Getting on stage with ease, dedication and discipline is not for everyone. In case of Elena Ruggero In this sense it is paradigmatic. his passage Broadway and the West End they marked their path with fire, but despite having traveled with brilliance and all the lights the mecca of the theater, its porteño essence remains intact.
Hey renews its link with the Argentine public to replace Piafthe musical for which she received the Laurence Olivier Award in 2009 for Best Actress, something no local artist had achieved before.
Conceived as a succession of scenes expertly put together by the English director Jamie Lloyd, the show maintains an agile and ordered rhythm from a technical point of view, but at the same time chaotic and feverish in the plot, alluding, perhaps, to the intrigues of the character. Roger’s performance is impressive not only for his voice, but also for the transformation he experiences alongside a character he knows from within.
How to achieve that extraordinary synthesis without exposing body and soul every evening on the stage of the Liceo theater? In this interview with The urban planet reveals it.
– What differences are there between Piaf of 2009 and what we see today?
-The character I play today is a creation that is thirteen years old, but that does not mean that the versions are identical, quite the contrary. This time Jamie Lloyd decided to take his foot off the accelerator that he himself had imposed. At the time, when we were shooting the scenes, he asked the actors not to think when they talked; he wanted us to say the lyrics without letting time out. I understand that his intention was not to bore, and it seemed logical for a young director to make that decision. Today we allow ourselves more silences.
Is there more balance on stage?
-Clearly. Throughout all these years, Jamie has directed 70 plays and has had a variety of experiences, from making a film Cirano de Bergerac classic until becoming assistant director of the Avoid what i did in london The whole cast has reached a greater artistic maturity. We studied the videos of the previous show and found details that we were able to reformulate according to our current conception of the theater, because we understood that times have changed. There is a compliment we usually get on our growth as an actor since those years, and it occurs to me to think if the above was wrong.
“Emotionally, I have my own ways of channeling, feeling and venting. This is why I chose this profession. I like to experience those emotions “.
-What was the learning in this period?
-I think we have abandoned the need to want to please and get a professional income from this job. And what we are experiencing is that there is nothing professional that is exempt from the personal. Some of us are nearly 60 years old; I’m approaching 50. During this time, our lives have changed.
–During the game, your posture changes with the suffering of the character. Does this interpretation affect you physically?
-No. We all do a workout before we do the show, and from an emotional point of view, I have my own ways of channeling, feeling and venting. This is why I chose this profession. I like to experience those emotions.
As viewers become drawn into the plot, Roger performs “I Regret Nothing,” which to 21st century ears is a hymn that honors the freedom to be, to decide and to think. A freedom that Édith Piaf defended and at the same time suffered in body and soul. “When I reread the work, I found myself with a pioneer woman. It wasn’t easy for her to do, say, and behave like she did.
After these last few years in which women have conquered another place, it is interesting to retrace their history from that perspective, ”she explains. Far from the diva airs, from the frank and relaxed conversation, the conviction of having reached the professional serenity typical of a state of maturity that allows him to have clear his priorities, to respect his times and to assume with confidence what the artistic destiny gives him
– At the best moment of your career you became a mother. Did that decision affect your work abroad?
–No, I got pregnant while I was doing Avoid on Broadway, in the last weeks of the season. After that I no longer worked abroad with the need to move. I went on a tour, while my partner remained in the care of the boys –Bahía (8) and Risco (4) -; other times I have traveled with them. The reality is that I was able to do pretty much anything I wanted by taking the time to be a mom. My energy was directed towards motherhood just as I became a mother.
– Have you given up on any plans to be with your family?
-Yes, there was work around. In fact, I got out of a movie because I was pregnant. I also put off a show to focus on breastfeeding my daughter.
“In this country the theatrical experience is very familiar. Outside it is also, but I started my career in 1995 in my homeland and developed it for ten years until I went abroad to do Evita. I would have had to spend the same amount of time outside to feel like here.
-You just remembered your passage Avoid. Did that game change your career?
-In reality, my career has changed due to the fact that I have traveled abroad and come into contact with the people who do theater there. Avoid It was a pleasure to be able to do other jobs, like Boeing Boeing, Passion it’s the same Piaf. But it wasn’t just me who turned it upside down; even the Argentine public began to give more importance to my work.
–When you were in London or New York, what did you miss about the Buenos Aires theater?
-I have always enjoyed working in Argentina, because I have known the people I share projects with for a long time. In this country, the theatrical experience is very familiar. Outside it is also, but I started my career in 1995 in my homeland and developed it for ten years until I went abroad to do Avoid. I would have had to spend the same amount of time outside to feel like here.
“What I wanted to do with my career, what I imagined in my youth, fortunately I did. At this moment, I believe that the doors of many artistic fields are open to me. I have reached a state where I allow myself not to think about the future ”.
– How would you like the continuity of your career to be?
I don’t know, I feel willing to enjoy it. What I wanted to do with my career, what I imagined in my youth, fortunately I have achieved. At this moment, I believe that the doors of many artistic fields are open to me. I have reached a state where I allow myself not to think about the future.
– Could you go back to anonymity?
-Of course! Sometimes it’s nice to get out of that place of so much exposure to do something artistic and be able to give myself permission to play a little more. I am open to the universe by taking me everywhere.
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