A Review by Tim Whittemore,
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The review in one sentence: Patti
LuPone would hate it.
But, of course, it’s at the
Adelphi in London, so of course she would.
I went to see the show on Saturday,
July 15, 2006 at 7:30 PM with my EVITA bud Gareth. This revival has its
strengths and weaknesses (I liked it, but I have mixed feelings). I thought the
best course of action would be to break the show down scene by scene. For those
of you too lazy to read – there is a quick summary at the end.
ACT
ONE
Upon entering the Adelphi, the first
thing I noticed was the curtain with the official portrait of Evita. Then, the
death announcement is made and we go to…
JUNÍN JULY 1952 / REQUIEM FOR EVITA /
OH WHAT A CIRCUS
I have never had the urge to get up
and walk out of a show more than when I saw this. First question – why
Junín? What was going on there in July 1952? Eva’s funeral was in Buenos
Aires. It’s the Requiem scene, but we never see a coffin - just a
bunch of screaming, moaning people. Is it Eva’s family? Well, they were
with Eva when she died. In Buenos Aires. Her descamisados? Well,
they were just as much in Junín as they were in Mendoza or Ushuaia. Or Buenos
Aires. We don’t connect to any of them and it was at that moment that
I realized that Harold Prince’s version will never be topped. Ever.
Period. END OF STORY. Hal made you connect to the individual grief of the descamisados
- in fact, he made you part of the funerral. Finally, as if to liven things up,
the key changes and here comes Matt Rawle’s Che. Or Matt Rawle. Who
knows. It’s not Guevara anymore. But, on the plus side, it’s not
Antonio Banderas. Matt, a brilliant young performer, does everything possible
to make the scene more interesting, but it’s like the old quip about rearranging
the furniture on Titanic. After a long, boring while, in comes a herd of
girls and – finally – the little burst of imported Argentine energía
– Elena Roger – singing her first notes in the show which leads us
to…
ON THIS NIGHT OF A THOUSAND STARS /
EVA AND MAGALDI / EVA BEWARE OF THE CITY
Bye bye stereotypical ruffled
Magaldi! Hello, slightly better, but still Anglo Magaldi. This scene lost a lot
of its umph because Elena played it a tad more innocently. I was about
to completely give up on the show until the key changed to C Major and the ugly
medieval dungeon, er, Junín set, lifted up and we go to…
BUENOS AIRES
Bam! Finally! Yippee! The audience
wakes up and we are with Eva at Retiro Station in
And now – STRENGTH #1
– ELENA ROGER KICKS ASS.
Literally. I mean, I think she could
kick her own if she tried. Elena isn’t a belter. She’s not Patti.
She’s not Elaine. She’s not Flo. But good Lord, she dances even
better than Loni Ackerman.
Which leads us to STRENGTH #2
– This is the all-new dancing EVITA.
If you thought the original
choreography was lacking, this will make you want to kick up your heels (and
back round again apparently). The orchestration is only SLIGHTLY different from
the original – but just adding a couple more bumps in the bump-bump-bump
samba beat takes the song to a new level. Che gets a bit more to say about
Argentine society before the Latin dance break (but no one is really listening
– they are too busy watching Elena kick ass.) We fly to the
“you’re a tramp, you’re a treat” point, and my heart
rate skyrockets. I’ve never had the urge to sing along to a show more than
at that moment (I didn’t, thank God, Gareth would have ribbed me).
The music pauses with a drum roll and Elena becomes the new toast of London.
By the way – did I mention
Elena Roger kicks ass?
ANOTHER SUITCASE IN ANOTHER HALL
Let me pause here and thank the
powers-that-be for not allowing Elena Roger to sing “Another Suitcase in
Another Hall” here. Thank you. Thank you. I might even say…
GOODNIGHT AND THANK YOU
The audience at this point gets a
good shot of Christopher Oram’s amazing Buenos Aires set. Now, granted,
it looks more like some London or Parisian backstreet than B.A., but still,
it’s pretty. “Goodnight and Thank You” is played much the
same way as in the original (Eva gets lots of men and new clothes), though she
and her revolving bed are upstairs while the rejected lovers queue enters from
below.
THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE
This scene is done with a deadly
tango. Each officer comes out and dances while trying to trip his partner. As
the officers fall one by one, an officer (is this the President? It was quite
dark…) on the balcony of London’s Buckingham Palace, er,
Casa Rosada looks on. Hmm… I wonder
who’ll win?
Oh yeah. STRENGTH #3
– Philip Quast.
Eva comes on and does her little bit,
but with great humor, because she is now starting to be a glamorous star (and
let’s us know by flashing a cheeky smile to a paparazzo).
CHARITY CONCERT / I’D BE SURPRISINGLY
GOOD FOR YOU
STRENGTH #4
– This scene.
This is
perhaps the single greatest improvement in the show. Although I disliked the
setup (we see the Luna Park stage head-on, instead of Hal Prince’s side
view), it was still interesting. And for the first time, I realized how funny
(YES, FUNNY) Tim Rice’s lyrics to “I’d Be Surprisingly Good
For You” are. Elena plays each line as double entendre, which is very
interesting because Eva (not Elena) is so bad (good?) an actress she even
believes herself. For example, “I don’t always rush in like
this…” By accentuating the word “always” the line
becomes very humorous, because of COURSE Eva always rushes in – she ran
up a whole flight of stairs to shag a flock of men two songs back. Perón, of course, sees through all of this, but appreciates the
flirting, and ends up dancing with her. No, he doesn’t dance, he kicks
ass with her. No wonder Perón likes her. The scene changes and we see Eva
being a right little bitch to Perón’s underage mistress. And thankfully she (not Eva)
sings…
ANOTHER SUITCASE IN ANOTHER HALL
Lorna Want’s gorgeous voice filled the Adelphi like the
voice of a siren. Che leads her off at the end, but Lorna deserved an encore.
PERÓN’S LATEST FLAME
I wasn’t very impressed. Eva and Perón sit at some
restaurant having the time of their lives while the aristos and army mock them
in sotto voce. The drum breaks are replaced by the army jumping up and
down and the aristos clapping a lot. Boring. Bring back Larry Fuller’s
wind-up dolls…
A NEW
This was awkward. No more bedroom scene – this is Perón and Eva fully
clothed. Eva does all her bits with zeal, but she always sings out to the
audience while the descamisados are huddled around Perón behind her. She
is never involved with them nor are they with her. In fact, at times I wondered
if she was SUPPOSED to be there. It was almost as if she was commenting on the
scene, rather than supporting her man. The only improvement is that the couple
are shown getting married which was a little unclear in the original. The big
finish was a large Argentine flag falling down – and then I realized that
I missed Harold Prince’s version’s banners and torches.
ACT
TWO
ON THE BALCONY OF THE CASA ROSADA /
DON’T CRY FOR ME,
This was the
biggest nod to the original version. Eva still comes out in her big, white
dress, but this time, the balcony comes downstage, so she doesn’t cross
from stage-left to center anymore. The whole time I watched Philip Quast I was
trying to psychically tell him to take his jacket off (he never did and I
forgot to mention it to him after the show). Elena was good, but she played the
balcony speech with a little more reservation, and I really hoped for more. Is
it just me or wouldn’t that speech be great in Spanish? Elena, vos
podés hacerlo…
HIGH FLYING
ADORED / RAINBOW HIGH / RAINBOW TOUR / THE ACTRESS HASN’T LEARNED THE
LINES (YOU’D LIKE TO HEAR)
This was all
one big scene. Eva is all grown up now but she loses some verve (maybe she
danced too much). Her “Rainbow High” was played down, which for
this production isn’t bad, but overall is unfortunate because it used to
be the number which proved if an Eva was worthy or not. Eva ends her star
quality finish on top of her luggage whilst striking a glamorous pose. Then Perón and his flunkies announce from the balcony of the Palais
Elysée, er, Casa Rosada, that Eva is going to Europe. And, Eva just
stands there. And people walk up to her and Che waves flags and Eva rants about
the King of England and then the aristos appear and she makes them disappear
(the lights go off) and we finally get a little energy in…
AND THE MONEY KEPT ROLLING IN (AND OUT)
STRENGTH #5 – Matt Rawle.
