Historical September 1993 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
If you were in the audience that warm Sunday night, July 11th, you heard the power and beauty in her voice, and saw her charm and felt her electric stage presence.
She performed with the multi-talented Tom Clear of SkinkerDeBaliviere theatrical fame. Who is Marcela?
She is singer, composer and actress. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she knew as a young child that her life was to revolve around music rather than around medicine. (Her father was a physician as are her three sisters.) She began studying voice, theater, and dance. Soon she was composing her own songs and giving recitals.
She remembers being strongly influenced by her grandfather’s singing.
He played his guitar and sang flamenco songs from his region of Spain, Andalucia, “the soul of Spain”. Today, her grandfather’s music is, to her, a bridge between Spanish music’s Middle- Eastern origins and her desire to introduce and interpret Cabaret music to her American audiences. Marcela has been actively pursuing her career in Saint Louis for the past nine years.
She sees her career as one of growth from the Brazilian Bossa Nova and Latin American songs to her passionately loved Spanish music from the 12th to the 16th centuries. “It’s been my heart. It’s why 1 sing.” But along the way she has fallen in love with the European Cabaret style of Marlene Dietrich, Edith Piaf, and Josephine Baker.
In this tradition she includes Argentine Tangos, Boleros, and even Nat King Cole’s love songs.
She now thrills to the lyrical nature and the poetic sound of another generation. (If she sounds unusual, she is!) Marcela first performed in Cabaret style at CASA with Tango International directed by Chris Limber.
She discovered that her performances brought together people of all ages, from the curious to those who wanted to re- experience Cabaret. Marcela has also been working and performing with Young Audiences (5615 Pershing) for the past four years. Rita Washington, Director of Program Services for Young Audiences, and director of SkinkerDeBaliviere theatrical efforts, is excited about Marcela’s performances.
Her latest, Christopher Columbus, Where Do You Think You’re Going?, has had 90 performances at schools in St. Louis City and County and Illinois. Marcela says she enjoys teaching history through music and theater. Look for her newest Young Audiences project, Stories From The Arabian Nights to be presented this fall.
She also sings with the Corazon Trio which performs medieval Spanish songs. Marcela is someone not to be missed. Future Performance: September 18 at 8:00 p.m. Cummers Cafe on Washington Ave. October 9 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. J.C. Penney Auditorium, University of Missouri Saint Louis, a scholarship benefit sponsored by the Hispanic Latino Association.
Original photograph caption
Marcela with Tom Clear. Photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September 1993.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1993_09.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
