EVITA City center — Page 5

Wow, was that a great night of theater! Did everything work? No, but they threw a lot of interesting concepts out there and, if this production had more time to develop, I think it could evolve into a definitive version. As it stands, it has highs and lows. This unevenness did not distract me as it’s almost part and parcel of all Encores productions. 

 

I wish the girl playing young Eva had more to do, I liked the idea of her moving throughout but each subsequent appearance after “Another Suitcase” had diminishing returns, though I found her incorporation at the end really effective. I think if the concept had more time to grow and develop, it would have come off less heavy handed. Same goes for the sexual assault/sexual empowerment themes, I liked the idea but wish I wasn’t beaten over the head with it. 

 

The obvious bright spot of the evening was Solea Pfieffer, whom I had heard about in passing and seen in the Encores Songs for a New World. After last night, I’ll be following her a lot more closely because she was incredible. I cannot imagine her doing this as a regular 8 a week, the role is a well known voice destroyer. The limited Encores style worked well in that regard, she’s singing the hell out of it but I would be very worried I’d she were giving that performance 8 times a week for a year. 

Updated On: 11/14/19 at 01:51 PM

The director and designers look like they took some risks rather than relying on the brilliant Hal Prince and Larry Fuller staging.  And it looks impressive for an Encores show.  I like the idea of dressing Eva in white costumes throughout the show. (if that is used for all of the scenes).Even though the balcony gown is glamorous and iconic, I would like to see one production where Eva is dressed authentically in a suit).  I hate the idea of women doing knee slides or turns....the boys-ok-they wear knee pads...do they keep stashes of band aids in the wings for the women? Eva sure grew tall in her late teens. Is she standing in front of a row of coffins with flowers on top for the balcony scene?  I have a feeling I would be asking lots of questions about the meaning of many things if I saw this one.

Solea Pfeiffer is the reason to see this. She is absolutely fantastic. 

Everything else is... fine! Better than I expected. It's a handsome production for Encores, simple and effective. 

The much-discussed double casting is a bit of a dud. Young Eva has maybe 10 minutes of actual featured time- she "grows up" in "Buenos Aires." The rest of the show, she appears at various moments, wandering the stage with a suitcase in ghostly blue light looking lost, with the elder Eva looking ruefully at her. It happens so many times it loses impact. It's a bit of fussy young director concept work.

Che has never been more of a cipher than in this. Gotay sounds great, but there's really no substance to this Che. There's hardly even an identity. We have no idea who this man is or why he cares or how he was affected by the story- or why he's telling this story to us. Gotay isn't compelling or charismatic enough to fill in these blanks- and this version of the character is basically all blanks. 

A positive review from THE WRAP

 

https://www.thewrap.com/evita-theater-review-eva-peron-andrew-lloyd-webber-solea-pfeiffer/

first time seeing a full staged version of Evita and first exposure to City Center Encores. I was very impressed; definitely worth seeing. 

I forgot how funny the lyrics are, and it all sounded so incredible with this phenomenal orchestra. It also was staged somewhat brilliantly- with very little fanfare (ie very little money) they really pulled together a fully fledged production numbers beautifully...

I had expected Solea Pfeiffer's talent, but not the way she carried the show. Without giving too much away, the transition from Young Eva to Eva comes pretty early in the show (the idea that the two actresses "split" the role is silly, as is giving them both final bows) and as soon Pfeiffer emerges, the whole thing just takes off. This may sound strange but she reminded me of Sutton Foster, both in appearance and charisma but with a less wholesome demeanor. (And I mean that as a total compliment). I know they say this score is near impossible to sing but you would never tell from tonight's performance- she really nails it.

The rest of the cast were underwhelming by comparison- Jason Gotay sounds pretty fantastic (certainly better than Ricky Martin) but is too beautiful and smooth to register as the voice of The People. The young actress who sings Another Suitcase (i dont have my playbill on me, apologies) sounded great, too. 