Unfortuantely for Matt, the show is 75% percent over before he
gets a good chance to shine. And he saps this song for all it’s worth. He
hits notes that would make Mandy Patinkin cry. Eva is hoisted up at the end and
a shower of pesos comes down. My friend Gareth joked that with all the dancing
and vertical sets, Eva spends more time in the air than anywhere else.
SANTA EVITA
Only one child sings this and Eva shows how holy she is by
petting her and placating her parents. It’s over-the-top, but so was the
real Eva, so no problems there.
WALTZ FOR EVA AND CHE
Eva and Che belittle each other to classical music. It sounds
strange, but it’s musical theatre at its best. Che picks Eva up at the
end as she pleads to God for more time. As Che lays her on the ground, the DVD
player cranks up and we see Elena Roger as Madonna in…
YOU MUST LOVE ME
OK, OK. Joking aside, Elena does a
beautiful job. Philip doesn’t make it sappy by crying like Jonathan Pryce
and Elena plays it with much more forcefulness than Madonna (big shock there).
Strangely, it works. I was wrong about the addition of this song in this
production – and I apologize. Eva slowly walks off at the end and the
soldiers very slowly crank up the volume as they whine to Perón in…
SHE
IS A DIAMOND
STRENGTH
#6 – This production fixes one of Harold Prince’s only mistakes.
Well,
maybe not a mistake, but at least a misstep. In the original production, Che
bursts in between the soldiers ranting and Perón’s rebuttal. The problem
with this was that it was never clear to whom Perón was rebutting. Now, Che
comes in AFTER Perón sings “She Is a Diamond” which means that when
Che says his “What’s new Buenos Aires?” bit, that forces
Perón to consider his political situation in a song… and what better song
than…
DICE
ARE ROLLING / EVA’S SONNET
Both Philip and Elena do very well in
this scene. There is no “Eva’s Sonnet”, even though it is
listed in the program. Typical. The scene ends with Eva clunking down on the
stage.
In case you’re unfamiliar, this
is “Eva’s Sonnet” along with other missing lyrics from the
“Dice Are Rolling” scene.
Those shallow mean pretenders to your
throne
Will come to learn ours is the upper hand
For I do not accept this is not known
In rich, established parcels of our land
To face the storm so long and not
capsize
Is not the chance achievement of a fraud
Conservatives are kings of compromise
It hurts them more to jeer, than to applaud
And I shall have my people come to
choose
The couple who shall their country's crowns
In thousands in my squares and avenues
Emptying their villages and towns
Where every soul in home or shack or stall
Knows me as Argentina – that is all
Oh I shall be a great vice-president!
This is not a gambler's final throw
Forced upon me by those bastards who've
Only longed to see me up and go
It's not an unprepared or panicked move
Which just goes to prove
I'd be good for you
Eva vice-president is good for you
EVA’S FINAL BROADCAST / MONTAGE
Elena looked very much like Valeria
Lynch in this scene. It was odd. She played the death scene well, but the Montage
was terrible. The people just spun her bed around and got loud (they were never
this loud in the funeral scene). Then, in a stage trick, Eva somehow leaves the
bed and is on the balcony just in time for…
LAMENT
STRENGTH #7 – The restoration of
the complete Lament lyrics.
What can I say? Elena made me cry.
QUICK
SUMMARY
The Best
·
Elena Roger and the company kick ass in
“Buenos Aires.”
·
Philip Quast sings. Period.
·
Matt Rawle singing “And the Money Kept
Rolling In (and Out).”
·
“I’d Be Surprisingly Good For
You” is now a beautiful tango – and is played with romance and
humor.
·
The full “Lament” is restored and is
very moving.
·
The kindness of the cast after the show –
especially Philip Quast leaving his family to talk to me and others at the
stage door.
The Worst
·
The scenes leading up to “Buenos
Aires” are slow, boring and ugly.
·
“Perón’s Latest Flame” loses
its charm and humor.
·
“A New Argentina” is awkward as the
company doesn’t react to Eva’s speeches.
·
“Rainbow High” isn’t as
exciting as it was in the original.
Scale of one to ten – one being
the Original Korean Cast and ten being Patti LuPone? I’ll give it a 7.
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