I know I’m late to the discussion, but I thought this might be an interesting perspective. I’ve seen Lupone and Paige both sing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” in concert, and Elena Roger sing the song on Broadway twice. Out of all three, Elaine Paige was the best, no competition.
I think we get underwhelmed by her simply because the OLC was a VERY abbreviated version and the OBC was the entire show.
Talking with those who saw her, I hear she was unbelievable.
With Paige, I got the sense that she could not only sing the role, but act while singing (if that makes sense). Paige’s Eva was coming from a fusion of the heart and mind, whereas LuPone was simply portraying her as a power-hungry witch. Paige got all the emotions that made up Eva Peron and beautifully channeled them into “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” recognizing that this night was not only Eva’s triumph, but that much harder days lay ahead for her (and Juan).
What I’m constantly amazed by with Patti’s performance of Eva, both from the OBC and what I’ve seen of her in concert, is her dictation. It is so poor, I feel like Henry Higgins needs to come out and school her. Where was Hal Prince when she had this problem during 1979-80? I love this video of her because it is so true:
http://youtu.be/XWGchv7kHzw As for Roger, I felt like she played Eva as a politician, nothing wrong with that. But her accent and dictation will forever prohibit her from being remembered as one of the great Evas. Sad, because I really liked her performance. But unless you know every line of Evita, like I do, you frequently saying “what?” At least that was the case with the guests I took to see Evita on Broadway last year.
Anyway my two cents – Great thread!
I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all of our citizens. - JFK
