Image:Lizaminnellievitatomb.jpg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents |
[edit] Story behind the photograph
This picture was taken by me in 1993. I was an exchange student to Argentina for the summer. My host father was Jorge Di Fiori, who at the time was the president of the Argentine chamber of commerce. Here is a picture of Jorge Di Fiori with the president of Argentina: http://betha.com.ar/resultado.php?pTIPO=PAS&pEVECOD=160
It was about three weeks into my stay that Mr. Di Fiori, an anti-Peronist, got word that I had chosen to be an exchange student to Argentina primarily because of my interest in Eva Peron. He was none-too-pleased.
During my last week in Argentina, I visited Eva Peron's tomb every day, which upset my host father considerably. He felt is was quite creepy. I visited primarily because at the time there was little anyone interested in Evita could do to find others of like mind. I had landed in Argentina in 1993 certain that Eva Peron was a goddess, thinking that the whole place would be filled with shrines dedicated to her, only to be told that she was "history" and that few people, aside from the nostaligic older Peronists, were interested in her. (This was six years before the release of the Madonna movie, which subsequently changed all of this, igniting the international phenomenon of Eva Peron as an icon.) There was no Museo Evita at the time. I met many interesting people at the tomb.
I had heard that Liza Minnelli was in town performing. In Buenos Aires, whenever any big star visits town it is the talk of the town. Liza Minnelli was the talk of the town at the time. So, one day, during my last week in Argentina (both my host family and I were happy that it had come to an end as we didn't get along much), I was standing there placing flowers on her tomb. (I took fresh flowers every day.) I heard foot steps behind me, so I moved aside so that they could read the plaque. This happened often, so I thought nothing of it.
I looked to my left and couldn't believe that standing right beside me was Liza Minnelli! I thought to myself, "Oh, no. I can't let this go. I have to get a picture." Normally, I would not take a picture like this. But this was just too odd. So, I walked about 15 feet to the left, took out my camera and snapped the picture.
Immediately after the flash went off, Liza looked in my direaction and shot me a dirty look.
I gradually worked my way back to the tomb, noticing that Liza had set the bundle of flowers in her hand on to the tomb. I, perhaps stupidly (I was 17 at the time), asked, "Ms. Minnelli?"
Liza responded with an angry, flat, resentful, "What?"
I asked ever so gently, "Do you like Evita?"
Again, an angry, flat, resentful response: "Yes."
So, I slinked away, accepting that I was not a welcome presence in her vacinity. Then, Liza started to ask questions about who was in the tomb. A man beside her attempted a response, but he didn't know what he was talking about. Virtual scholar in Eva Peron that I was, I corrected the man. Liza, now far more gracious, looked at me with a bit of concern and asked, "How many people are in this tomb?" I explained that the Duarte family crypt had about 12 people in it, most of whom were not listed in the plaques.
Liza then gradually drifted away from Evita's tomb, her entourage followed her, and I was left to ponder one of the strangest encounters of my life. Thank God I have the picture, or no one would believe this!
I later told my host father about the encounter, and he was condescending. He said, "What, is some tourist director encouraging people to go to that tomb?"
[edit] Other pictures from my 1993 Argentina exchange
Below are two pictures from my 1993 trip. The table scene is of my last dinner with my host family. It's a hilarious picture, because on one side of the picture you can see my host father eating a banana and glowering at me. He had instructed me NOT to stand up and get my camera and take this picture. Like most Latin American males (particularly upper class Latin American males) he was very dictatorial and had no problem trying to control every move of his subordinates. But directly across from him is his wife, smiling warmly at me.
 My last night in Argentina, with the Di Fiori family |
The wife/mother and I had talked about Evita. She never said so, but I got the feeling that the mother (whose family had been politically neutral) admired Evita. We even talked about the possibility of Madonna playing Evita. Mrs. Di Fiori didn't think she would get the role and didn't think she would be good in the role, because, she said, Evita had a much more gentle look to her, and Madonna had a more rough look. Later, in 1995 when Madonna was filming the movie in Argentina, I got a letter from the mother saying that the whole family was thinking about me. (Of course, I'm a huge Madonna fan.) In 1993, my host family thought I was crazy, and I became quite the freak at the upper class school in San Isidro when it got around that I was a virtual scholar in Eva Peron. (I even had an Evita trivia contest with one of the teachers, an older Peronist man. I actually knew more about Evita than he did. He left the room visibly shaken by my knowledge. Later, the head mistress of the school told me, "Mr. Caballo couldn't believe how much you knew about Evita. An American boy? We don't even know anything about her!") By 1995, my interest seemed to have been ahead of its time.
The other picture is a somewhat unsettling picture of me, age 17, in front of Evita's tomb. I've gotten a lot of comments over the years about the stone cold look on my face. The explanation is this: I felt odd having my picture taken in front of a tomb. It felt a bit macabre. I particularly thought that a smile would be inappropriate. (I've seen pictures of people smiling in front of Evita's tomb. It seemed strange.) So, I stood there without a smile, with that stone look on my face. The result is a picture that is perhaps more creepy than a smile would've been. Oh well. It's the only picture I have, and I figure it's worth sharing.
 Me, with my scary stone face, in front of Evita's tomb, 1993 |
My 1993 trip to Argentina was surreal. More than a decade later, I still feel haunted by it. In part, Argentina resonated with me because I am Italian descent and grew up with a Hispanic stepfather. So, I grew up with a combination of Italian and Hispanic culture influencing my life. Argentina, of course, is a combination of both Italian and Hispanic culture. About a third of the country is of Italian descent. (My last name is relatively common in Argentina. See Delia Parodi.)
Probably the strangest aspect of my Argentine trip is that my host father showed me pictures of himself with Argentine president Carlos Menem, with whom he dined on a monthly basis. It's bizarre to think that this is the same man that Madonna had to beg for permission to film the movie Evita on the balcony of the Casa Rosada. The timing of the whole thing is so bizarre to think about.
[edit] Nod to Patti LuPone
It was, of course, Patti Lupone's performance as Evita that got me interested in the historical Eva Peron. I never saw Patti perform Evita live, but in the early 1990s I found the Original Broadway Recording of her performance, and it had a huge impact on me. Though I think Madonna did very well in the movie, in my mind Patti LuPone gave the ultimate interpretation as Evita
[edit] The Shoshana Bean connection
As I mentioned above, I never saw Patti LuPone perform Evita. The performance I saw was in 1991 at the Portland Civic Auditorium (now known as Keller Auditorium). As fate would have it, the performance featured a little girl who would a decade later become a Broadway star: Shoshana Bean. Shoshana had a bit part as one of the "Children of Argentina." She sang with the chorus of children who sang "Santa Evita", etc.
I was a dancer at the time, attending the performaing arts high school in Portland, and I was a member of the dance company called The Jefferson Dancers. Shoshana's mother, Felice, was one of my teachers. Shoshana's mother is the woman who encouraged me to follow up on my offer of a scholarship to the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Click on that link to see the picture of the Martha Graham school that I took in 1994 when I studied there on scholarship.
Anyway, it's great to see that someone from my little circle back then in the early 1990s is now a Broadway star.
Andrew Parodi 06:33, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Licensing
I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
Subject to disclaimers.
File history
Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete
this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version.
Click on date to download the file or see the image uploaded on that date.
- (del) (cur) 14:29, 19 May 2006 . . Andrew Parodi (Talk | contribs) . . 1929×1369 (726,106 bytes)
- Edit this file using an external application
See the setup instructions for more information.
