Yma Sumac The Peruvian Songbird.
Devised and performed by Ali McGregor.Directed by Cameron Menzies. Musical direction by Sam Keevers. Lighting direction by Paul Lim. Sound design by Russell Goldsmth. Set design by Kathryn Sprout. Dunstan Playhouse. Adelaide Festival Centre. June 14-16 2018
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Yma Sumac - The Peruvian Songbird. |
Extraordinary!!!! How else can one
describe the phenomenal Ali McGregor in her tribute to South American Mambo
Queen, Yma Sumac. Australia’s own songbird and Adelaide Cabaret Festival
director channels Fifties sensation, Sumac, the Peruvian Songbird. This is no
ordinary performance, a tribute to a surprisingly unknown superstar of the era
of Mambo Mania.
After learning of Sumac’s
existence while in London in the late Nineties and her phenomenal success with
Capitol Records, McGregor set out on a search for anything that would tell her
more about the Peruvian with the five octave range and extraordinary voice.
Interest became passion and passion turned o obsession as she began to buy up
Sumac memorabilia, made contact with Sumac’s former gay companion, carer and
confidante and bought a box full of costumes and props and jewellery, which she
wears throughout the show.
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| Ali McGregor. Mikel Angelo, Lily Paskas |
McGregor’s accounting of Sumac’s
soap opera life is told with enormous admiration and compassion for a woman who
had to fight to survive, cheated on by her philandering husband, betrayed by
her cousin for whom she eventually cared, humiliated by an arrogant partner who
had children with other women and flung aside when Rock and Roll stormed the
music world. McGregor, appearing in various costumes worn by Sumac and touting
her jewels sings the songs of longing, the wail and pitched shrill of duende as
well as the vocal dexterity of the sensuous and playful mambo. Her respect for
the memory of Yma Sumac shines through her performance and her song. However,
this is not merely an account of the pain and the suffering, or even a tribute
to Sumac’s remarkable success as Capitol Records’ highest selling artist of the
Mambo era. It is also the admiring tribute
to her survival, as she sings Sumac’s Mambo version of Mozart’s Queen of the
Night from The Magic Flute . To hear
McGregor is to experience anew the wondrous voice and incredible five octave
range of the Peruvian Songbird.
McGregor inhabits the talent, the
vocal range and the persona of the enigmatic Peruvian, and we are transported
to a talent that shines with the splendor of Inca gold.
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| Ali McGregor as Yma Sumac |
McGregor is accompanied on stage
by guitarist Mikelangelo in the role of Svengali husband, Moises Vivanco and
Lily Paskas as cousin Cholita. They exist primarily to dress the stage and
create a reference point to McGregor’s narrative. Mikelangelo provides
accompaniment on guitar and strikes the macho
pose of Moises while Paskas essentially strikes a number of poses, but
appears largely superfluous to the action. The presence of Mikelangelo and Paskas is
reminiscent of a directorial idea that was not given sufficient rehearsal time.
Either that, or McGregor’s charismatic presence is so prominent, that all other
aspects of production are merely a backdrop to her stunning performance.
Yma Sumac lives again in a show
that is more than a tribute. It is an affirmation of an amazing talent brought
to life again by an artist who has the genius and the love to restore the
Peruvian Songbird’s enduring legacy. Yma Sumac – The Peruvian Songbird should tour nationally and be seen by all . McGregor’s
astounding voice rises on a wave of song to restore a legacy and honour the
gift to the world of music that was the incomparable Yma Sumac.
Production photos by Claudio Raschella
