"Evita" Review

[mrdreamjeans]

I'm a bit out of sync with other actors when it comes to reading reviews of their work. Most actors either don't read them or like to pretend they don't:) I don't avoid them. In fact, I seek them out. I used to write for a weekly paper in Houston as their theater critic; having had that experience, I like to read reviews to see how well they are written not to necessarily agree or disagree with the content.

The review in The Chicago Tribune was particularly well done. I am reprinting it here with full acknowledgment of the talents of the writer, Chris Jones. Enjoy! I've got to get my act on the road, do laundry and other errands today, as it is supposed to snow heavily here tomorrow:)

THEATER REVIEW
'Evita' Revival Recalls Braver Era - In Theater

By Chris Jones
Tribune Arts Reporter
Published November 20, 2004

Thirty years ago, an original musical still could cut a broad swath
through mainstream popular culture. Today that would be unthinkable.

Songs from "Evita" were a fixture at the top of the British charts. And the
UK pop-royalty of the time -- the likes of Barbara Dixon and David Essex --
pushed the initial concept album onto everyone's turntable. That was two
years before the show had even smelled a theater.

Some of us who were teenagers memorized every idiosyncratic Tim Rice lyric
-- from "High Flying, Adored" to "Another Suitcase in Another Hall." Heck,
they were hard to avoid. Julie Covington's version of "Don't Cry For Me
Argentina" was the best-selling British single of 1977.

This nostalgic touring version of "Evita" brings the 1970s flooding back.
Despite the passage of time, this is a close re-creation of Hal Prince's
throbbing original West End production, closely re-created by the
still-throbbing Prince.

Whatever one may feel about the lasting quality of this material, this
likely is the final chance to revisit a significant moment in musical
history. On the corporate road, such tours are rare. There are no movable
light fixtures or computer graphics on display. The pit still is full of
human beings blowing into brass and reed. The ensemble -- every capable,
union-affiliated one of them -- sports full Equity production contracts. Bet
Prince insisted.

And the signature aspects of the staging -- the catwalks, the movie screen,
the caricatured choreography, the purloined Brechtian cheekiness -- are
present and correct. About the only things missing are the torches that once
lighted the stage. Tougher fire codes, perhaps.

Reliving scenes of youthful admiration can be dangerous. "Evita" never was a
subtle endeavor, and time emphasizes its camp qualities. At times during the
revival, you realize every 1970s musical used pretty much the same dark set.
And back then, shows sure put a lot of stock in sticking banners in people's
hands and having them pump their arms.

But at least "Evita" dealt with issues. It was prescient in its exploration
of the link between politics and mediatized personalities. And it had Che
Guevara as narrator, for goodness sake. Try selling that to investors today.
It's also one of the two decent extant Andrew Lloyd Webber scores ("Sunset
Boulevard" is the other). And you only have to listen to Rice's later, safer
lyrics to appreciate the daring work he did for "Evita."

In no other musical do characters step out of a scene and tell the audience
that they, too, use and abuse lovers for their own devices. They even point
fingers at the front rows.

This was the work of the young, the audacious and the talented. People tend
to think of "Evita" as looking forward to the 1980s, but it was more linked
to the political shows of the 1960s ("Viet Rock" et al.). It was a universe
away from "The Phantom of the Opera."

This revival has a former Chicago actress, Kathy Voytko, in the lead. You
can see why Prince cast her. Voytko has a huge voice, but she is a striver
and a tireless worker onstage. Her huge smile and gaping eyes never look
entirely comfortable. Neither did Eva Peron.

Bradley Dean infuses the scratchy Che with an operatic tenor. It's neither a
subtle nor a sufficiently rock-driven performance -- it suggests a Marxist
seminar taking place at Juilliard -- but Dean sounds good on the high notes.
And there's a sweet cameo from Kate Manning as the mistress pushed out by
the star, but not before getting the show's best ballad.

"Evita" never had a decent end. But its melodies still lock in the skull
while the lyrics tickle the brain. In this retro incarnation, it's easy to
see how "Evita" changed the face of the Anglo-American theater. It's a pity
its creators later lost their nerve.