Evita - Page 7

[PattiLover]

Posted: 3/19/12 at 10:44pm

"VERY hard pressed to find one who could wrap her head around that role. I'm not talking about singing it, I'm talking about acting it. Most don't have the maturity, experience, and (acting) range that it takes."

That's basically what Magaldi says to Evita - she's just an amateur.

I've always thought Evita should be played by someone in their early 20's. Someone raw, with natural "star quality." Younger actresses seldom get plum roles which become their benchmarks like Evita when they're very young. Patti's interpretation is naturally my favorite, but she's better as the established, vengeful Eva than the youthful street tramp just cutting her teeth on fame. I want to see youthful wonderment, as she enters Buenos Aires, like her first orgasm. Haha...

I'm disappointed to read Elena is 37. I had the same problem with Madonna. You see the Evita as a little more wizened and you miss the Eva and her pretense-free runaway who slept around and stuff.

I'm interested about DeCicco's performance - any word yet? Loved her in everything, specifically as Eponine - which I think would work well for her.

Need to add that this is probably the best thread about Evita I've ever read on the internets.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/19/12 at 10:58pm

I cannot stop listening to the London cast recording... I find Elena Roger to be absolutely incredible and I adore her voice. I look forward to seeing the show this summer!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/19/12 at 11:59pm

Elena looks very young during the early parts of the play- she actually is one of the few people I've seen do the role who I think is equally convincing playing Eva's age at all parts of the story

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/20/12 at 7:41am

If you want to see Patti then you're going to be let down, but if you enter a performance with an open mind and a willingness to accept the material presented in a different form then you almost certainly will enjoy the show.

EXACTLY.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 3/20/12 at 11:29am

I want to chime in as someone who walked into this production with a reasonably open mind. I love a few numbers from the show, but have never been an Evita junkie, listening to every woman who has ever played the role. I am certainly *not* a Patti LuPone fan and I was certainly excited to see a new take on the material.

That said, I walked out of the theatre with a severe disappointment in Ms. Roger.

Ms. Roger dances the role beautifully - I was shocked at how dance heavy the show is for Eva here. Ms. Roger seems to *act* the role just fine for the most part. I buy her as Eva. The problem is truly and 100% her voice. Her mid-range is pleasant enough, if a bit harsh at moments, but her lack of a belt and her upper register were unforgivable. Did I want a LuPone belt? No. But her voice because notable thin and VERY quite any time she had to belt or go into her upper register. It wasn't that she was not belting, is was the fact that those notes are just not there for her. To make matters worse, her accent is completely unintelligible if you do not know the libretto. I am sure that here on the board, most people know the beats of the plot, if not the actual words. If you don't, you are lost at sea for half of Ms. Roger's performance.

Unfortunately for them, the small group next to me had never seen Evita before and I found myself answering a few questions at intermission. The reason they were lost? "I have no idea what she is saying!"

I found it also very telling that the reception for Rachel Potter at the curtain call was NOTABLY more enthusiastic than the reception for Elena Roger.

[Paris.400]

Posted: 3/20/12 at 1:06pm

"I found it also very telling that the reception for Rachel Potter at the curtain call was NOTABLY more enthusiastic than the reception for Elena Roger."

Noticed that at the stage door, too last Wednesday. As soon as Ricky Martin left the throngs of screaming fans disappeared, Rachel came out and signed way more autographs than Elena.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/20/12 at 1:08pm

Well there you have it, Rachel Potter should clearly be playing the title role since she signed more autographs at the stage door than Elena Roger.

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 3/20/12 at 1:12pm

For me, I did not find a problem with Elena's diction whatsoever when she was singing. I could hear the lyrics very clearly throughout the entire production.

[Paris.400]

Posted: 3/20/12 at 1:44pm

"Well there you have it, Rachel Potter should clearly be playing the title role since she signed more autographs at the stage door than Elena Roger."

Elena is amazing in the role; seemed very rude of the crowd.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 3/20/12 at 5:09pm

LOL @ Michael Bennett. So true.

I was nowhere near the stage door, so I can't speak to the crowds there. I can only speak to curtain call response.

Paris, that is hardly rude of the crowd. If one doesn't want an autograph, it is not rude to not ask for it. As far as 'amazing', it is wonderful that you think so and I would have loved to walk away knowing i had seen an 'amazing' Eva, but I did NOT enjoy her performance in the role and a good amount of the theatregoers seated around me felt the same.

