The summer theater season is full, throughout its history, of crossings, chicanery and accusations between the members of the different casts of the plays. But with revue theater fallen into oblivion, star fights gave way to new types of conflicts with other performers. When the season had not yet started and there was nothing to suggest a dispute between the two, Martín Bossi and the girlfriend of president Javier Milei, Fátima Florez, became the protagonists of the first round of the season. Both focused on their respective summer shows in Mar del Plata, inaugurated the 2024 version of the summer scandals.
Established as the most successful performers on the summer theatrical billboard, at least in these first days, Bossi and Florez starred in a crossover that, in addition to including the political condition due to the impersonator’s recent romance with Milei, has other issues in the background: from the need to generate press and impact in a summer that is coming down (see note on page 78) to the quality of both stagings. Furthermore, even Mirtha Legrand herself, icon of the Mar del Plata season, was dragged into a confrontation that did not have her as the protagonist.
Conflict. Both Bossi and Florez had started the year on a high note since they were absent from the traditional photo that brings together all the casts that appear in Mar del Plata, which earned them reproaches from other artists (see box). But that failure was overshadowed by the crossover that began when the comedian, in his show “Bossi Live Comedy,” performed the opening monologue of the work. “How the world has changed in the last twenty years, right? Did you realize that we are the first generation of human beings to go through one of the most important economic catastrophes in the history of humanity?” the interpreter began, and after listing various evils such as “the trap” or “Alpha of Great Brother” closed by saying: “As if this were not enough, the most important cultural fact in the political history of our country, Fátima Florez first lady. Science fiction, hallelujah.”
The President’s girlfriend did not take kindly to this inclusion within the monologue of the play that is hers, and an unexpected conflict arose. “He feels that it is a gratuitous attack,” they explain to NOTICIAS close to the first lady. On Bossi’s side, they explain to this medium that theater has always been based on humor: “Since Pepe Arias made ‘Nerón Meets’ more than fifty years ago, or later the monologues of Tato Bores in the time of Isabel Perón, humor “Politics was always a component of the theatrical monologues,” they point out, while at the same time they are surprised that Florez is offended: “She, as a woman with many years in the environment, should understand it,” they say.
When asked about his monologue, Bossi denied any animosity. “It is not against Fatima. I said ‘Fatima first lady’, who wasn’t surprised? “She expected her to win an Oscar, but to be first lady…” he said, seeking the complicity of the “Partners of the show” movilero. In fact, Bossi did not spare praise for the artistic ability of the presidential bride: “’Recontra’ would work with her but not doing an imitation show. I would do a comedy with her, I told her. She is an excellent comedian and there is a limit to imitation.”
Bossi’s sayings, although friendly, hide another aspect behind them. By mentioning that he would not do imitations, he marks a difference between both of them and the shows that have them as protagonists of the summer season. “Martín became known for his imitations but he is a more comprehensive artist, in fact his current work is a ‘big show’ and that contrasts with Fátima,” they tell NEWS, from Bossi’s side, about the differences. that can arise between the two. “He didn’t say it just because. He is marking the point that imitation has a limit, as he said,” adds another expert on Mar del Plata theaters, and puts cold words. “There is no fight between them. They know each other like many people in the environment know each other. “They are not friends and they only shared one time when they did ShowMatch, but there is no relationship between them.”
The crossing also brings back to the scene the controversial imitation that Florez made of her boyfriend, the brand new President. The impersonator was criticized for her interpretation of the libertarian and how that segment of the show was poorly “polished” and clashed with the quality of her other imitations. In fact, she was called an opportunist for including this segment in her work to echo the media romance.
“We should not see this as a competition between the two, but rather pay attention to the need to draw a little attention,” they say from Mar del Plata, and add: “Just as Fátima takes advantage of the ‘boom’ of her courtship with Milei, Martín knows that it can help him stay on the agenda. There is a reason they are the two most successful shows of the moment and they will surely continue to be so until the end of the season.”
Splinters. The conflict between both artists also had an unexpected participant. While Bossi and Florez fight for first place at the box office, they dragged Mirtha Legrand into their own dispute. The diva is the main figure who visits “La Feliz” during the summer and attends most of the theatrical works on the billboard. However, although Mirtha does not miss any show, everyone fights to be the first one she goes to. As if it were some kind of blessing, the show chosen by Mirtha is the one designated as the main one of the summer.
Florez and Bossi fought to have Legrand’s presence and to be the first to receive it. However, Mirtha left them waiting and appeared at the “Circo Rodas” performance, an attraction of which she is godmother and with which she had a contract to be her first summer presence. In this way, Legrand avoided controversy. “At this point in my career, do you really think I might care if she comes to see me first or if she goes somewhere else? I think she should go see the first lady first, I’m not first lady. I do this: if Fátima is happy, Milei is happy and if that happens she makes better decisions and better DNU and we all have to eat better. “Then I would have to go see Florez!” Bossi commented ironically about the dispute over the diva’s presence.
On Florez’s side, meanwhile, they do not take Legrand’s decision with so much humor. The impersonator felt that the diva betrayed her by not attending her show, after she went to “La Noche de Mirtha” along with Milei in her first joint interview.
Beyond the conflict, Florez and Bossi enjoy summer success. The data released by the Argentine Association of Theatrical and Musical Entrepreneurs (AADET) indicate that, in the first two weeks of the season, “Fátima 100%” occupies first place in the rankings for collections, number of spectators and percentage of occupancy. Of room. “Bossi Live Comedy”, meanwhile, occupies second place on all three lists. “Without a doubt they are going to be the two most successful shows of the season and they are going to be head to head all summer,” they explain from Mar del Plata, while warning that the national situation could favor Bossi in the long run: “The Fatima’s audience changed. Now there are many more libertarian ‘kids’. And based on what happens with the economy and with Milei during the summer, the mood with her may change,” they say.
Only at the end of the season will it be known which of the two manages to win the first prize and how much Florez’s media romance influences the influx of spectators.