I left thinking that big expensive sets and effects aren't necessary for sell a big musical- a credit to this production. enjoy.

Jordan Catalano said: "I found Jason Gotay to be all around terrible. I’m sorry but he sounded like a muppet when he sang (maybe he was having issues tonight?) and he had ZERO connection to Eva. The character of Che is supposed to be ever present and shouldn’t fall into the background. Just an all around misfire on that front. "

I thought he sounded great, but I agree his Che faded into the background- or more to the point, came off like a real Narrator who popped in/out, not an ever-present Everyman/Conscious. When he took center stage in High Flying Adored (which he sang flawlessly, i thought) it seemed very out nowhere. But alot of that was him being in the unfortunate position of sharing limelight with an actress having a moment...

I have a ticket to see Jagged Little Pill this Saturday afternoon and I am considering skipping it to go see Evita instead. Hate to lose out on the money for the ticket, but this sounds like such a not to be missed production. Opionions?!?

Broadway Bob* said: "I have a ticket to see Jagged Little Pill this Saturday afternoon and I am considering skipping it to go see Evita instead. Hate to lose out on the money for the ticket, but this sounds like such a not to be missed production. Opionions?!?"

My vote would be to go and see Evita.  JLP seems to be sticking around on TDF so perhaps you can get a discounted tix to see it in the near future.  It's also rife with a very bloated story (would still see though imo). As for Evita,  Solea Pfeiffer's Evita is tough to miss.  She was glorious.  The staging was gorgeous and the ensemble really shined in this show as well.  

 

I've never seen Evita but was scrolling through this thread seeing all the yawns about the casting and thinking, Solea Pfeiffer? You people must have never seen her. (I caught her in Hamilton's first go-round in San Francisco as Eliza a couple of years ago.)

So I'm not surprised at all the praise she's getting.

Very thankful Sammi Cannold has given has such a wonderful production to chew on - while I feel the production is flawed, it’s overwhelmingly successful and entertaining as hell. As I’ve sat on it, I’ve developed more thoughts I wanted to write out.

This is a production solely about Eva Peron, and no one else. It is clear Cannold has a deep admiration for her, and every single story beat is updated to put 100% of the focus on Eva alone: Che’s opening song? Focus on Eva. Another Suitcase? Focus on Eva. It’s a refreshing take, but it’s also severely one-sided.

To continue, and as mentioned above, Che is...a complete afterthought and treated as an inconvenience here. Not only are his words not taken seriously or acknowledged, but he exists purely in the background at all times, even Waltz for Eva and Che becomes a full ensemble tango number, voiding the song of all power. Consciously or not, it’s clear they wish Che didn’t have to exist. 

I understand wanting to make the story fully about Eva, but to disown Che in the narrative is...a disservice. Also, the “Two Evita’s” is a complete gimmick, and I didn’t find it add anything to the story besides being a fresh idea.

I’m interested for people who experience this as their first Evita - it’s full of a zillion brilliant seeds of ideas, but only a few really blossom. Having Eva in the opening number is brilliant. Having an empty stage for the opening of Act 2 is an interesting take, but ultimately boring. Having her take over “Another Suitcase” is fascinating, but selfish imo.

My biggest issue is that this production paints Eva as a completely innocent, perfect person. It is not until the final 10 seconds of the Montage we get ANY sense of the people of Argentina not adoring her. We’re supposed to understand this demise through Che, but it’s clear Cannold has zero point of view with him, so it’s all lost.

Listen, I’m no Eva Peron expert. I haven’t visited Argentina 3x and done years of research. But I know enough to accept that Evita is a melodrama and fantastical telling of the story of Eva - trying to make it realistic doesn’t serve the MUSICAL...maybe Cannold should develop a history play instead.

So overall, as a fan of theatre, I LOVED this. But as a fan of Evita, it’s not my favorite I’ve seen.

Updated On: 11/23/19 at 12:49 PM