Evita

In this their 100th year the society chose as their main show this more operatic style of production, in that it is all sung with no spoken dialogue, harking back to the type of productions they did in their earlier years e.g. G & S and operetta. The story unfolds in front of an impressive representation of the Casa Rosada, designed and built by the company, complete with central staircases and balcony and good use was made of these different levels throughout. Isla Flett in the title role of Eva Peron (Evita) gave a tour-de-force performance as we trace Eva’s rise from 15 year old peasant girl to First Lady of Argentina. She had a magnificent voice especially in the rousing numbers with the ensemble like “Buenos Aires”, “A New Argentina” and of course “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” delivered in a sparkling white gown from the balcony. However for me the highlight was her quietly and sensitively delivered “You Must Love Me” towards the end of Act 2. Michael Bell, who for the last few years has been the society’s musical director, made the transition to the stage to take on the role of Juan Peron and a very good job he made of it too with strong acting and a good strong singing voice - I liked his duets with Eva “I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You” and “Dice are Rolling”. Taking on the role of Che, the narrator of the piece, was young Einar Towrie who coped really well with this difficult role. He interacted well with Eva and I particularly liked his duets with her - “High Flying Adored” and “Waltz for Eva and Che”. Robert Tullock played the tango singer Agustin Magaldi as to the manner born and his rendition of “On This Night Of A Thousand Stars” was one of the many highlights. Nyree Gunn played the small but significant role of Peron’s Mistress and her performance of “Another Suitcase In Another Hall” was heart rending. The ensemble of Aristocrats/Workers/Officials/Army/Officers sang and moved well throughout. This was Gareth Flett’s first time as a Musical Director and he guided the company and 15 piece orchestra through this difficult score extremely well. Well done everyone at Kirkwall AOS.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.