New Evita Recording — Page 2

Historically speaking, after hooking up with Peron, Eva really did abruptly oust one of Peron's teenage mistresses.

Musically speaking, it serves a far more practical purpose. The actress protraying Eva just finishes a marathon of singing and dancing and needs a break.

I love Patti's voice ljay, but a good music teacher will tell you - she doesn't belt, she yodels. Truly. That's how she hits those high notes.

She "belts" using the same vocal placement and technique that those alpine Swiss Miss girls use to yodel. I'm sure she doesn't think what she is doing is yodeling, but techinically she is. And its certainly the key to doing a good Patti impersonation. :)

If you don't believe me - listen to a good yodeler - some of them are unbelievable and can "belt" absurdly high --and yes there are yodeling stars with cds out!

Updated On: 4/20/06 at 12:22 AM

I think it was to show Eva's ruthlessness and to give a secondary female perspective to the piece. When the original creators wrote EVITA, they were making a commentary on the social problems of the current day UK, as a parallel to Argentina under the dictatorship of the Perons. They were very "anti-Eva." A stance that softened with the Broadway staging and of course the film which aims to make her actually sympathetic.

But the original concept recording of EVITA was much more a song cycle in general than what Harold Prince did with it. There is that whole subplot involving Che Guevera's obsession with bug spray, for example.

I think it's probably just as well that Eva sings ANOTHER SUITCASE - if they are adding "You Must Love Me" they are clearly going for the sympathetic Eva rather than the original monster they originally envisioned.

The mistress is supposed to represent what Eva was not -- meek and docile. Her song and brief moments on stage are supposed to emphasize that fact, especially after having witnessed Eva's ruthless rise to fame.

That said, I prefer that young Eva sing it, especially if it is sung in an ambivalent tone. After all she's only fifteen! For example: (Capitalization should be sung with determintation, whereas lower case should be softer.)


CALL IN THREE-MONTHS' TIME AND I'LL BE FINE I KNOW
Well maybe not that fine BUT I'LL SURVIVE ANYHOW
I WON'T RECALL THE NAMES AND PLACES OF THIS SAD OCCASION
But that's no consolation here and now

Does anyone else hope that they feature Peron's arrest/release during A NEW ARGENTINA? The date of the workers' rally (October 17, 1945) is mentioned in passing during Che's tirade in OH WHAT A CIRCUS, but in the original production they make no other reference to it. That's too bad because it was a very important day, in that it changed Argentine politics forever.

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Well, that recording of "Don't Cry for Me" is in the original key, so my guess is that she is probably going to sing it as written.

ditto, I think they took it down, as they say it will be removed as soon s the cast recording is available...

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OMG, I am so excited! Hopefully the Che will be good. And he won't be Che Guevara (I hate when Che is shown as Che Guevara! IT MAKES NO SENSE!)

Anyway, "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" being sung by Peron's mistress is to show the parallels between her life and Eva's, I think. That she really isn't much different.

Oh, yeah, Webber is British, and Eva was responsible for Argentina kicking them out. So of course he doesn't like her. IIRC when he wrote Evita there was only one bio of her out at the time, and it was full of some rather untrue things (for instance, historians debate over whether or not Peron was really a disciple of Mussolini.) While the musical may overexaggerate the Peronistas (God, they make it seem like the friggin' Guerra Sucia under Videla) its main point is, I think, to show that Eva wasn't the holy saint many Argentines think she was. If you research Peronismo, you will find many bad things about it, such as silencing public criticism, killing Argentina's economy, and--what the musical surprisingly fails to mention--support for the Nazis in WWII, to the extent of hiding them during the Nuremberg Trials, for example the infamous Nazi doctor Mengele. Not to mention Peronismo's aftereffects, which would only bring it further down and down--the Guerra Sucia, after all, began with Isabel Peron being ousted in a coup.

Still, I think Evita does give a false impression of the politics. After I saw the stage show I went home and researched Peronismo, and it wasn't as Stalinist as the show makes it out to be. Granted, I think it is important in that it makes people see the more realistic side of Eva--also the fact that, without her, Peron was essentially nothing (he eventually got exiled after she died!)

Though, if you ask me, having CHE GUEVARA of all people be upset at her SEVERELY detracts from the messages in the show--er, sorry, I'll stop ranting about that now.

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Updated On: 4/20/06 at 12:25 PM

Personally I love Elaine Paige as Eva. I listend to her singing Don't Cry for Me the other day and rememberd just how much better she was than Madonna. And how much lower Madonna sings it. Did they have to lower the score for her at all does anyone know? Her part of 'High Flying Adored' sounds a lot lower than other women I've heard sing it. I've heard people say it was but anyone know for sure?

"Patti might sound "monotone"- which I don't agree with. But her belt is unmatched by any of the so called "belters" of today. "

I definately agree. There's an AMAZING belt in "A New Argentina," I believe. It was so powerful!


Thanks for all the help on the mistress!

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There’s been some speculation on this thread that Eva may be singing “Another Suitcase” because of the song’s placement on the CD track listing, but they’ve now announced casting for Peron’s Mistress. I’ve never actually seen a stage production, but does the mistress do anything in the show other than that song?

UTA: If the mistress is singing the song, the placement on the track listing seems odd; perhaps the list isn’t final (although it is the same on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s site).

Playbill - Magaldi and Peron's Mistress Cast

Updated On: 4/25/06 at 11:56 PM

Thanks, Michael, that makes sense (to be honest, I don’t even remember the mistress in the movie...the whole thing was so underwhelming, I haven’t watched it again since seeing it in the theater).

First off I wish that they would add both The Lady's Got Potential and the Rainbow Tour. The Lady's Got Potential was such a great song in the movie and really advances the plot better than Politics the Art of the Possible. Also I love the Rainbow tour, it is one of my favorite songs, so I'm sad they are cutting it. As for the montage I envision You Must Love Me as sort of a montage. We'll see.

Does anyone know if I by a CD on UK Amazon if it will play on an American player. I know that UK dvd's don't play on American players.