OLD GLOBE’S PRODUCTION OF ‘THE GARDENS OF ANUNCIA’ IS A CHARMER
Michael John LaChiusa's charming little gem of musical “The Gardens of Anuncia” is melodic, funny, warm and packed with star performances. But like a petite box of chocolates, when its swift-moving 90 minutes are over, you're left wanting more.
“Gardens” opened Friday in a world premiere production that kicked off The Old Globe's indoor 2021-22 season. LaChiusa wrote the book, music and lyrics as a love letter to his longtime friend and Broadway collaborator Graciela Daniele, 81, whose career will be honored Sunday with a special lifetime achievement award at The 74th annual Tony Awards. Daniele directed and cochoreographed “Gardens,” which was inspired by her adolescent years in 1940s Argentina during the fascist regime of Juan Peron.
“Gardens” barely touches on Daniele's career. Her thinly veiled onstage alter-ego, the 70-something
Older Anuncia (wistfully played by Carmen Roman), says in the show's opening minutes that she would rather putter in her garden than receive a career award. For the rest of the show, the Older Anuncia instead digs deep into the roots of her childhood memories. Some of these recollections are real, some have been rewritten over time and some have been repressed because they're too painful to recall.
Much of the story takes place in Anuncia's adolescent years (a graceful Kalyn West plays Younger Anuncia), when she was raised by three fiercely independent Argentine women: her divorced Mamí (a fiery Eden Espinosa), her separated Granmama (the fiercely funny Mary Testa) and her single aunt, Tía (a gentle and endearing Andréa Burns) — who have all passed away before the musical begins.
Thanks to Mark Wendland's magical scenic design and gorgeous shimmery lighting design by Jules Fisher and Peggy
Eisenhauer, these ghosts from Anuncia's past appear in her memories by walking through a “garden” of colorfully lit hanging fiber optic vines. As her memories fade into mist, the actors disappear behind the shapeshifting columns of jewel-toned light.
LaChiusa's lush 15-song score, performed with pulsing percussion and brass by a backstage orchestra, is peppered with
Latin bolero, tango and mambo rhythms, and his lyrics are shot through with a rich vein of humor and heart. Several cast members have worked with LaChiusa in the past, so he has written them lines and lyrics that showcase their strengths. Power-belter Espinosa blazes through her solos “Malagueña” and “The Trial.” And with her deadpan comic delivery, Testa steals all of her scenes, particularly in the song “Waiting/Dreaming.”
Enrique Acevedo and Tally Sessions play all of the men, both real and imagined, in Anuncia's life. The show's central conflict is Anuncia's complicated memory of “That Man,” her selfish father who abandoned the family when she was 6 and may have traumatized her sexually. Looking back on her life, the older Anuncia has to decide which memories are worth saving and how to keep moving forward without the guiding female forces in her life.
On its surface, “The Gardens of Anuncia” is entertaining, lovely to look at and listen to, and filled with top-notch performances. But its brief length left me with many questions. If Tía taught Anuncia to love the music and art that would shape her life, why is Tía's own story a mystery? Why isn't Younger Anuncia given an “I want” song of her own or a proper send-off to her future artistic career in France? Why is Mamí's return after a months-long absence given so little attention? And why are there talking deer in Anuncia's garden? With more script development, this gem will really shine.