"Evita" opened on Broadway in September of 1979, set box office records, and won seven Tony awards. Since then, mostly mediocre tours of the show have cropped up. The touring production currently at the Auditorium Theatre is the exception. Sharp and focused, this production may be your last time to see a top notch production of this musical.
The questionable quality of most of the productions was due to several factors, chief among them being the absence of the production's original director, Harold Prince. The current production was supervised by Prince, and you can tell. Complete with the same unmistakable production design, this is more than just a retread of a Broadway show most people only remember for its signature song, "Don’t Cry For Me Argentina."
For those that don’t know the story, Evita is the story of Eva Duarte de Peron, a simple Argentinian peasant girl whose ambition leads her to a successful acting career, and then to the heights of glory as Argentina’s first lady married to dictator Juan Peron (Philip Hernandez). Weaving through the story as narrator is Che (Bradley Dean).
Starring as Evita is Kathy Voytko, an up-and-coming Broadway actress who has a great future ahead of her. It must be difficult living in Patti LuPone's shadow, but Voytko's performance is so good there is no need for comparison. Her Eva is ruthless on the way up and tenacious on the way down as she succumbs to uterine cancer at the age of 33.
Dean is terrific as Che, a role known for its intensity and its vocal gymnastics. His disdain of Juan and Eva Peron is evident as he weaves his way through the story. Much like Che Guevara, on whom the character is based, he is intolerant of injustice at the hands of governmental corruption.
Hernandez's Peron serves as a perfect foil for Voytko's Eva. She is fiery and demanding, he calm and ruthless. Other notable performances include Kate Manning as Peron's Mistress and Gabriel Burrafato.
If you have never seen Evita, or just want to see it again, make sure you make your way to the Auditorium Theatre before November 28. To make up for no show on Thanksgiving, this production is adding shows over the weekend: two shows each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
