“Having the girl of the moment generates prejudices”

Coqueluche, a comedy like the old ones It has a promising debut: weeks with double features and sold out tickets. Technical data. Artistic fact? Consecrated figures such as Betiana Blum and Mónica Villa combine on stage; fresh talents like Agustín Sullivan and Mario Guerci and a name that is on everyone’s lips: Julieta Poggio. All directed by someone who knows how to shape the Bible next to the heater: José María Muscari.

On a gray Buenos Aires afternoon, sitting in a warm restaurant next to the Multiteatro (where the play is shown), Poggio, finalist in the latest edition of Big Brother, and Muscari, the father of Sex, They tell without spoilers what this new version of the classic brings. Thelma Biral starred years ago.

-Why is Coqueluche a comedy like the ones before? What are we currently missing?

Muscari: Tenderness, a value that is not frequently found in theater. The work recovers the pink comedy genre and with this a phenomenon that calls the whole family to the seats, as it did Married with children last summer and Matilda in the winter holidays. Now it’s the turn of Whooping cough.

-How much does the armed cast play in attracting all types of audiences?

Muscari: Key factor to have such an eclectic cast! Blum and Villa are ideal for that audience that looks for those actresses of yesteryear and therefore engages more with the deep content of the story, Guerci and Sullivan go to a closer generation, and Poggio is the magnet for the youngest. All three bring the vertigo that kids are looking for.

-How did Coqueluche come into your life, Julieta?

Poggio: It was the first job proposal that came to me after the house of Big Brotherbefore any other project (N. from R.: Julieta participated in Brute forcecountless commercial actions and co-drive out of trouble, Telefe streaming). Muscari He saw me when no one else had.

-It must have been a titanic task to contact her after the reality show…

Muscari: It was a chain of work: I contacted Carlos Rottemberg, he in turn contacted the production company of GH (Kuarzo) and that’s how it happened. The most important thing was that Julieta received the specific message. But it is true that in this case he who revived first won…I mean, me. (laughs)

Poggio: Just like that (laughs), but it’s also true that I fell in love with the script and here we are.

-Unlike your former GH colleagues; You were the only one who didn’t stop since the end of the reality show. What do you think is your differential?

Poggio: I have always been very responsible, I have loved working since I was little. I think that being at home lying around with your cell phone is being screwed. After spending five months doing the ironing, I came out with all the batteries and each thing that happened was like crossing off things on my wish list.

And with Whooping cough It is pure love, because I am Coqueluche herself, whose name is actually Juanita Guillotina. An authentic character, she doesn’t like lies, she comes to destroy a world of appearances a little and being very slutty and very streetwise she is the ideal opposite of La Diva (Blum). They called me a cheta and a “mili pili” in GHbut here they are going to forget about Julieta Poggio.

Muscari: I think that the differential that you mentioned is that inside the house it was already noticeable that Juli was an artist, that she was born for this. Many do not know that she studied theater, made films and prepared herself seriously. Many former reality show participants do not know where to place themselves in this environment.

Between coffee, sodas and a generous toast of ham and cheese ordered by Julieta Poggio, the complicity in the glances between the protagonist and the director is not only evident, but palpable. In a section of the interview they review details of the work and mentally polish scenes.

You can see a very great commitment and the happiness of both in front of a theater adapted to the play from its hall all decorated in pink.

-Coqueluche was a frustrated project at the time and it had you as its director, right?

Muscari: Correct, we were about to premiere when due to a personal problem Georgina Barbarossa left the project and we had to cancel. Barbie Vélez was Coqueluche. But everything is for a reason and I feel that in this new premiere, we find a perfect balance and I found in Julieta the angel that Coqueluche needs. It is a new face and that has to be valued.

-How do you handle the pressure from viewers and the media, Julieta?

Poggio: I come very confident given that the rehearsals were very physical, although there is the reading of the script but with José everything is different. I am not afraid and I believe that people will find what they are looking for.

