Evita
OPENING: September 25, 1979
CLOSING: June 26, 1983
Seen: January 1980
LOCATION: Broadway Theater
Let’s be honest – who doesn’t love a rags to riches story?
If we really think about it, they are the bread and butter of our story telling. Cinderella was rags to riches. Fade Out Fade In, Funny Girl, and countless other stories use this mode of storytelling to get the audience to root for our heroes.
So when an actual political figure goes from the slums to global notoriety, it naturally would get the story telling treatment. The next show my dad saw was the story of Eva Peron, known to her constituents (And musical theater fans) as Evita.
Evita did not get an easy start to her life. Born in a poor region of Argentina, she was the daughter of a man married to a woman who was not her mother. At fifteen, she left home for Buenos Aires with the intention of becoming an actress. This took a detour, however, when she met and married Juan Peron and became the first lady of Argentina. She became a champion of labor rights and the poor, much to the displeasure of many of the Argentinian citizens. But life is cruel; Eva Peron died at the age off 33 from cervical cancer and to add insult to injury, she was not properly interred for another seventeen years.
It was a hell of a story that was ripe for the picking.
And picked it was – Tim Rice became infatuated with Eva in 1973 and decided the story of her life was too good to not turn into a musical. After teaming up with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Hal Prince, they opened Evita on the West End in 1978. It was received exceedingly well, despite being very close to being an experimental piece (This was the early days of ALW, after all). Originating the role of Evita was Elaine Paige, who would later become a favorite of both Lloyd Webber and Rice – she would go on to originate both the role of Grizabella in Cats (Lloyd Webber) and Florence in Chess (Rice). Interestingly enough, this is the first instance I have seen where an alternate was used regularly and listed in the Playbill. That’s not to say it was the first time it was done; it is just the earliest instance that I have seen of this.
By 1979, it became increasingly clear that American audiences might appreciate Evita as well and plans were drafted to bring it over. Two young performers who had a handful of Broadway credits were cast as Evita and Che; their names were Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. Both were nominated for Tonys (Ms. LuPone won; Mr. Patinkin unfortunately did not) and both have had astonishing careers in the decades since. Both also are artists I admire for their integrity and commitment to the craft.
Ms. LuPone in particular is a performer who I have the utmost respect for. The media as of late has gone on about how she is difficult to work with and there are countless jokes about turning cell phones off in theaters or risk getting what I have heard referenced as the “Patti LuPone Treatment”. But I feel that she is justified. I did a production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible a few years back where a woman thought it would be appropriate to not only bring a thermos full of hot soup and eat it in the front row, but then fall asleep and start snoring loudly. It was extremely distracting to try to portray the demonically possessed Betty Parris while listening to this honk shoo going behind me and I felt disrespected. It put into perspective for me what Ms. LuPone must have felt when she was trying to perform Mama Rose while someone in one of the front rows was texting. And if you read any interview she has ever given – she was severely bullied early in her career, including during Evita. It eventually got so bad that last year, after finishing her run in Company, she handed in her Equity Card, effectively ending her Broadway career. She has had the chutzpah to stand up to her bullies and that has stayed with her for decades. She is outspoken and extremely passionate about her craft.
Difficult? I call her a warrior.
Evita was revived on Broadway in 2012, starring Elaine Rogers, Michael Cerveris, and Ricky Martin. At this moment in time – June 2023 – Evita is once again making the rounds on the regional circuit. There is a production currently running at Boston’s ART which is buzzing with favorable reviews and I will be seeing one of my good friends perform in a production at The Rev in Auburn, New York next week. Is there any particular reason why it’s coming back at this particular moment? Possibly. We are living in an almost dystopian world where women and minorities are watching their rights being stripped from them – what show would be better to bring back then a show where a young girl with nothing became one of the most influential people in her country?
Whatever the reason is, it’s a show that deserves to be brought back.
CAST: REPLACEMENT
EVA: Patti LuPone
CHE: Mandy Patinkin
PERON: Bob Gunton
PERON’S MISTRESS: Jane Ohringer
MAGALDI: Mark Syers
THE COMPANY (PEOPLE OF ARGENTINA): Claudia Asbury, Seda Azarian, Dennis Birchall, Tom Carder, Robin Cleaver, Anny Degagne, Mark East, Teri Gill, Carlos Gorbea, Pat Gorman, Rex David Hays, Terri Klausner, Michael Lichtefeld, Carol Lugenbeal, Paula Lynn, Morgan MacKay, Peter Marinos, Bill Nabel, Jack Neubeck, Marcia O’Brien, Nancy Opel, Davia Sacks, James Sbano, David Staller, Michelle Stubbs, Wilfredo Suarez, Robert Tanna, Clarence Teeter, Susan Terry, Phillip Tracy, David Vosburgh, Mark Waldrop, Sandra Wheeler, Brad Witsger, John Leslie Wolf, John Yost.
EVA (Wednesday and Saturday Matinees): Terri Klausner
Children: Megan Forste, Johanna Hickey, Michael Pastryk, Allison Smith, Christopher Wooten.
American Repertory Theater. Accessed June 2023. https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/evita/
Biography.com. “Eva Peron”. Biography, Updated May 6, 2021. https://www.biography.com/political-figures/eva-peron
Bordman, Gerald. “American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle.” New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1978.
Elaine Paige. Accessed June 2023. https://elainepaige.com/about/
Luongo, Michael. “Based On A True Story: Exploring the Facts, Myths, and Places of the Musical Evia.” Playbill, May 27, 2012. https://playbill.com/article/based-on-a-true-story-exploring-the-facts-myths-and-places-of-the-musical-evita-com-194040
Marchese, David. “Patti LuPone on Getting Bullied by Broadway. And Why She Keeps Coming Back.” New York Times Magazine, October 21, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/21/magazine/patti-lupone-broadway-company.html