[random person 112]

Posted: 3/20/12 at 8:38pm

Broadwayguy the problem is not the performance, it's that the audience finds it hard to sympathize with the ego-maniac, unhinged fashionista that is Eva. It's a fault LuPone talks about at length in her memoir.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/22/12 at 1:39pm

Interesting feature in the New York Times about Elena Roger.
DONT CRY FOR HER

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/22/12 at 1:39pm

Interesting feature in the New York Times about Elena Roger.
DONT CRY FOR HER

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 3/22/12 at 1:52pm

random,
Believe me when I state that I understand exactly what you are saying, but the more tepid response to Ms Roger at curtain call, paired with the chatter I heard at intermission and during walk out, the response wasn't to the character, but to a genuine disappointment in Ms. Roger's performance.

[Luscious]

Posted: 3/22/12 at 2:20pm

Wait and see how the audience reaction changes when the critics rave about her performance. The applause will be deafening. Most people don't have a mind of their own. They need to be told what's good and what isn't.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 3/22/12 at 2:38pm

While that is quite true of sheep mentality, I often am accused of not 'following the herd' and my own reaction was "Really, there are a dozen American women who could do this better on a bad day."

[iNick1224]

Posted: 3/23/12 at 9:04pm

Any Christina Dicecco reviews?

[TexanAddams18]

Posted: 3/23/12 at 9:06pm

I will be seeing her on wednesday, I know a friend who saw Elena in London and saw Christina last saturday, said she much preferred Decicco.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 12:19am

"Wait and see how the audience reaction changes when the critics rave about her performance. The applause will be deafening. Most people don't have a mind of their own. They need to be told what's good and what isn't."

Tell me about it. New Les Mis tour, anyone?

Calm down. I don't mean everyone who liked it. Just the over-the-top audiences who clap the loudest after that SuBo number and again at the end because, well, it's over.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 2:23am

How are the technical elements for the show? Based on the pictures I have seen, the set looks gorgeous, and I LOVE the banner around the proscenium, but I would love hear more from someone who has seen it. Does the set change at all?

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 2:56am

It is very deceptive.. the top of the show uses a projection screen and newsreel footage, giving way to a beautiful set for the top of the show. That entire set disappears at the start of "Beunos Aires" and then that is about it...several total changes and a startlingly beautiful reveal, and then it's the same basic set.. the side units track in somewhat at various moments, the doors along up the upstage wall open and close, there is some movement of the upstage balcony during one scene and a partial wall that flies in to hide the balcony. Otherwise, it does not change. A flag here or there.. some props - tables, chairs and suitcases, a bed.. but there are large stretches of time with nothing else onstage.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 7:22am

I'll be seeing Dicecco next Saturday and while I would have liked to see Elena to be able to weigh in on the debate, I'll be content to see the alternate -- especially since people think she is performing well.

I am a relative Evita neophyte: while I know the story and some of the music, I have never seen a production, and Madonna in the film never interested me.

[philly03]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 6:35pm

Just got back from seeing Christina DeCicco. Seen her in a bunch of things over the years (u/s in Sister Act, all the Walnut Street Theatre stuff, etc) and thought she did a great job. Does not really use an accent of any type when singing, if people were curious. She has a powerful voice, but also the ability to control it in the more sentimental moments. Her dancing seemed fine as well. "A New Argentina" and "Rainbow High" were highlights for me.

Haven't seen Elena, only know of her from the London recording and DeCicco sings much more powerful.

Most of the problems I had stemmed from the production/direction - seen a bunch of Evita tours (including the great Natalie Toro & Raul Esparza tour), but I thought Hal Prince's staging was brilliant. I don't think the literal and high gloss is necessary for EVITA. I thought the "Art of the Possible" was probably confusing for those who had not seen it.

The curtain call was dead today until Ricky Martin came out and people went crazy. DeCicco also got big applause.

Updated On: 3/24/12 at 06:35 PM

[justafan2]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 8:09pm

I just ret'd from seeing Christina DeCicco and agree with philly03---I can't compare her to Elena--but her voice was very powerful and emotional. I enjoyed Ricky's performance more than I thought I would---he was a welcome narrator with a sense of humor and "reality". Overall---it was a strong show (IMO)--I hope it does well.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 3/24/12 at 8:38pm

Christina de Cicco's official website...
Christina de Cicco