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Valerie Perrine, er… *Perri* has played the role of Eva Perón in cities across the TW: How did you first get the
opportunity to play the role of Eva Perón in EVITA? VP: I first performed the role of Eva
as the alternate in the Los Angeles company where I
did two matinees a week. It was a great story as to my casting. When I got
the call from my agent he told me that Joanna Merlin (Hal [Prince]’s
casting director) thought I might be too young to play the role of Evita and that I should prepare the Mistress’ song
as well for the audition. When I got
to the audition there was a mix up and my name wasn’t even on the list
to be seen. |
Joanna had pulled her back out and couldn’t make the plane
trip from NY to LA so she sent her assistant John David Wilder. He was very
kind and said, “We’ll squeeze you in.” Upon entering
the audition I heard a voice from the back of the Shubert
Theater say, “Who are you auditioning for?” When I replied that I
was told to prepare for both roles, I was promptly told that I could only do
one of them so of course I picked the plum role to sing for. The voice was that
of Paul Gemignani, the show’s musical supervisor
and Broadway conductor. I was called back to sing for Hal Prince the following
week on a Saturday where there were 5 women there singing for Eva. He asked two
of us to come back Sunday morning: my
pal Loni Ackerman and me. I would have been happy to
be in the chorus at that time but to be given the opportunity to do that role
was a “pinch me, I can’t believe it” moment. It was a true
Cinderella story for me for it was with that role that I got my Equity Card.
Valerie Perri, John Herrera and
Director Harold
Prince in rehearsal
TW: Where all
have you played the part?
VP: Every major city across the
In 1992, after my twins were born, I did yet another tour all
across the
TW: Who else have you seen play the
part? Did you "take anything" from their interpretations?
VP: I used to love watching other Evas do the role. At the time I was performing, I saw Patti
LuPone, Terri Klausner, Loni Ackerman, and Derin Altay. All of their interpretations were fantastic. There
was always something special about each one’s performance. Loni was an
incredible dancer and her “
TW: What is your favorite part of
the show to perform?
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VP: My favorite part every night was
after the balcony scene when I would get the chance to act without saying a
word. I used to love to stare into the mirror, with my back to the audience
while listening to Che sing “High Flying,
Adored.” Hal and I used to
call it “back acting”. It’s amazing what the posture of
your body can do to convey an emotion to an audience. There was one other moment that used to thrill me every night.
It was after the aristocrats sing, “When will the chorus girl ever
learn?” I relished the moment of
stepping out from stage left, after an amazingly fast costume change, taking
a slight pause, and turning just my head toward the audience, and with all of
the poise and charm, sing “The chorus girl hasn’t learned the
lines you’d like to hear...” It was also a challenge to be able to find the right pitch
every night without there being any orchestration underneath the first note.
It was so satisfying to be in sync with my conductor and have it flow right
into the music. It was a very powerful moment for me. |
TW: Is there a
section in the show you find difficult to portray?
VP: When I was first cast, I was younger
than the handful of Evas that came before me and I
found Eva in Act I so much easier to portray than Eva in Act II. It’s
such a difficult task to make all of those transitions smoothly when
you’re young. For instance, it was hard for me to grasp the lyric,
“These are not the solutions they promised to be...” when I
hadn’t gotten there yet in maturity to fully realize the power of that
statement.
I found that when I did the role again in 1992, I had so much
more understanding of how we make choices in life, thinking at that moment this
is the answer to everything, only later to be disappointed and realize that the
“answer was here all the time”. BINGO!
TW: And my usual last question…
Do you have any funny/quirky/interesting stories to tell about your time
in E
VP: My favorite story is when I was flown
to
It was definitely a most memorable time of my life and I thank you for your
interest in keeping it all alive.
All the best,
Valerie
TW: Thanks again Valerie!
Please
visit Ms. Perri’s site here!
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