I just saw the closing performance in DC. I have been a fan of Evita since I was around 13. I devoured every book on Eva Peron that I could find around that time. Thus, I was pretty excited that it was being performed professionally in my town.
I found Sarah to be an excellent Eva vocally. Her acting choices were pretty one dimensional as others have mentioned, but despite that, she captured Eva's ambition.
Not too impressed with Hernandez's Peron. I haven't seen another, on stage, so its hard for me to compare, but his acting was quite bland. However, he was a nice contrast to Eva.
The Mistress, as others have said, had an excellent voice, and made good use of her limited stage time.
Last but not least is Che. I saw the movie when I was a young teen and although I am very partial to all things Spanish, I found Banderas' accent a little too much and distracting. It could not really be justified either, as being "in character" because the Argentine accent is quite different from that of the Andalucian region of Spain. I digress though. All this to say, it was nice to have a Che that everyone could understand. He showed heart and passion. Interesting casting choice too- it worked.
Finally, I would like to quibble about the audience. I was surrounded by middle aged couples. Now, I don't really expect everyone to know the story of Eva Peron and the Peron regime, but I do expect a certain amount of theatre etiquette. Several husbands around me narrated the entire show for their wives, who were apparently lost. It was not even at a whisper, but almost full voice. A few death stares later, they quieted down a bit, some of them at least. Still I was annoyed. The show is not that hard to follow. The video screens, I think, assist with that- whether you like them or not. I didn't, but that is just me.
My friend attended the show, and has limited theater experience and has never read about Eva or even watched the recent Hollywood movie. She remarked that she wished she knew a little about Eva going in, but said she got the main gist. If only the people around me had a frickin clue.
All in all an enjoyable evening. Not a fan of Lloyd Webber in general, but I do love this work.
"Why do you care what people might say? Why try to fit into their design?" (Side Show)
Updated On: 1/2/06 at 10:36 PM
