magaldi, not the other way around.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:42am

Having Eva sing it in the movie makes it seem like her ambition comes from a desire to stop that life. Her ambition started in that life, linking up with Magaldi. She didn't want to find fame and success because she was tired of bed-hopping. She wanted to, because it was in her the whole time.

Updated On: 6/11/13 at 10:42 AM

[broadway guy]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:42am

So i read this interesting Info on IMDB in the EVITA film trivia section:

Ken Russell was the first director attached. His first choice to play Eva was Barbra Streisand, who turned him down. His second choice was Liza Minnelli, who he screen-tested, but her casting was vetoed by lyricist Tim Rice, who wanted Elaine Paige, who had originated the stage role in London. Paige was also Rice's girlfriend.
---

I wonder what possessed Barbra to turn down Evita? Seems like something she would jump at the chance to do.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:50am

Wynbish said it more eloquently than I. I would only add that previously we see Eva turn the tables on Magaldi and on a succession of powerful men (each of whom is a predator who preys on young girls). She's practically an angel of feminist retribution!

Turning out the Mistress so coldly is another matter entirely and is the moment when Eva show her true colors.

I have no source and may be wrong, but giving the number to Madonna reeked of caving to a star's demand that her character be likable, IMO.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:50am

Barbra (by her own words) also turned down Jane Fonda's part in Klute and Sally Bowles in the movie Cabaret (she is quick to add, "But that was before Fosse signed on to direct it.")

Both became Oscar-winning roles.

Updated On: 6/11/13 at 10:50 AM

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:57am

I agree that Evita should be ruthless and fierce but even villains have sympathetic moments. In the movie Eva was more likable because Madonna played her that way thought the film, but if someone as fierce as Patti had played her, then we would be looking at that brief sympathetic moment in a whole new way.

I'm glad Barbra turned down Evita, she would've turned it into a Comedy.

[John Adams]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:59am

>> I thought that only happens in the film--in the musical, IIRC she and Magaldi break up during "Goodnight and Thank You."

That's the literal part, but figuratively, she was treated with that same "Goodnight and Thank You" attitude even before she met Magaldi.

She sings about her "get lost" treatment by the middle classes in Buenos Aires:

Screw the middle classes! I will never accept them!
And they will never deny me anything again!
My father's other family were middle class
and we were kept out of sight, hidden from view, at his funeral.

[broadway guy]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 10:59am

"She didn't want to find fame and success because she was tired of bed-hopping. She wanted to, because it was in her the whole time."

Okay Question Wynbish:

In DONT CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA eva sings:

And as for fortune, and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world they were all I desired
They are illusions
They are not the solutions they promised to be

Is Eva actually being sincere when she sings that or is she just being a lying bitch?

I have never been able to figure out if DCFMA is actually Eva being genuine or just trying to manipulate the public. If you watch in this clip, Patti sings the middle verse of ARGENTINA and it looks like she feels dejected from the public and sobs into Peron's arms. Then once she sees that she has their attention it almost seems like She Jumps back at the microphone to seal the deal forcing me to wonder if DCFMA is just Eva Acting? I love How patti acts this song cause she just takes it to a whole other level.The Part i am talking about is at 3:40-4:08 http://youtu.be/tZP5ygHZclw

I noticed How Elena Roger didn't do that in the revival version so maybe its just up to the interpretation of the actress.