Gardel's Tango

Gardel's Tango

Zephyr Theatre
7456 Melrose Ave. Hollywood

Gardel's Tango tells the story of the short life of composer, singer, musical innovator and international film star Carlos Gardel (1890-1935). Gardel is best remembered as the man who embraced the traditional Argentine musical form, the tango, and modernized and popularized it, making worldwide phenomena of the dance, the music and himself. Gardel was born out of wedlock in France, but brought to Argentina as an infant and raised in Buenos Aires, achieving full Argentine citizenship in 1923. Gardel's Tango depicts Gardel's invention of the modern tango, and features the real people who most impacted his life: his lyricist Alfredo Le Pera, revealed here to be a closeted gay man; his early musical partner Jose Razzano, a.k.a. The Maestro, a mentor to Gardel who is later overshadowed by his protégé; his mother Berthe; and his long-lasting romantic partner Isabel del Valle, with whom he maintained a relationship despite his devoted womanizing.

Thru - Dec 18, 2016