Quantum creates Argentine cafe for 'Maria de Buenos Aires'
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The cast of Quantum Theatre's "Maria de Buenos Aires" includes, clockwise from bottom left, Raquel Winnica, Carolina Loyola-Garcia and Ben Bogart.
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It's easier said than done to step off the street in East Liberty, climb a few stairs and find yourself in an Argentine tango cafe. With dancers, of course. Sangria served at the intimate crowd of tables. Singers. A live orchestra.
Three computer screens.
Where: Quantum Theatre at East Liberty YMCA, 120 S. Whitfield St.
When: March 24 to April 17, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m.
Tickets: $35; 1-888-71-TICKETS or www.quantumtheatre.com.
Maybe that last item doesn't compute. But nonetheless a dense collaboration of artists will create a sultry Latin American atmosphere for Quantum Theatre's "Maria de Buenos Aires," nestled in the former East Liberty YMCA.
"This is the space," music director Andres Cladera enthusiastically cried out when he first saw it several months ago. "The tiny little details, like the tiles, are just like an Argentine social club where you might dance the tango. It has a kind of faded glamour."
But there is no dance floor here. Instead, there is a zigzag installation of platforms and ramps designed by Quantum staple Tony Ferrieri, so that the performers (mezzo-soprano Raquel Winnica Young, tenor Carlos Feliciano, Attack Theatre dancers Michele de la Reza and Dane Toney and narrators Carolina Loyola-Garcia and Karla Boos) can circulate among the patrons, relaying the story of Maria.
On a day "when God was drunk," Maria was born with a "curse in her voice." So wrote librettist Horacio Ferrer in the descriptive imagery that gives "Maria" its poignant direction. She is the spirit of the tango and in this production they are one and the same. Born in the brothels of Buenos Aires, they both struggled for acceptance, only to die. But the tango is reborn every night in the cafes around the city in this tale of transformation, just as the spirit of Maria still walks the street.
The story is poetic. It is surreal. And in the end, it is the voice of composer Astor Piazzolla. Born in Uruguay, the young bandoneon (a type of concertina) player struggled with the music that permeated Latin America and wanted to advance it as an art form by bringing it out of the brothels and elevating it to the concert stage. He created controversy with his approach, which sometimes resulted in fistfights and death threats. At one point the musical revolutionary, who admired Stravinsky and Bartok, tried to put it aside in favor of classical music.
First Published March 24, 2011 12:00 am
