Conducted by Tim Whittemore via e-mail
July 2002
Ms. Toro played the role of Eva Perón in the 1999 US Tour.
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TW: What are your favorite moments in EVITA?
NT: My favorite part of the show to do was the last scene with Perón. [Raymond Jaramillo] McLeod and I had a real connection and it was wild to do [the last scene] every night. The passion and anger and dominance showed Evita's inability to quit, even though she was dying - and he even told her she was dying and it went in one ear and out the other. It is a well written scene and since I am an extremely passionate actress, it was very easy for me to portray. My other favorite was "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You"
TW: Is there a part in the show you found difficult to portray?
NT: There wasn't one particular moment
I had a hard time to portray, but there were times when I was
really tired and sometimes hitting those un-Godly notes were
difficult. Playing Evita is probably one of the hardest roles in
American Theatre for a woman. You have to have the pipes as well
as the stamina to portray her well. I think anyone can do it, but
it's a difference of capturing what she was really like and
capturing her Latin Passion, which I have because I'm Latin and I
understand.
TW: Do you have any interesting stories to share from any of your times on stage as Eva?
NT: One of the funniest and most
difficult for me was when the actress who played my maid forgot
her entrance for "Rainbow High" so therefore I didn't
have my suit to get into during the number. Luckily, an actor by the name of Charles Bergell saved the day.
He ran off-stage and found my costume and tried to dress me
onstage, of course at different times during the number that were
not the right moments. We were all flustered, and Eva that
evening was extremely angry with her staff. It still went over
well and I was dressed by the end of the number. Phew!!!!
TW: Do you have any regrets that your National Tour didn't make it to Broadway? (I know I do - I've been waiting for a Broadway Revival since I started listening to this show!)
NT: The only regret is about all the
stuff that happens politically in this business. It wasn’t
bad reviews that stopped us from going to Broadway – as some
people might think. We didn't go to Broadway because the
powers-that-be didn't agree on many things and we had to suffer
the consequences. The reviews were actually good, despite the
fact that most reviewers love to "hate" EVITA and go with that already on their minds. So no matter how good
the production is (and ours was amazing), they will still trash
it! You can log on to my website for some of the reviews...
Natalie Toro Gracias Natalie - ¡Que
viva Evita!
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Thank
you for your interest and for loving EVITA.
