The Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is no stranger to her face being on/in all kinds of things. Movies, t-shirts, tote bags, you name it. However, just on Thursday, it was announced that Kahlo’s life would be made into a Broadway Musical.
The musical will probably take place in 2024 when regional tryouts are complete. The musical will follow Kahlo’s experiences. Starting in Mexico City, then in Paris, and then ending up in New York. It will eventually lead back to the famous “Blue House,” where she was born and died in 1954. The show, whose title will be “Frida, The Musical” will include music by Jaime Lozano and lyrics by playwright Neena Beber, and it will be produced by Valentina Berger.
Part of the play will be based on the book “Intimate Frida,” by her niece Isolda P. Kahlo. In a surprising turn of events, there appeared to have been many attempts to make her life a musical, but this is the only attempt that her family agreed on.
According to a statement by Mara Romeo Kahlo, despite looking strict in some of her portraits, Frida Kahlo was a very joyful woman.
“In all the stories I heard when I was a little child, our family remembered Aunt Frida as a very joyful woman,” said Mara Romeo Kahlo, universal heiress to the Frida Kahlo legacy. “She was passionate about music, arts and Mexican culture. ‘Frida, The Musical’ honors everything she was: a real woman who fought for her dreams, loved like anybody else and always lived ahead of her time.”
Some of the show’s ideas have been revealed already by Jaime Lozano, the music producer, and some of the show’s other creators. Though Kahlo’s work tended to depict her physical and emotional suffering, the creators of the musical said that the thing they wanted to show on the big screens had to be more “three-dimensional.” “We really want to see Frida through a wider perspective,” said Lozano in a phone interview.
Berger (the show’s producer) put in a word about Kahlo’s other side as well. Despite the feelings her work conveys, the Mexican artist had an often overlooked sense of humor. “Everyone knows a colder Frida, a suffering Frida, but she loved life,” Berger said. “She was really, really fun. That’s what we want to portray. I used to have a sad view of Frida, like, ‘Oh, the poor woman.’ Now, knowing how she was so smart and so clever, I look up to her.”
The musical isn’t the only look into Kahlo’s life, however. The 2002 biopic “Frida” (starring Salma Hayek as Kahlo and Alfred Molina as her husband, painter Diego Rivera) had an odd selection of comments from viewers. The artist was also displayed recently in “Mexican Geniuses”. Kahlo’s estate has recently announced that it is developing a TV series based on her life and work.
After the overview of the show, we can dive into Kahlo’s life ourselves. Upon first experiencing this, it suddenly makes sense why people would want her life as a musical in the first place. She had had an affair with Russian-Ukrainian revolutionary Leon Trotsky during her volatile marriage to Rivera. When she was 18, a streetcar slammed into her and damaged her spine and pelvis. At times, she painted from her bed, which is supposedly why her works appeared as dark as they did. She died at age 47.
But as stated before, there is another side to Kahlo that is often overlooked. During a visit to Kahlo’s family, Berger says she learned that, before Kahlo would leave on trips, she would tell her sisters to bathe her husband. “I mean, how close do you have to be to your sisters to suggest something like that?” Berger said.
The progress for the musical is rolling out steadily as well. Ten songs have been written for the musical so far, two of which Lozano previewed at the “American Songbook” series at Lincoln Center in April. One of the songs, “Wings,” really captured Kahlo’s joy beneath all the bad things she was feeling. It was inspired by one of her quotes: “Feet,” she said, “what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”
The Washington Post
Source:
‘Frida, the Musical’ will take the painter’s life story to Broadway – The Washington Post.pdf
The musical will probably take place in 2024 when regional tryouts are complete. The musical will follow Kahlo’s experiences. Starting in Mexico City, then in Paris, and then ending up in New York. It will eventually lead back to the famous “Blue House,” where she was born and died in 1954. The show, whose title will be “Frida, The Musical” will include music by Jaime Lozano and lyrics by playwright Neena Beber, and it will be produced by Valentina Berger.
Part of the play will be based on the book “Intimate Frida,” by her niece Isolda P. Kahlo. In a surprising turn of events, there appeared to have been many attempts to make her life a musical, but this is the only attempt that her family agreed on.
According to a statement by Mara Romeo Kahlo, despite looking strict in some of her portraits, Frida Kahlo was a very joyful woman.
“In all the stories I heard when I was a little child, our family remembered Aunt Frida as a very joyful woman,” said Mara Romeo Kahlo, universal heiress to the Frida Kahlo legacy. “She was passionate about music, arts and Mexican culture. ‘Frida, The Musical’ honors everything she was: a real woman who fought for her dreams, loved like anybody else and always lived ahead of her time.”
Some of the show’s ideas have been revealed already by Jaime Lozano, the music producer, and some of the show’s other creators. Though Kahlo’s work tended to depict her physical and emotional suffering, the creators of the musical said that the thing they wanted to show on the big screens had to be more “three-dimensional.” “We really want to see Frida through a wider perspective,” said Lozano in a phone interview.
Berger (the show’s producer) put in a word about Kahlo’s other side as well. Despite the feelings her work conveys, the Mexican artist had an often overlooked sense of humor. “Everyone knows a colder Frida, a suffering Frida, but she loved life,” Berger said. “She was really, really fun. That’s what we want to portray. I used to have a sad view of Frida, like, ‘Oh, the poor woman.’ Now, knowing how she was so smart and so clever, I look up to her.”
The musical isn’t the only look into Kahlo’s life, however. The 2002 biopic “Frida” (starring Salma Hayek as Kahlo and Alfred Molina as her husband, painter Diego Rivera) had an odd selection of comments from viewers. The artist was also displayed recently in “Mexican Geniuses”. Kahlo’s estate has recently announced that it is developing a TV series based on her life and work.
After the overview of the show, we can dive into Kahlo’s life ourselves. Upon first experiencing this, it suddenly makes sense why people would want her life as a musical in the first place. She had had an affair with Russian-Ukrainian revolutionary Leon Trotsky during her volatile marriage to Rivera. When she was 18, a streetcar slammed into her and damaged her spine and pelvis. At times, she painted from her bed, which is supposedly why her works appeared as dark as they did. She died at age 47.
But as stated before, there is another side to Kahlo that is often overlooked. During a visit to Kahlo’s family, Berger says she learned that, before Kahlo would leave on trips, she would tell her sisters to bathe her husband. “I mean, how close do you have to be to your sisters to suggest something like that?” Berger said.
The progress for the musical is rolling out steadily as well. Ten songs have been written for the musical so far, two of which Lozano previewed at the “American Songbook” series at Lincoln Center in April. One of the songs, “Wings,” really captured Kahlo’s joy beneath all the bad things she was feeling. It was inspired by one of her quotes: “Feet,” she said, “what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”
The Washington Post
Source:
‘Frida, the Musical’ will take the painter’s life story to Broadway – The Washington Post.pdf
