Evita

Evita is a show that is not often licensed to amateur societies so, when BasOp secured those rights, they were determined to do the show justice.  There were a lot of seasoned performers, from this area, who wanted to do the show, so Director Vikki Purton was able to choose the cream of local talent for the Principal roles.   Every single person in the cast was clearly determined to perform at their best and that they did. 

Angela Phillips played the title role and she was technically excellent.  I felt there should be a little more passion in the performance but that is purely my personal opinion.  She certainly produced a performance that was strong, and she commanded the stage whenever she appeared.   Simon Bristoe is another excellent performer and he gave Che an edge that I have not seen before in this show, I really liked his interpretation. 

Simon Lambert played Peron, with great style and elegance, a very sympathetic interpretation of the character and one that was rather different from what was expected from the historical evidence.  Josh Handley played Magaldi, and this was another great performance form Josh who continues to surprise with his versatility.

The Principal line-up was completed by Lois Russell-Cornford who played the mistress.  Her song Another Suitcase In Another Hall is, possibly, one of my favourite musical theatre songs and her performance was very good.  I would also commend Isabelle Jones who played the Santa Evita girl in the performance that I saw.  Her solo song was beautifully performed with grace and confidence.

The Ensemble consisted of a significant number of performers who have a lot of experience in lead roles so, inevitably, they gave terrific performances.  The dancers were excellent and, again, all seasoned performers so they knew how to bring out the best in the choreography.

The singing was terrific, full credit to MD Clare Penfold for producing such an excellent sound from her huge band and for the terrific vocal performances from the whole company.  It is very rare indeed to have such a large band (18 musicians) but totally justified in the sound that they produced.

The scenery was fairly simple but worked well and the scene changes were smooth and quick, maintaining the pace of the show.  Lighting and sound were good, as they should be in the hands of a team of very capable, professional, technicians.  The costumes were excellent, with a lot of attention to detail in the hair, and accessories, which is so important in a production set in a specific period.

Finally, congratulations to producers, Louise Christian and Fay Nair, who must have had a difficult job bringing all the elements together for this iconic show.  It really was a splendid production.

I would also say a huge thank you to the Front of House team for looking after all of us so well.  It is such a pleasure when a society makes the effort to host us before the show and in the interval.

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