Ещё один чемодан в другом зале: История песни из мюзикла "Эвита"

1977 single by Barbara Dickson

"Another Suitcase in Another Hall" is a song recorded by Scottish singer Barbara Dickson, for the 1976 concept album Evita, the basis of the musical of the same name. The musical was based on the life of Argentinian leader Eva Perón. Written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, the song is presented during a sequence where Eva throws her husband's mistress out on the streets. The latter sings the track, wondering about her future and concluding that she would be fine. The songwriters enlisted Dickson to record the track after hearing her previous work. Rice and Webber asked her to record the song using a higher than usual pitch, so that she sounded younger like her character. Featuring instrumentation of guitar, marimba, harp and keyboard, "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" finds Dickson singing in a soprano voice. Critically appreciated, the song was released as a single on 7 February 1977, and reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. Dickson did not like her recorded version of the track and employed a different arrangement during her future live renditions. The song has been covered and performed many times by other artists, namely Elaine Paige, Marti Webb, Kimberley Walsh from British girl group Girls Aloud, and actress Samantha Barks. Another notable version was recorded by American singer Madonna, who played the part of Eva for the 1996 film adaptation of the musical. It was released on 3 March 1997, by Warner Bros. as the third and final single from the film's soundtrack. Unlike the musical, in the film the track was sung by Madonna's character instead of the mistress. Upon its release, the song garnered positive response from music critics and reached the top ten of the charts in Italy and the United Kingdom.

"Another Suitcase in Another Hall" was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice while they were developing the Evita concept album in 1976. Both were extremely intrigued by the stories surrounding the life of Eva Perón while researching her during the mid 1970s. They learned of her husband Juan Perón, and his affinity for young women, and Rice and Webber decided to use it as one of the backstories behind Eva and Juan's rise to power. The song is performed by the character of Juan's teenage mistress after she is "kicked out" by his future wife, Eva. According to director Michael Grandage, the story took the "edge off" a supposed fairy tale like interpretation of Eva and Juan, unveiling their ambitions and cutthroat personalities. From a production point of view, it also allowed Grandage to show ruthlessness of Eva, when Juan allows her to throw his "mistress" away. The girl is ultimately left on the streets with nowhere to go, and there she sings the song.

Dickson recalled that during the recording sessions, Webber asked her to sing in a higher range than her usual, since the "mistress" character was a teenager, and should have sounded younger. It was Dickson's second single to chart on the UK Singles Chart, following "Answer Me" in 1976, and entered the chart at number 44 in its first week and peaked at number 18 in its fifth week. It was present for a total of seven weeks on the chart. Due to the high pitch employed in the recording, Dickson reflected in later years that she "never liked the original [track] for that reason. The song has seasoned over the years with my singing of it." Dickson believed that she did not sound like herself on the song. While performing it later in her concerts, Dickson sang it in her actual tone, saying that although the track "might have been written for a teenage girl, but the experience of being abandoned by a man is one, women of all ages can relate to. I think you have to be honest with songs and with yourself." The singer's music director Ian Lynn arranged the track differently, which she performs currently.

Recording sessions for the film's songs and soundtrack began in September 1995, and took place at the CTS Studios in London with Madonna accompanied by co actors Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce. However, trouble arose as Madonna was not comfortable with laying down a "guide vocal" simultaneously with an 84 piece orchestra inside the studio. She was used to singing over a pre recorded track and not having musicians listen to her. Also, unlike her previous soundtrack releases, she had little to no control over the project. An emergency meeting was held between Parker, Webber and Madonna where it was decided that the singer would record her part in a more contemporary studio while the orchestration would take place somewhere else. She also had alternate days off from the recording. Madonna's version of the song begins with the same softly strummed guitar in broken chords. Madonna sings in a breathy voice, giving her character more vulnerability. The first vocal entrance leads into an engaging melody with the opening phrase, "so what happens now? ", repeated twice.

The song was officially released as the soundtrack's third single on 18 March 1997 in Europe. In the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, the week of 29 March 1997, and was present on the top 100 for a total of 8 weeks. The song also reached a peak of number 23 on the Irish Singles Chart, where it remained for 3 weeks. AllMusic's Jose F. Promis, wrote that "the song finds Madonna giving an understated and inspired performance [ ] One hopes that this overlooked gem might find its way onto future [Madonna] hits collections, because it is truly a wonderful song". Author Thomas S. Hischak called it "plaintive". Billboards Geoff Burpee called it "A sterling, intimate moment from the Evita soundtrack. Yes kids, she can sing". Writing for the Los Angeles Times, David Gritten opined Madonna's voice sounded "pitch perfect and clear as a bell". Greg Morago, from the Hartford Courant, felt that "By giving her 'Another Suitcase' with its heartbreaking 'Where am I going to?' refrain, Madonna adds a necessary, fragile vulnerability to her ambitious, rags to riches Eva Perón". Neil Strauss from The Herald Journal, said that "Madonna radiates on 'Another Suitcase in Another Hall'". Peter Keough, from the Boston Phoenix, described the track as "a poignant, winsome exploration of pathos, defilement, and resolution sung by a young, struggling Eva forced into prostitution with a series of drab johns". The Guardians Jude Rogers wrote that "Madonna's wavering vocal goes full collywobbles", placing the track at number 69 on her ranking of the singer's singles, in honor of her 60th birthday. Finally, Billboard picked it as the singer's 98th greatest song; "the delicate composition and high register vocal make this exquisite breakup ballad a rare moment of true fragility in Madonna's catalog". Slant Magazines Paul Schrodt placed it at number 77 in his ranking of the singer's singles, calling it "a sleepy travelogue set to schmaltzy acoustic guitar and saxophone and a male chorus echoing Eva Perón's —and by extension Madonna's— self pitying complaints about moving from one place to another. Political and psychological nuance, meanwhile, are nowhere in sight".

English singer Elaine Paige recorded the song for her 1983 album Stages. Sarah Brightman, who was married to Webber from 1984 to 1990, included the song on her album The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection. Marti Webb's version of the song was included in the 1995 album Music & Songs From Evita. English musician Hank Marvin included an instrumental version of the song on his 1997 tribute album Hank Marvin and the Shadows Play the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Kimberley Walsh, from British girl group Girls Aloud, covered the song for her debut studio album Centre Stage (2013). Singer Hayley Westenra included the song on her 2000 album Walking in the Air. On the tribute show Andrew Lloyd Webber: 40 Musical Years, the song was performed by actress Samantha Barks. British singer Sophie Ellis Bextor performed the track along the BBC Concert Orchestra on Rice's homage Tim Rice: An Evening In Song on July 8, 2014.