ARGENTINA: A worldwide symbol of rebellion puts on his dancing shoes as "Che! El Musical" brings the life of revolutionary Ernesto Guevara to the stage

Record ID: 446628

  • Title: ARGENTINA: A worldwide symbol of rebellion puts on his dancing shoes as "Che! El Musical" brings the life of revolutionary Ernesto Guevara to the stage
  • Date: 16th April 2009
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (APRIL 14, 2009) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) EXTERIOR OF KONEX THEATER VARIOUS OF ACTOR ALEJANDRO PARKER DANCING AS LATIN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY ERNESTO "CHE" GUEVARA WITH ACTRESS PLAYING FORMER ARGENTINE FIRST LADY EVA "EVITA" PERON (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) "CHE! EL MUSICAL" DIRECTOR, DANIEL SUAREZ MARZAL, SAYING: "We tried to bring out the man with all his contradictions, his loves, the internal struggle that all of us human beings have in our private lives and public lives, its just that the his public life was huge, enormous, rich and was a great example." VARIOUS OF ACTOR GERMAN BARCELO PLAYING GUEVARA SINGING "HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE" ("TOWARDS VICTORY FOREVER") (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ACTOR GERMAN BARCELO, SAYING: "To be Che Guevara for almost two hours on stage, acting, singing and dancing in parts was a gift of this profession, and also the discovery, much deeper, of this personality that is so important for all Latin Americans and for the world." VARIOUS OF PARKER ACTING OUT THE DEATH OF GUEVARA IN THE BOLIVIAN JUNGLE AND ACTRESS PERFORMING THE CHARACTER OF "BOLIVIA"
  • Embargoed: 1st May 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA29GOKWYF5JB8H2LZK95X7AOJJ
  • Story Text: It's Che Guevara as you've never seen him before -- singing, jiving and vaulting across the stage for a new Argentine musical that will open on April 16.

    "Che! El Musical" ("Che! The Musical") is the first time the story of the Argentine-born revolutionary leader Ernesto Guevara, who fought alongside Fidel Castro in Cuba, has been put to stage music.
    And there's not just Che, there's also Evita; Argentina's other famous idol, Eva Peron. The former first lady makes a cameo in the production, for a tango and power struggle with world's most iconic guerrilla fighter.
    The play's directors said they tried to move past the icon however, and get into the heart and soul of a man who suffered from asthma, was a fervent reader and spent long hours writing in his journals.

    "We tried to bring out the man with all his contradictions, his loves, the internal struggle that all of us human beings have in our private lives and public lives, its just that the his public life was huge, enormous, rich and was a great example," director Daniel Suarez Marzal said.
    The musical covers four parts of Guevara's life -- starting with his infancy in the country town of Alta Gracia, and later the motorcycle adventure he made through Latin America, the 1959 Cuban Revolution and his struggle and death in Bolivia.
    Beneath the infamous beret with a single, white star are two actors -- Alejandro Parker and German Barcelo -- who will share the production schedule and a false beard necessary for the later scenes.

    "To be Che Guevara for almost two hours on stage, acting, singing and dancing in parts was a gift of this profession, and also the discovery, much deeper, of this personality that is so important for all Latin Americans and for the world," German Barcelo said, who will play Che Guevara on Thursdays and Fridays, with Parker taking the Saturdays and Sundays, at the Konex theater in Buenos Aires.
    For years after CIA-backed troops executed him in the Bolivian jungle, "El Che" was too controversial for public recognition in Argentina and the leaders of the country's "dirty war" dictatorship banned his image until their fall in 1983.
    Guevara is a national hero in Cuba but it took a long time for him to gain recognition at home.
    The musical's directors hope their work will bring his story alive, and help build a history deeper than the beret-clad symbol worn on t-shirts by followers of the counterculture revolution.
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