Is EVITA coming over the pond?

Right now probably not because while the revival was great it did not sell so well in the UK and I think that might scare off alot of investors.

Not to thread jack, but am I the only one who LOVED the movie version? I think it is one of the best movie musicals to this day.

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I love the design of the movie but to me it is missing the energy of the show. At certain points in the movie, starting around Santa Evita the movie just starts to drag. Also Madonna looked great in the role but that is about it, she could not sing it. In addition I was disgusted that Eva sang "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" because I feel that it takes away from Eva. Anyway just a few brief thoughts.

Last fall, Webber entered a deal with the Nederlander Organization for a Broadway mounting and gained AEA permission for Elena Roger to play the role in New York - but I think plans for the transfer have been quietly aborted. The production in London proved too expensive to run and ticket sales weren't stellar - and frankly, Roger aside, the production just wasn't that great.

Apparently Webber is contemplating returning to the Hal Prince staging for the production's New York revival - but I don't think its going to be happening this (or next) season.

Updated On: 4/25/07 at 04:33 PM

if it does open on broadway i hope alice ripley is cast as evita!!!

Alice Ripley is getting a little too old for it; she's in her mid 40s now.

If it does it won't be for a LONG time.. I just saw auditions up for a Non-Equity Tour of it.. sooo there ya go

Damn, I really wanted this to transfer.

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Where do you base those big chances of EVITA being successful here?
I'm not saying it's doomed to fail, but I don't see why anyone would assume that the show would be a hit if it were to open on Broadway (especially after the lukewarm reception the Grandage/Ashford staging got on the West End). Even with the original Hal Prince staging, I don't see any particular reason why the show would be a hot ticket.
If it does open on Broadway, Elena Roger should be the one to play the title role. She got raves across the board, sounds exquisite on the recording, and is indeed an Argentine woman which I'm pretty sure informs her performance all throughout.
I'd love to see Marin Mazzie, Alice Ripley, Ruthie Henshall, and a handful of other actresses in the title role but when given the opportunity to have Roger on Broadway, she trumps just about everyone (save for Donna Murphy, but she could be playing Curtis Taylor Jr. in DREAMGIRLS and I'd be all up for it).

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Argentines tend to look more european than other latin americans, as you can even see in Rodger. That's why so many white women have played the role, it's a totally different thing to have a black woman, it could work but it's one of those shows that I think it would be a problem. I think whoever plays evita should look like Eva, at least from the audience.

Oh, and I would love to see it on Broadway, but I really don't like Rodger. I would kill to have Van der Pol do it.

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I have said on this board before about this topic but here goes

The Evita Revival here in the UK was very expensive to run and ticket sales were not great at all(it was playing to half empty houses a lot).

Webber has decided not to take the show to New York but it looks like it will tour the UK next year using the west end sets(hes also taking Aspects Of Love out on the road in the UK this year).

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There was a huge surge of Italian immigrants to Argentina in the early 1900's, which explains why Argentine people are so European looking. They even had signs reading "Come to Argentina" in the Italian newspapers.

Not to mention, there is a substantial amount of people of Welsh descent in Argentina. My parents visited there last year and said the ethnic makeup reminded them of...Northern California, with fewer black people.

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