‘The Gardens of Anuncia’ Off Broadway Review: How Great Art Survives Terrible Politics

Michael John LaChiusa sets Graciela Daniele’s life to song, and the subject directs it with her usual grace and flair

"The Gardens of Anuncia"
"The Gardens of Anuncia" (Credit: Julieta Cervantes)

Not many director-choreographers get to direct their lives and put it on stage or screen. Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz” comes to mind, and now there is Graciela Daniele’s direction of “The Gardens of Anuncia.”

Fosse and Daniele’s life stories could not be more different. Where Fosse had personal demons and substance abuse to overcome (or not), Daniele had Juan and Eva Peron to deal with. Michael John LaChiusa’s touching new musical, “The Gardens of Anuncia,” under the direction of Daniele, opened Monday at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center.

Born in the decade before Peron came to power in Argentina, Daniele started life as a dancer, supported by the collective belief in her talent of three strong women — her mother, a maiden aunt and her maternal grandmother.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.