Fringe 2023 Becoming Chavela theSpaceUK 21st August Review
Becoming Chavela at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall (14-26 Aug) is a show that on my visit tonight seems to be getting overlooked by the sheer volume of other shows competing for audiences (as always) at this year’s Fringe and that is a pity as the creative talents involved in this show are very experienced professional performers.
This show is suffering from two major problems; the space available is not showing it at anywhere near its full potential (a problem often at Fringe shows and not something any venue operator can fix), and a lack of good publicity. When you are bringing a show like Becoming Chavela to the Fringe, everyone needs to know that your show has already in 2020 won a prestigious Bistro award in the New York.
This show is written by Stephanie Trudeau, and directed by Joyce Callo. For this Edinburgh run of shows, guitarist Diego Cebollero provides an expressive musical soundtrack to Stephanie Trudeau discovering as a young girl the music of her Spanish speaking mother and, through this, “Mexican” singer Chavela Vargas.
Adapting a show like this, which is a theatre documentary, to the space and time available to perform it at the Fringe must be a difficult one and some compromises have obviously been made in this show to fit into this new format.
I must admit that before this show I knew very little about Chavela Vargas (b 1919 – d 2012) other than her name and a few facts such as her love affair with Frida Kahlo which lasted only one year, but even though that was over when Chavela was 19 years old, they stayed friends for the rest of Kahlo’s life. I found out tonight that when Chavela Vargas was one of the many performers at the wedding of Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd in 1957, the party lasted for days and Chavela woke up next to screen legend Ava Gardner. I also found out about Mexican Ranchero music, a genre I know little about. It was also nice to hear the classic song “What A Difference A Day Makes” sung in its original Spanish language. It was originally made popular by Mexican singer Marie Grever in 1934 with the title "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" ("When I Return to Your Side").
This show starts with Stephanie Trudeau, who has over 40 years of experience performing in NYC cabaret, off-Broadway, and regional theatre, taking to the stage in a classic black dress (which was an early visual trademark identity of Chavela). It is here that the stories of Stephanie and Chavela start to unwind together and it becomes obvious that “Becoming Chavela” is really a love affair from one performing artist to another in a very spiritual sense of those words. When Stephanie puts on the Mexican jurongo (cape/cloak), Chavela is now truly Mexican (she was born in Costa Rica), and the Mexican people took her to their hearts like no other performer had ever done before.
Singing Ranchero music, a genre traditionally sung by men only, was a bold move for Chavela Vargas to make, and acceptance of her ability to interpret these songs in her own way and make them her own story took time, but the rest as they say is history. Interspersed with Chavela’s very open declaration of her own sexuality and her lovers, some of the iconic names of the day also fell within her circle of friends and became important in her career – Diego Rivera and film-maker Pedro Almodovar, who called her a 'volcano', to name but only two of them.
Through songs, script and visuals, Stephanie takes us all through some of the highs and lows and highs again of Chavela’s long life. Her hard drinking (mostly Tequila) caught up with her eventually, but an unexpected opportunity gave her a new career boost at 72 years old. When Chavela died in 2012, aged 93, she was given the honour of a full state funeral by the Mexican government.
Becoming Chavela is one of those shows that simply needs more room to breathe and tell its story to its full potential at the Fringe, but don’t let that put you off going now as this is an important tribute to a woman who defied the conventions of her day and lived her life exactly as she wanted to – on her own terms.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
This show is suffering from two major problems; the space available is not showing it at anywhere near its full potential (a problem often at Fringe shows and not something any venue operator can fix), and a lack of good publicity. When you are bringing a show like Becoming Chavela to the Fringe, everyone needs to know that your show has already in 2020 won a prestigious Bistro award in the New York.
This show is written by Stephanie Trudeau, and directed by Joyce Callo. For this Edinburgh run of shows, guitarist Diego Cebollero provides an expressive musical soundtrack to Stephanie Trudeau discovering as a young girl the music of her Spanish speaking mother and, through this, “Mexican” singer Chavela Vargas.
Adapting a show like this, which is a theatre documentary, to the space and time available to perform it at the Fringe must be a difficult one and some compromises have obviously been made in this show to fit into this new format.
I must admit that before this show I knew very little about Chavela Vargas (b 1919 – d 2012) other than her name and a few facts such as her love affair with Frida Kahlo which lasted only one year, but even though that was over when Chavela was 19 years old, they stayed friends for the rest of Kahlo’s life. I found out tonight that when Chavela Vargas was one of the many performers at the wedding of Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd in 1957, the party lasted for days and Chavela woke up next to screen legend Ava Gardner. I also found out about Mexican Ranchero music, a genre I know little about. It was also nice to hear the classic song “What A Difference A Day Makes” sung in its original Spanish language. It was originally made popular by Mexican singer Marie Grever in 1934 with the title "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" ("When I Return to Your Side").
This show starts with Stephanie Trudeau, who has over 40 years of experience performing in NYC cabaret, off-Broadway, and regional theatre, taking to the stage in a classic black dress (which was an early visual trademark identity of Chavela). It is here that the stories of Stephanie and Chavela start to unwind together and it becomes obvious that “Becoming Chavela” is really a love affair from one performing artist to another in a very spiritual sense of those words. When Stephanie puts on the Mexican jurongo (cape/cloak), Chavela is now truly Mexican (she was born in Costa Rica), and the Mexican people took her to their hearts like no other performer had ever done before.
Singing Ranchero music, a genre traditionally sung by men only, was a bold move for Chavela Vargas to make, and acceptance of her ability to interpret these songs in her own way and make them her own story took time, but the rest as they say is history. Interspersed with Chavela’s very open declaration of her own sexuality and her lovers, some of the iconic names of the day also fell within her circle of friends and became important in her career – Diego Rivera and film-maker Pedro Almodovar, who called her a 'volcano', to name but only two of them.
Through songs, script and visuals, Stephanie takes us all through some of the highs and lows and highs again of Chavela’s long life. Her hard drinking (mostly Tequila) caught up with her eventually, but an unexpected opportunity gave her a new career boost at 72 years old. When Chavela died in 2012, aged 93, she was given the honour of a full state funeral by the Mexican government.
Becoming Chavela is one of those shows that simply needs more room to breathe and tell its story to its full potential at the Fringe, but don’t let that put you off going now as this is an important tribute to a woman who defied the conventions of her day and lived her life exactly as she wanted to – on her own terms.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com