Musical about Moraes Moreira arrives in Rio, telling the artist's life in cordel verse
After premiering in Salvador, 'Moraes musical Moreira' runs at Teatro Carlos Gomes until November 29, with about 40 songs by the former Novos Baianos member.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
Four months after its national premiere in Salvador, the show "Moraes musical Moreira" is playing at Teatro Carlos Gomes in Rio de Janeiro, Thursday through Sunday, until November 29. The production was reviewed by critic Mauro Ferreira on his blog at g1.
Fábio Espírito Santo's script is structured as cordel, the Brazilian folk verse form that Moraes Moreira (1947-2020) himself embraced, and takes as its starting point the cordel "De cantor pra Cantador", recorded on the album "SerTão" (2018). The artist is played simultaneously by two actors: Rodrigo Sestrem as the Singer-Poet and Cris Meirelles as the Cowboy of Sound. Júlia Tizumba plays the Music Muse.
The script brings together about 40 songs, hits as well as little-known tracks, and covers his roots in Ituaçu, Bahia, his partnership with Luiz Galvão in Novos Baianos, and the trio elétrico sound trucks of Bahia's Carnival. Luiz Gonzaga and João Gilberto also appear as characters. The show is directed by Ana Paula Bouzas, with musical direction by João Milet Meirelles and Ronei Jorge.
In the critic's view, the first half hour meanders, with the cordel holding back the action, but the narrative gains momentum and the musical ends in electrifying fashion. He highlights the final number, "Chame gente", with a touch of Bahian pagodão, which he calls irresistible.
According to Mauro Ferreira, the play breaks away from the usual biographical-musical formula and puts the artist's essence and ideology on stage, in an ode to Bahia.