Evita

EVITA a musical performed by Southport Spotlights, at Southport Little Theatre, Hoghton Street, Southport on Thursday, 6th February 2025

"Evita" is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that chronicles the life of Eva Duarte, who becomes Eva Perón, the influential and controversial First Lady of Argentina, depicting her rise from poverty to political power as the wife of President Juan Perón highlighting her ambition, her charity work, and ultimately, her tragic death from cancer at the age of just 33. The story is narrated by a character named ‘Che’, who provides commentary on her actions and legacy throughout the musical; with iconic songs like "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Oh What a Circus" serving as key moments in the narrative. What isn’t expanded upon, but mentioned is, on her death the embalmers preserve her body, before it is stolen for 16 years!

Production Team... Tracey Batchelor (Director) was the one tasked with bringing this ‘sing through musical’ to stage and what a great job she did. In her programme notes Tracey suggests that this wasn’t the easiest of musicals to stage... but having now seen it, I can only suggest that Tracey obviously knew what she wanted from the musical and how to achieve it and that showed through from the characters created and the feeling we, the audience got from the cast, that everyone was really enjoying what they were doing!  Also, in her programme notes, Tracey singles out Adam Dutch (Musical Director) for ‘special mention’ for his expertise, dedication and encouragement throughout, suggesting every decision was discussed and agreed before they moved forward.  Adam was assisted by Gill Harris... be very proud folks, great show!

The Cast...  we had a cast of twenty-nine who, from the off, looked happy, engaged and ready to give us their all.  They all worked extremely well together and each and every one contributed to the overall production and when that happen, there’s very little else you can ask!  Can I start by identifying the cast members, starting with the ‘principals’ and named cast members... Chloe Merone took on the iconic role of ‘Eva Perón’, Rob Poston played ‘Che’, Phil Hunter took on the role of ‘Juan Perón’; Mike Fay played ‘Augustin Magaldi’, Sarah Dutch played ‘Eva’s Sister’, Matthew Higginson - ‘Eva’s Brother’, Colin Dryden played ... ‘Eva’s Uncle, Gill Harris - ‘Eva’s Mother’.  The cast included Anna Laird as Mistress, great rendition of Another Suitcase in Another Hall and Olivia Williams as Eva’s sister. Non named cast members included... Abi Gibbons, Chloe Morris, Dave Cox, Elaine Cox, Georgina Abram, Jaclyn Gore, Karen Nightingall, Maddison Rose, Wendy Cox, Thea Shawcroft, Addison Wright, David Sidey, Graham Padden, Hannah Munro, Jess McLinden, Louise Webster, Laura-Jane Palmer-Farrar, Lucille Hubbard, Lucy Manchester and Zoe Findlay... be proud one and all.  
I’m not sure we had an actual ‘showstealer’, although we did have some notable performances to which I will give ‘shout outs’ a little later... but, before getting to individuals, and I think this is a ‘first for me’ I want to ‘highlight’ the voices and vocals provided by the ‘male chorus’ and in fact all the males on stage that evening if I’m honest!  I can’t remember ever considering this before, but for me, all the male voices enhanced this production ever so much!  So, in no particular order can I just mention ... Colin Dryden, Dave Cox, David Sidey, Graham Padden, Mathew Higginson and Mike Fay (Mike also playing a principal role). Whenever these guys came together on stage, especially when they sang together as soldiers ... their voices were sublime and blended together ever so well. The vocals, the harmonies where amazing and my thoughts were echoed by many audience members at the interval and especially at the end as we were leaving.  Be proud of what you achieved guys, an outstanding performance.  If I were to have had a ‘showstealer’ it could so easily have been Rob Poston’s portrayal of ‘Che’. This character was originally conceived as an ordinary narrator, but later evolved to represent the famous Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara. I’ve seen Rob perform before with Waterloo & Crosby Theatre Company, when he played the lead ‘Dewy Finn’ in the ‘School of Rock’... wow two totally different characters. Rob did a great job with this character; his diction was such that we missed very little of the story told through his eyes! Great voice, great character created... be proud Rob!  Mike Fay took on the role of ‘Augustin Magaldi’, a lounge singer and Eva’s first ‘love interest’.  OMG what a fabulous voice Mike has... he made this role his own and when not ‘Augustin’ was part of the superb gent’s chorus mentioned before!  Phil Hunter did a good job with powerful President ‘Juan Perón’. Phil was another that made this role his own, good stage presence, great vocals, looked the part throughout working well with Chloe and all the cast members. Chloe Merone did a great job creating the character of ‘Eva Perón’. Chloe looked fabulous throughout, loved the mannerisms, the facial expressions, the gestures and the interaction with all the cast, but along with many others in the audience that evening, I did struggle to actually understand the lyrics of many of the songs Chloe sang, especially those in Act one.  I’ve heard Chloe sing many times before and this has never been a problem, so I’m still not sure what the reason was. I thought it could have been the result of the accent used or perhaps her mike being set too high or the reverb, which seemed to be used a great deal throughout the production or perhaps a combination of everything... things did improve in Act 2... but I’m still unsure what the problem was!

Staging/Tech/Set ... a minimal set was used throughout, a scaffolding construction set toward the rear of the stage with a moveable tower towards its centre which was moved forward and backwards for various scenes to be performed from. Access to the upper level of the construction was accessed using two sets wooden steps either side. It all worked well affording the actors the space and the height for all the scenes to be performed really well... designed by Andrea Shacksmyth-Claire.  In charge of all thing back stage was Paul Shacksmyth-Claire (Stage Manager) with Hollie Power (Assistant Stage Manager with scene changes being carried out mostly by cast members. Simon Miller (Sound Engineer) and I’ve already mentioned the issues with the sound, although as previously stated, I don’t have an answer as to why this happened. The Lighting Design was created by Andrea Shacksmyth-Claire which enhanced the production, with Corinna Davies and Neil Langridge in charge of ‘Follow Spots’. Ed McKillop and Issy Housley covering the Flies. 

Orchestra... supported the singers ever so well, never overpowering just delivering a superb sound throughout.  Adam Dutch/Gill Harris (Musical Directors) were in charge; the orchestra included: David Wall/Corey Gerrad/Paul Nicholls (Keyboards); Paul Taft (Guitar); Paul Warder (Trombone); Charlie Wells (Double Bass/Bass Guitar); Cliff Ray (Trumpet); Paul Dutch (Drums) and Caitlin Monoghan (Percussion)... well done folks, great sound, enhanced this production ever so much!

Wardrobe... costumes were fabulous!  Hired from the Costume Store here in Southport impressive!
Props ... under the watchful eye of Rose Wiliams, Tanya Steel were first class and used ever so well by the cast... well done!

Even with the slight sound problem, I really did enjoy the production from start to finish. Loved the direction taken and the musical direction. Thank you so much for the invitation and your attention throughout ... it really was an enjoyable, entertaining evening and everyone involved should be proud of what they helped achieve! 

Stay safe, Keep well
Stronger Together

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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