Evita intermission placement

[Ravenclaw]

Posted: 1/13/18 at 11:47pm

I recently learned that in the vocal score for Evita, there is a note from Andrew Lloyd Webber stating that it was his and Tim Rice's intention when writing the concept album to place the intermission after the balcony scene ("Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" rather than after "A New Argentina," then explaining how one would do so in production. I have been a huge fan of Evita for years, but I had never heard this before. Has anyone ever seen a production of Evita that made this choice before? I have to admit, I am intrigued now.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/14/18 at 1:47am

IMO that would be one of the stupidest ideas ever.  A New Argentina is one of the greatest Act 1 closers ever, especially in the Harold Prince version.  I had goosebumps every time I saw it.  Don't Cry for Me, Argentina is perfectly placed as the first number in Act 2..

Whoever you heard it from was probably an idiot or trying to get a conversation going.

[temms]

Posted: 1/14/18 at 1:54am

It is the new official rental materials that suggest it. I agree it makes no sense but it's honestly what it says in the score - you can put the intermission after "But your despicable class is dead/Look who they are calling for now" and Act Two starts with the weird chords before "High Flying Adored" and supposedly that's what the authors prefer.

It also only has the dance music from the revival. So the mariachi trumpets in "Buenos Aires" are gone and other stuff like that, and "You Must Love Me" is officially part of the show now. They fixed something that wasn't broken and made it considerably worse.

Here's the page as it appears in the score:

https://imgur.com/a/GWjFE

Updated On: 1/14/18 at 01:54 AM

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/14/18 at 8:30am

temms said: "supposedly that's what the authors prefer."

Not sure where it says they prefer it. It just says when they did the original album, that is what they intended, and if any productions want to try it, here are the changes you can make to try it that way.

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/14/18 at 11:17am

They probably didn't imagine the rousing finale that Harold Prince was going to come up with.  I have always considered A New Argentina to be (a) as perfectly staged a 5 minutes as there has ever been in a musical; and / or (b) one of the top 5 greatest production numbers in the last 54 years (as long as I have been going), as well as (c) one of the 4 or 5 greatest act closers in the last 54 years.  

I can see the story telling aspect of having her 'greatest moment' end the first act, it would just pale theatrically to any staging that I have seen.  Come to think of it, I have seen 5 or 6 productions of Evita, and IMO A New Argentina has always been the highlight of the show.

[BJR]

Posted: 1/14/18 at 11:39am

I agree it's always worked well as played, but I admit I'm curious what it would be like. It's true the act wouldn't end with as high an energy, without question. The shift would place Evita's rise, and her power reversal of the upper classes, as the focus. And it might give "Don't Cry For Me.." a slightly ominous quality. By starting Act II, it reintroduces us to First Lady Eva. With it ending Act I, it would be a triumphant Eva, but hinting Act II will be one long fall.

Interesting.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/14/18 at 12:57pm

It might work fine, but it leaves Act Two without its finest hour.  "When the Money..." is a terrific number, but I can't imagine that act doesn't feel thinner without the most famous song in this composition, placed in the "Hello Dolly" position, after all.  Isn't that the obvious parallel? 

That said, from a strictly story telling perspective, it makes perfect sense to close the act with "Don't Cry...", since the two arcs will be in sync, the rise, the "fall" to her death. 

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 1/14/18 at 1:43pm

It makes a kind of sense dramatically, I'd think. Things are sort of downhill after the Balcony scene. So. Having Act 1 being the rise and Act 2 being the fall... I don't know... I'd buy that! 

But... Act 2 is kind of a slog in general. The last 20 minutes have a lot of... "Remember when this happened?" Yea. I remember. It was an hour ago. And robbing the 2nd Act of the most famous song might make it even harder to sit through. 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 1/14/18 at 2:10pm

If you think that's strange, most of the West End productions of JCS have placed the Act 1 curtain after "Gethsemane," which incidentally explains the boffo showstopper ending they gave every version since Steve Balsamo. To me, it ruins the symmetry of 12 songs in the first act and 12 in the second, and really, Judas is who the show is (mostly) about; the curtain should fall on his momentous decision to betray Jesus. 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/14/18 at 5:46pm

"Act 2 is kind of a slog in general. The last 20 minutes have a lot of... "Remember when this happened?" Yea. I remember. It was an hour ago. And robbing the 2nd Act of the most famous song might make it even harder to sit through."

This is a really truthful reality about the show. Someone said to me, "why is the 2nd half such a downer?" I said, "the woman died at 33."  In a way, that's it. The story after the rainbow tour is just movie-of-the-week disease and death.  If you read Eva's bio, she was notoriously lax -- fearful to the point of paranoid --  about seeking medical help, and likely was diagnosed when she had stage 4 cancer.  Part of the story is how the country coped with losing her. But the country isn't a character, and she wasn't terribly interesting in her waning days.  They try hard to make a case that her desire to become vice president is a major turn, even a feminist point (had she lived, she likely would've become President, no?)  But it doesn't have enough plot -- the stuff of drama.  What can you sing about?  Therein lies the problem. Thus, putting the big number at the top of act 2 at least balances the show musically.