Why isn't Josefina Scaglione not the mistress in Evita?- Page 2

[ajh]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 12:46pm

Just a thought, but why was boq101 berated for being racist when suggesting Josefina Scaglione would be a suitable Mistress in Evita when she is an Argentinian, and the character is Argentinian in a show set in Argentina, when other people have suggested other performers of Latin heritage but not necessarily Argentine (Eden Espinosa, Mandy Gonzalez) for the role of Eva??? Seems a bit like double standards to me. BTW I agree that either Espinosa or Gonzalez would be terrific alternates for Elena Roger.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 1:01pm

^ You probably haven't been around here long enough to know that the "racist" comment is a running joke.

It's used all the time now since there have been so many threads on the subject and so many people up in arms about it.

And by the way, your comment was racist.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 1:03pm

CurtainPullDowner, I was indeed referring to how this production was received in London. As was previously mentioned, it received incredibly strong reviews.

[ajh]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 1:07pm

DOH!

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 1:56pm

I don't see how it's racist for a production of Evita to be interested in an Argentine for the two most important principle roles. Of course, there's no need for that to happen, and I don't see any particular appeal to what an Argentinean actress would bring to the mistress (which is, in contrast to Evita herself, a rather global character). But as unnecessary as it might be to find an Argentinean actress especially qualified, I wouldn't call it at all racist.

Although it's in someways a different situation, and in others not, I doubt anyone would call preferring a French actress as Solange in Follies a racist position to take. Although certainly it shouldn't be considered a sine qua non, as with almost every role in every play or musical.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 2:01pm

Oh, for crap's sake.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 2:10pm

Best12, I've come to notice that our henrik is quite literal-minded. Perhaps he's really an Earnest.

[Lefou]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 2:21pm

"I heard Jessica Lea Patty is the Eva alternate. If not, she's first understudy."

She may indeed be the first understudy, however I know that she is not the alternate.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 3:42pm

I was puzzled by the fact that the Mistress is a chorus contract. Didn't it used to be that if you had at least one line, you were on a principal contract? I mean, the girl gets her own song.

BTW, any rumors on who will be playing (or who the final contenders currently are) for Juan Peron? I heard just about every middle-aged baritone who has played a principal role on Broadway and can pass for Argentinian was called in to audition.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 4:49pm

It used to be that if you played only one role in a show, you were on a principal contract. If you doubled as ensemble or played more than one role, you could (and usually did) go on a chorus contract.

Example: "Big River." Only Huck, Jim, the Duke, and the King were on Equity principle contracts on Broadway (the OBC). Everyone else was on a chorus contract, because they all doubled up on roles or in the ensemble.

So if the actress playing the Mistress doesn't double as ensemble, she can be on a Principal contact. Otherwise, it's chorus.

Updated On: 7/30/11 at 04:49 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 5:06pm

Wow!

So does that mean everyone in Les Miserables but the actors playing Valjean and Javert are on chorus contracts? Because everyone else in that show doubles for at least a couple of scenes (except Fantine in the original staging, who only appeared briefly in one other scene, thanks to Patti's hiding out).

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 5:26pm

Jessica Lea Patty is terrifically talented, and has proved herself understudying principal roles from show to show to show the last few years. Given her substantial dance abilities and history in the chorus, though, it makes more sense that she'd be the understudy in the ensemble rather than the alternate.

I feel like the alternate is going to be someone who has a little more professional weight, though I certainly think Patty is destined to break out of the chorus soon. She just needs to stop taking chorus jobs if she wants to change the industry perception of herself. She's too good not to.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 5:41pm

I like Jessica Lea Patty. She's a good dancer, and has a lovely voice, but she has very little stage presence and isn't a very good actress. I've seen everything she's done over at least the past four years, and in that time, I've seen no improvement. I was very surprised to hear she might be understudying Eva. From what I've seen of her, she doesn't have the gravitas.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 5:47pm

adamgreer---there are exceptions to every rule, and producers can bend the rules and negotiate with Equity.

Producers generally want to keep the number of principal contracts to a minimum for a musical, because the minimum salaries are less for chorus. There are a few other differences as well between the contracts, but salary is the main concern. Equity is pretty clear that if you're playing only one role, you're a principal. It has less to do with your stage time and more to do with the fact that you're being hired for just one part. So producers love to make sure actors double up in at least one more scene, making them candidates for chorus contracts. It happens all the time. Still, when there are agents involved along with actors' egos, rules can be broken. But at least Equity won't fight the producers about it, if the performer is playing multiple parts. It's considered "ensemble" at that point (aka chorus contract).

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 6:07pm

Jessica Lea Patty needs to get at least one last name before I can take her seriously.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 6:20pm

It's like she couldn't make up her mind on a first name and just checked the box marked "all of the above." Then walked away, thinking she was done.

Or thinking she was Cher.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 7:22pm

OK, you got me! My sense of humor was obviously out on tour.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 7:29pm

Bus & truck or first national?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 7:41pm

Given how much complicated dance Eva does in this staging, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Jessica Lea Patty were the understudy or even the alternate. The dance element really makes the role in this production all the more challenging to cast.

[desiree armfeldt]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 7:54pm

I actually heard that she was cast as the role and then had to turn it down.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 8:02pm

She wouldn't have been cast as the regular. Elena Roger was announced as Eva from day 1.

[Lefou]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 8:11pm

somethingwicked: she was most likely offered the u/s to the role, however, the alternate is a relatively unknown and not someone with a lot of industry clout.

[desiree armfeldt]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 8:35pm

I meant Josephina as the mistress!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 8:48pm

Does anyone know if the EVITA choreography on the Kennedy Center tribute to Sir Andy is the same as the show? I'm assuming it is because Spencer is dancing next to Elena. Also, are there any more clips about of the choreography? It looks a little like a tango, but not much and all those kicks! Mary Murphy would be all over their ass.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 7/30/11 at 8:56pm

The Kennedy Center performance was a truncated version of this revival's choreography for "Buenos Aires." You can see a longer version of the number from a television appearance in London a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkc6BlTSWB8