Review: South Is a Solo Musical That Travels From Tierra del Fuego to NYC

Florencia Iriondo enters the Huron Club of the Soho Playhouse sipping maté, a highly caffeinated Argentinian drink that, to my knowledge, is not available at the bar. She is dressed to impress, like Shakira on vacation in the Hamptons. This very Argentinian combination of the informal and highly manicured touches every aspect of South, her charming solo musical.

Iriondo plays a character simply named “Chica,” who is not only from South America, but the southernmost city on that continent: Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Through song and monologue, she tells the story of how she ended up in New York City (what she calls the “upside-down”) at the age of 10, following the career aspirations of her gallerist mother and fleeing Argentina’s perennial financial crisis.

Unfamiliarity with the language and culture of a new country slowly fades as Chica and her family embrace their new identity as New Yorkers, holding on to the comforts of home through soccer, music, and chipas (Iriondo happily shares this Argentinian carb classic and more with the audience, making South feel like an intimate house party). But as the family grows and its members look to the horizon, one wonders if even this city is big enough to contain all their dreams.

What is remarkable about South is just how familiar the story feels, even to those of us who have never gone through the immigration process (Iriondo explains this complicated endeavor in the song “Ten Simple Steps,” a kind of “Twelve Days of Christmas” for the O-1b visa). Families everywhere grow, shift, and occasionally break apart like the glaciers one might spot off the southernmost tip of the Americas. And as exotic as that place sounds, it still cannot escape the cultural megaphone blaring Tina Turner and Phil Collins — two of Chica’s favorite artists.

One can hear the mixture of Argentinian and North American pop influences in Iriondo’s score, which impressively packs 18 songs into 90 minutes. The tango farewell number “Adios, Pampa Mia” is particularly moving. And her lullaby to her newborn sister, “Vuela,” is simple and heartfelt, as Iriondo serenades the audience in her idiosyncratic mixture of English and Spanish. While many of the other numbers have an in-one-ear-out-the-other quality, Iriondo compensates by performing them with sweetness and verve, delivering an aural hug to the audience.

It helps that she is supported by two excellent musicians: music director Federico Díaz on the guitar, and the delightfully expressive Agustin Uriburu on cello and guitar. They not only accompany every song but create the soundscape of this continent-hopping chamber musical, further contributing to the homemade vibe. This is a show that could easily transfer to even the tiniest of New York City living rooms.

At the center is the radiant presence of Iriondo herself, an engaging performer with a flavorful story to tell. For those of us who live far away from family (but blessedly in an age when international travel is more accessible than ever), it’s a bittersweet taste that is instantly recognizable.