EVITA Reviews- Page 2

[broadwayriff]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 8:44pm

Did someone mention before that people loved Patinkin more on opening night than Lupone? Is this history repeating itself?!

Updated On: 4/5/12 at 08:44 PM

[whatever2]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 8:46pm

^ NO!!!

no one on this board ever mentioned anyone loving anybody more than patti.

EVER.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 8:50pm

Patti has a passage in her book where she mentions a similar story. She just says that early on in the run when Mandy would come out for his bow the crowd would go crazy, and when she came out for the last bow they would hush their applause slightly.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 8:52pm

She also got mixed reviews, although the NY Times review I pulled up was more positive than I thought it was. (Although all it said was that she sang the role "well" and moved with a serpent like vitality.)

[broadwaybabytn]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:06pm

Where is the original NY Times review? I cannot find it anywhere.

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:11pm

Welcome to Broadway, Elena Roger! Bye bye, Tony Award! I suppose this is what happens when you open three days after Tracie Bennett.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:12pm

Tracie who?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:12pm

Sorry for stretching out the column, but I only have a PDF of the original review, so I have to post it as an image.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:23pm

Newsday is positive:

"This time we have a fierce dynamo of a Broadway debut by Elena Roger as Eva, the ambitious street girl with a contradictory fondness for finery, Mussolini and the poor, and who slept her way to superstar first lady before dying of cancer at 33. Roger, despite a few frayed top notes at Tuesday's preview, is a justly celebrated Argentine native whose sprite of a dancer's body belies a massive theatrical presence and the steely heft of her tangy voice. (Christina DeCicco plays the strenuous role on Wednesday nights and Saturday matinees.)

We also have the splendid Michael Cerveris in an unusually empathetic portrayal of Juan Perón, tyrant and adoring husband of the woman whose fame overtook his own."

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/theater/evita-revived-on-broadway-1.3643191

[egghumor]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:29pm

People, the original New York production of Evita was basically, critically clobbered -- but a huge hit nonetheless.

The single biggest surprise for me this season has been the general critical reception for Ricky Martin. Good for him.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:33pm

The Hollywood Reporter is positive:

"While Buenos Aires-born Roger is new to Broadway, this production made her a star in London, where it originated in 2006. At the risk of sounding harsh, the actress is physically unprepossessing – short and beaky – not to mention occasionally shrill in the vocal department. But she acts the hell out of the role.

In Eva’s thrilling arrival in the big city, “Buenos Aires,” Roger dances up a storm while exuding such bold ambition, determination and confidence that she grows in stature and beauty before our eyes. It’s no empty boast when she heralds her own “star quality” in song. In a town where vast numbers of theatergoers still attribute ownership of the role to Patti LuPone, it takes chutzpah to step into those shoes. Roger has it to spare."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/evita-theater-review-ricky-martin-308779

[bjh2114]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:42pm

Entertainment Weekly is mixed to negative (C+) with a pan for Elena:

"There are three questions facing any woman in the title role of the 1979 Andrew Lloyd Webber–Tim Rice musical Evita: How is her 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina'? How is her arm raise (a.k.a. the signature Evita pose)? And how does she handle that vocal-cord-killing score? For Argentine actress Elena Roger in the adequate new Broadway revival, the answers are: Passable. Effective. And badly.

Not every Evita needs to produce aural pyrotechnics like original Broadway star Patti LuPone. She does, however, need to hit every note with laserlike precision, and Roger misses too many. She's a fierce dancer; at one point, choreographer Rob Ashford entangles her in an impressive threesome tango. (Ashford has designed innumerable intricate variations, from funeral dirge to mating ritual, on the Argentine backroom-and-bar dance.)"

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20364394_20584060,00.html

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:44pm

^ You beat me.



Updated On: 4/5/12 at 09:44 PM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:44pm

I can't stand Entertainment Weekly's reviews... Good to see some nice reviews though!

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:50pm

These are exactly the kind of reviews we should have been expecting. Roger's performance is a love it or hate it endeavor.

Updated On: 4/5/12 at 09:50 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:55pm

It's ROGER not RODGER...drop that damned "D" already!


/rant

[whatever2]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:57pm

^ well, but wait a minute: i don't think missing some number of notes is a matter of taste ...

or is it the case that whether or not the notes are missed is a matter of opinion as well?

(again, haven't seen the show ... but not hitting the one's notes kind of sounds to me like a pretty objective problem.)

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:58pm

How the heck do you bring an EVITA to Broadway who can't sing the sh#t out of the score?
It makes me no sense.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 9:58pm

CarlosAlberto, thank you! edited.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 10:02pm

You're welcome!

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 10:03pm

Brantley is mostly negative:

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/theater/reviews/evita-starring-elena-roger-at-the-marquis-theater.html

Updated On: 4/5/12 at 10:03 PM

[rjm516]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 10:05pm

I also can't stand EW's reviews. You can tell they JUST started reviewing theatre like a year ago or so.
I'm excited to see this. I wish others would give Elena a chance at a new interpretation of Eva, and not expect a copycat of belting Patti.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 10:06pm

http://www.usatoday.com/life/theater/reviews/story/2012-04-05/evita-london-revival/54063336/1

USA Today is positive!

"Yet the triumph of this Evita, which opened Thursday at the Marquis Theatre, is its accessible, graceful humanity. As played by Argentine actress Elena Roger, reprising her West End performance from 2006, the title character is not the fiery spellbinder introduced on Broadway by Patti LuPone or the glamorous diva Madonna was in the film version. What's most striking about Roger's Eva is her fragility and her hunger."

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 10:08pm

Maybe I'm crazy, or maybe it's just the fact that it's EVITA, but I find this show to be Andrew Lloyd Webber's best. Brantley's review reminds me of his LA CAGE review from a few seasons ago, where he just doesn't like the show, regardless of the production.

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 4/5/12 at 10:09pm

The Wall Street Journal is mostly positive but pans Roger. (3 stars)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303299604577324311953757058.html

"Despite the inadequacies of its nominal star, Mr. Grandage's "Evita" is an impressive achievement that should be judged on its own merits, which are legion. Even if you don't like Andrew Lloyd Webber's music, it will hold your eye from curtain to curtain."