The life of Paulo Gustavo is a spectacular musical with 'Fascinação', sambas, funk, laughter and lots of LGBTQIA+ pride

The show 'My son is a musical' shows the marriage of Paulo Gustavo (1978 - 2021) with Thales Bretas
Reproduction / Instagram 'My son is a musical'
♫ THEATER MUSICAL CRITICISM
Title: My son is a musical
Dramaturgy: Fil Braz
Direction: João Fonseca and Ju Amaral
Musical direction: Tony Lucchesi
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
♬ In 2006, the actor and screenwriter Paulo Gustavo (October 30, 1978 - May 4, 2021) dramatized with humor the daily life of his family with his mother, Déa Lúcia, and his sister, Ju Amaral, in "Minha Mãe é uma Peça", a solo that gave national recognition to the artist from Rio de Janeiro as Dona Hermínia, a character inspired by Déa.
Twenty years later, the extraordinary life of Paulo Gustavo is a musical playing at Teatro Multiplan, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ). Created by Déa Lúcia and Ju Amaral, "Meu Filho é um musical" is a show that narrates the actor's trajectory from his childhood in Niterói (RJ) to his marriage (already rich and famous) with Thales Bretas in a narrative interrupted by the early death of Paulo Gustavo five years ago, a victim of Covid-19, at just 41 years old.
Because the dramaturgy was created by Fil Braz, a screenwriter who worked with Paulo Gustavo, the musical sounds in fine tune with the work and spirit of the honoree. There are obviously laughs throughout the three-hour show, but "My Son is a Musical" is far from the popular humor of a sitcom like "Vai que cola", starring Paulo and incidentally not even mentioned in Fil Braz's text.
The show is a paradoxically joyful (but inevitably melancholic at the end) elegy of a life that made laughter a resistance, including against homophobia. There was LGBTQIA+ pride in Paulo Gustavo's life and it is manifested on stage because the actor revealed himself to be gay before his fame and suffered prejudice from the audiovisual market when, after the success of "Minha Mãe é uma Peça", the artist tried to continue his professional career. The musical shows that Paulo Gustavo only succeeded because he took his own chances in theater and cinema by being himself, an exhilarating actor with precise comedic timing.
Under the direction of João Fonseca and Ju Amaral, "My son is a musical" flows spectacularly, supported by the talent of the main cast. João Pedro Chaseliov and Pierre Baitelli take turns in the seven weekly sessions - presented from Wednesday to Sunday, with double sessions on the weekends - as Paulo Gustavo (the g1 critic watched the show in a session led by Baitelli, but Chaseliov reaches the same level of excellence as his colleague, judging by videos in rotation on social media).
Co-protagonist, Dona Déa is played in an exemplary way by the actress and singer Stella Maria Rodrigues, and, in some sessions, Déa herself enters the scene at the beginning and end, opening the show with the singing of "Fascinação" (Fermo Dante Marchetti and Maurice de Féraudy, 1905), a waltz-song heard in the Portuguese version written by Armando Louzada (1908 -1986), presented in 1943 in the voice of singer Carlos Galhardo (1913 - 1985) and amplified 50 years ago in a recording made in 1976 by Elis Regina (1945 - 1982).
Towards the end, Déa returns and sings with Stella Maria Rodrigues the sambas "Camisa Amarela" (Ary Barroso, 1939) and "Exaltação à Mangueira" (Enéas Brites da Silva and Aloísio Augusto da Costa, 1955), a number in which the stage lights turn green and pink.
Overall, "My son is a musical" is a show illuminated by the colors of the rainbow, including the proud mentions of the fact that Ju Amaral is a lesbian. In fact, Castorine's composition as Ju deserves applause. The actress reproduces the energy and manner of Paulo Gustavo's sister on stage.
With the exception of the songs sung by Dona Déa, the cast performs the original soundtrack, composed for the show by Daniel Salve and orchestrated under the musical direction of Tony Lucchesi. The soundtrack encompasses the funk sung by Dona Hermínia in the reproduction of an excerpt from "Minha Mãe é uma Peça".
Framed by Nello Marrese's set, adorned by pilasters of Greek architecture, the cast tunes up over two acts structured in 25 scenic environments, giving life to the characters without caricatural features, but with refined composition work.
If the first shows the birth of Paulo Gustavo as an actor, a profession that gave direction to the artist after periods of existential and professional disorientation, the second focuses on the emergence of the star who drew millions of Brazilians to movie theaters with the three films in the "My mother is a piece" franchise.
Although focused on the actor's family and professional narrative, highlighting the family ties that were never severed by Paulo Gustavo with the arrival of fame and money, Phil Braz's dramaturgy brings into play, in an episodic way, characters from the TV series "220 volts" - presented by Paulo Gustavo from 2011 to 2016 on Canal Multishow - such as Maria Enfisema (hilarious in her interaction with the audience at the end of the interval between the two acts) and Lady of the Absurd.
With a script that creates a generous portrait of the actor on stage, but not to the point of sanctifying the artist, "My son is a musical" is a show that fulfills the function of entertaining, moving and highlighting how unique Paulo Gustavo's openly and proudly gay life was. musical'
Rodrigo Goffredo

Source: G1