I'm a big fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera EVITA and have seen professional stagings at least three times, most recently the 2012 Broadway revival before Sunday evening's performance. It takes an actress of a certain caliber to fill the role of Eva Peron. The role is vocally challenging, physically exerting in Act 1, and emotionally demanding in Act 2. For this reason, the role is normally double cast with an alternate that performs twice a week (similar to Christine Dae in Phantom of the Opera).
Desi Oakley (Eva alternate) is blessed with a lovely voice but she lacks the "star quality" that is absolutely necessary for Eva if the audience is to believe that such a woman could quickly rise to fame as an actress, claim political power by sleeping her way to the top, and become the favored champion for the Descamisados before having done anything politically. I'm referring to the "It" factor, a magnetic radiance about someone, an alluring quality, you just can't keep your eyes off her. It's something intangible and sometimes hard to describe, you've either got it or not. Instead, I felt as though we were watching a recent college grad that landed her big break, was giving it her all, yet was failing to hit the nail. I found myself very disengaged from her performance. She wasn't bad, she just wasn't the right choice for this epic and immortalized role.
Aside from alternates, Josh Young sang impeccably as Che, another vocally challenging role. A very high tenor, Josh hit every note effortlessly with perfect pitch. It was clear that this Che served merely as the narrator instead of the revolutionary Che Guevara that was conceived for the 1979 Broadway production. Sean MacLaughlin also nails his role as Juan Peron despite appearing younger than the historical politician who was significantly older than Eva.
The production remained true to the Broadway revival with its exquisite staging and sexy choreography. Rob Ashford incorporates tango into his choreography and stages an exciting and well received "Buenos Aires."
Other honorable mentions include the outstanding scenic design by Christopher Oram and lighting design by Neil Austin. Oram effectively transports the audience from Eva's poor and small town Junin to the exciting Big Apple of Buenos Aires. This same transition was remarkable to see on Broadway. The creative team intentionally went for a more realistic scenic approach versus the dark minimalistic set of the 1979 original production. Austin beautifully lights the set with harsh rays of sunlight that evoke heat, sweat, sex and excitement. He also uses lots of backlighting which creates sexy silhouetted imagery in cavernous areas where men and women lurk in the dark and frames Eva beautifully in saintly imagery when she makes her famous speech from the Casa Rosada and later gives her ghostly farewell to the Descamisados mourning her death.
Overall, the production is high quality and outstanding. It's a great rags to riches story about the rise and tragic death of an ambitious yet greedy woman. She was idolized by the poor and constantly patronized by the wealthy. Eva was presumably the first celebrity status political leader. The musical examines whether her intentions were genuine or entirely phony (Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice chose the later in their interpretation).
Moreover, Webber's remarkable score soars with hits such as Buenos Aires, Good Night and Thank You, I'd be Surprisingly Good For You, A New Argentina, Don't Cry For Me, Rainbow High, and Waltz for Che and Eva. Aside from Phantom and Sunset Boulevard, I believe it's one of his best written musical scores.
My personal opinion about the Eva alternate made me wish I was lucky enough to see the same show on a different night. After all, it's a big problem when the title character is the problem.
~Ace Daniels
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