Prior to The Garden of Anuncia‘s New York Off-Broadway debut, it was already commissioned by The Old Globe in San Diego in their 2021-22 season. This iteration that I had the pleasure to view yesterday included the Tony-nominated Priscilla Lopez, whilst most of the cast remain (including former Wicked Elphaba Eden Espinosa).
The story centres on the Broadway legend Graciela Daniele, who danced in the original Broadway companies of Follies, Chicago, and Promises, Promises. She also directed and choreographed musicals such as: Once On This Island, Annie Get Your Gun, and also played a role in choreographing Ragtime, The Pirates of Penzance, The Rink, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood to name but a few. This show – The Garden of Anuncia – revolves around her life growing up in 1940s Buenos Aires in the shadow of the Perón regime, and the transition into a career in the arts to collect an award in New York.
A play that embodies the components of a Bildungsroman, with a storytelling element directly towards the audience, Graciela Daniele’s direction infuses tango and the love of dance in this new musical written by Michael John LaChiusa (Bernarda Alba) with whom she has collaborated with in the past. The premise of this show follows Older Anuncia (Priscilla Lopez) as she tends the garden of her country house and reflects on her life, looking back on her girlhood in Argentina; it is essentially paying homage to the family of women whose love and sacrifices have allowed her to become the creative person she is today. We then have Younger Anuncia (Kalyn West), Mami (Eden Espinosa), Tía (Andréa Burns), and Granmama (Mary Testa) also folded into the narrative to portray the life of women in the South American country during the dawn of the Péron government: we see her cradling her Aunt’s ashes, as the show moves between the past and present in a seamless manner.
The opening begins with a rather catchy number (the refrain of “Mami, Granmama Tia and me!” won’t leave you head for hours after) where we meet the three women central to the narrative are relaying how they have (or don’t) have independence. There’s a real eye-opening insight into the domestic hardships (and extern too, given that Mami works reluctantly for the government) . Further, they all endure their dreams and aspirations with the patriarchy in all aspects of their lives, it seems that there’s only the women to live on their own accord and solve their own directives.
The songs in this show are a highlight in this production, with the solo number that Espinosa sings (the number “Malagueña”) being a particular highlight. The story meanders along, and after a rapturous start the actions slows down as we see some “magic realism” to further the story in the characterisation of an animal (which I believe was a choice to bring something different, and some light-hearted charm to the show). What this show has bags of is heaps of heart. As well as – at times – repetition, when pointing out the plants in the garden Anuncia attends to. It felt to me like the same laboured point was being drilled into the audience again and again, which made me feel like I was on a never-ending merry-go-round.
Whilst the show’s structure is conventional in some ways, it really isn’t in others: for example, the set is stunningly simple, with a huge lighting rig creating beautifully lit moments that highlight the impeccable facial expressions of the actors. The set is pared back, with a green floor (complete with a trapdoor, which is probably only used once)showcases flowers hanging from above the round stage’s space as the actors walk on to take centre-stage; the lighting rig takes full advantage of every inch of the stage, which is really effective in moving the story along at a nice well-intentioned pace when the characters move on and off stage. The theme of bereavement, loss and grief are all encompassing at times. It did confuse me why the name of the protagonist is ‘Anuncia’ but this is clarified, perhaps too late in this piece for my liking. I enjoyed the period costumes as well, for they made the action come to life. I did find the references to the hair odd (Younger Anuncia is admonished for not being like her matriarchal figures). In these scenes, the book appeared to be weaker and less believable thought the actors carried every line with intention and belief.
To conclude, this is a show that I believe has the foundations for even greater success. The fact that we are celebrating a woman of colour is to be commended on an Off-Broadway stage: I wasn’t too aware myself of Daniele’s contributions to the theatre industry, but I am so glad that I was able to witness the show that shows this remarkable woman’s life in such a positive light, whilst also keeping it succinct in a 95-minute window.
Until 31 Dec 2023 : https://www.lct.org/shows/gardens-anuncia/schedule/
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