-And what happens to you, José, when industry leaders, like Pepe Cibrián, criticize without having seen the work? He said that Julieta’s statements were terrible, her language, her not knowing about her…

Muscari: I think prejudice has to do with the other, not with oneself. Prejudice talks about who does it. In Pepe’s case I feel that it was without bad intentions and perhaps it was a generational issue although everything ended in something positive: that Pepe and Julieta ended up talking on the phone and inviting him to live the experience. Whooping cough. But I also feel that having “the girl of the moment” brings prejudice.

Poggio: I’m really looking forward to Pepe, he invited me to see Dracula and everything ended up super well. In any case, I think it’s great that someone my age talks openly about even sex, right?

-Muscari recently mentioned the much feared “the girl of the moment.” Does that nickname particularly bother you?

Muscari: (interrupts) Sorry, a long time ago Susana Giménez knew how to be the girl of the moment…

Poggio: It doesn’t bother me, but I would like it to not be just “of the moment.” I want to take advantage of this opportunity so that from now on I can form a career, detach myself from reality. and be able to continue working on what I love.

The topic Cibrián vs. Poggio was not going to be left behind without a Muscari-like reflection.

Muscari: Do you know what also happened to us with the controversy with Pepe Cibrián? We realized that even with good intentions, there is a generational prejudice that perhaps would not have been exposed if, for example, the interviewee was Marcos Ginocchio, the winner of Big Brother.

I feel that women are not allowed to speak freely about their sexuality., that’s clear. Ironically, to us, as a project; This episode was barbaric to us, even though we know that prejudice diminishes art. It enriched us.

Poggio: I agree. It happens to me, regarding questions about intimate life, that being new to this until recently I didn’t understand why the media always wanted to know about my bed and my private life.. I understood that people are the ones who are interested in these topics. Being in the house of GH It is true that I naturally opened my privacy and the public wants to follow that novel.

That media exposure that I sought and experienced in reality television, I think because Now it invalidates me to say “I don’t talk about my private life.” as several actors and actresses do. If I say it, I feel enlarged. I always try to respond with the best one.

Muscari: It’s interesting how Coqueluche is a girl without a family, alone in the world; the complete opposite of Juli. Something that fills my heart is seeing the support of Julieta’s family: at the first meeting the father was by her side, her mother was always present, from making an appointment with the speech therapist to rehearsals, with a love and protection that was rare. times seen.

Poggio: With my mother we are very close – both Capricorns – and very equal. We both go to the front and we do not remain silent in the face of lies and injustice. I take my hat off to her.

Everyone’s cell phones do not stop receiving notifications, giving rise to reflecting on the time spent on social networks, being two totally different generations.

Muscari: The other day I read on a wall “Less TikTok, More art”, which would change to “More TikTok with art”. Artists are on the networks and obviously it empowers you. If you leave the networks, you miss out not only on the development of artists, but also as an artist, opportunities.

Poggio: Clear! It’s not “or”, it’s “and”! Networks and art can coexist. I use them to enhance Whooping cough -although sometimes they challenge me for spoiling so much-, promote my actions and be close to my affections that I don’t see so often. And the most important thing is that people, thanks to the networks, feel close to you and that is priceless.

Even outside of performance hours, they insist on continuing rehearsing and that is why the interview is coming to an end. People begin to crowd at the door of the Multiteatro and, we anticipate, that the exit of the restaurant where the note takes place will be a pandemonium of Poggio fans, whom she is already looking at with shining eyes from the table.

-There is a lot of talk about a lack of cultural protection, why do you continue to bet on theater then?

–Muscari: First, because it is a unique genre. And second, because life is not enough for me. Life has a roof, the theater does not. And also to be a better person. Each work makes me a better human being; of that I’m sure.

-What does theater mean to you, Julieta?

Poggio: It’s feeling alive, I feel at home. I am very excited about this project, I love the entire cast, we get along great and every exit from the theater is a wave of love that overflows me.

-What do you wish for Julieta Poggio from now on, as a director and as a person?

Muscari: A lot of peace of mind, knowing how to discern what is urgent from what is important. I hope long life with Whooping coughbut beyond this work, long life with the theater, which is the most faithful companion that exists.

Poggio: I marry the theater, from now on!