Evita

EVITA, words and music by Tim Price and Andrew Lloyd Webber, is a sung through musical that chronicles the life of Eva Duarte from her humble beginnings and struggles with poverty and social discrimination, to her rise to power as the wife of political leader, Juan Peron, whom she married and morphed into ‘Evita’.  The musical is full of well known songs, most notably ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’ and ‘Oh What a Circus’.   

The set  with balcony and stairs worked well enabling everyone to see all the action, including the famous balcony scene where Evita addresses the crowd.   There were scene changes with minimum disruption i.e. tables and chairs brought on for night club scenes, use of the bed when Evita was bedridden.    The props were handled with confidence.

The costumes were fantastic; colourful , vibrant and of the highest quality with numerous (and quick!) changes.  There was great attention to detail ranging from Evita’s well fitting suits, dresses and ballgowns to the outfits for the ensemble as well as the many military uniforms.   

The lighting was effective throughout and well controlled with changes reflecting the setting, bright for night club, dim and sombre for Evita’s funeral.  

The music, under the direction of Adam Blosse proved a great asset to the show in complementing the very talented cast of singers led by Diana Sankey as Evita.  She was ably supported by Joseph Nelhams as Che Guevara and Dave Edwards as Juan Peron. They were all in fine voice giving meaning and emotion to their performances.     A stand out moment for me was the beautiful rendition of ‘Another Suitcase in Another Hall’ performed with clarity by Katie Conquest as The Mistress.   

The spectacular use of the cinema screen for the opening scene when a theatre audience are disturbed when news of Evita’s death is announced was inspired as was the use of screens on either side of the stage, using real footage during various points in the show.       These provided solid complement to the live action on the stage.

Diana Sankey was hardly ever off the stage as Evita and showed maturity as the determined heroine who moves from lover to lover and sleeps her way to fame, eventually becoming Argentina’s First Lady before her premature death at the age of 33.There were many memorable performances including the Oh What a Circus from Joseph Nelhams as Che, On This Night of a Thousand Stars from Ryan Stevens as Magaldi and Dave Edwards, particularly in his duet with Eva ‘I’d be surprisingly good for you’.  This was a pacy musical with a sombre opening and close, some beautiful and imaginative choreography and a very talented cast brought together to produce a first class show under the skilful direction of Nick Brannam.     This was a show that told the story of an iconic woman who to this day divides opinion.  Congratulations to all cast, crew and the creative team

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