Katerina McCrimmon as Eva Perón in the Muny’s production of Evita. Photo by Phillip Hamer
Evita| 8:15 PM nightly | The Muny, 1 Theatre Dr. | $24.50–$100+
The classic Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita makes its return to St. Louis this week. This latest production marks the fifth time the musical has been staged at the Muny, and the first performance of Evita at the Muny since 2001.
Evita begins in 1952 with the death of its namesake, Eva Perón, who rose to fame as the wife of then-president Juan Perón. Eva’s death is greeted with widespread mourning as the public grieves for the “spiritual leader for Argentina,” a title that was bestowed upon the real-life Eva Perón by the Argentine congress shortly before her death. The grieving is then interrupted with the production’s first big number, “Oh What a Circus,” in which Che (Omar Lopez-Cepero), Evita’s narrator and audience surrogate, sarcastically tears down her legacy:
“She had her moments—she had some style
The best show in town was the crowd
Outside the Casa Rosada crying ‘Eva Perón’
But that’s all gone now
As soon as the smoke from the funeral clears
We’re all gonna see how she did nothing for years…”
This piece ends with the spectacular sight of a coffin perched upon a mountain of wreaths, mourners gathered around with electric candles. This segues into the first performance of Evita’s signature piece, “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” a leitmotif for Eva’s character throughout the production.
Evita then transitions to a young Eva (Katerina McCrimmon), living in poverty in rural Argentina while dreaming of life in Buenos Aires. She travels to the city on the coattails of a corny tango singer (Daniel Torres), eventually earning fame and recognition as an actress:
“Stand back, Buenos Aires
Because you oughta know what you’re gonna get in me
Just a little touch of star quality!”
Parallel to Eva’s rise to fame, a cadre of generals is plotting to overthrow the Argentine government (“The Art of the Possible”), instigated in part by Eva’s future husband and Argentina’s next president, Juan Perón (Paulo Szot). The coup is represented on stage with actors in military uniform locking arms with each other as spotlights turn off to represent the victors and losers of the coup. This leads to a number portraying Eva and Juan’s politically expedient romance (“I’d Be Surprisingly Good for You”), as well as one of the show’s most famous songs, “Another Suitcase in Another Hall,” in which Perón’s unnamed mistress (Sabrina Santana) laments her fate after Eva moves in and kicks her out:
“I don’t expect my love affairs to last for long
Never fool myself that my dreams will come true
Being used to trouble I anticipate it
But all the same I hate it—wouldn’t you?
So what happens now?”
Despite this number being the unnamed character’s only appearance in the show, it remains one of the most enduringly popular and heartfelt songs in the production. Santana’s performance was roundly greeted with applause from the audience.
The first act concludes with the ebullient “A New Argentina,” which outlines Eva and Juan Perón’s campaign to seize political control of the nation, winning the hearts of the public through populist propaganda.
Interestingly, the show-stopping number from Evita is at the beginning of the second act. Following their victorious presidential campaign, Juan and Eva Perón address the public from the Casa Rosada, Argentina’s equivalent of the White House. This leads to a glorious reprise of “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”, a truly spectacular number not only due to McCrimmon’s deeply felt performance but also its incredible staging. This production features a rotating staircase which is spun to face the audience so McCrimmon can sing directly to them:
Don’t cry for me Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don’t keep your distance…
In both its operatic staging and performance, this was an unforgettable piece. It is precisely moments like these that illustrate the timeless power of live theater.
Act Two proceeds with Eva exploiting the glitz and glamour of her role as the first lady of Argentina (“Rainbow High”), launching a goodwill tour to Europe to spread the doctrine of Perónism (“Rainbow Tour”). She encounters opposition from the Argentine military officers and wealthy elites, who are dubious of her growing political influence (“The Actress Hasn’t Learned the Lines You’d Like to Hear”) and the Perón administration’s extravagant spending on social causes (“And the Money Kept Rolling Out”), leading Argentina into economic recession (“She Is a Diamond”) and crackdowns against free speech:
Che: “What’s new, Buenos Aires? Your nation, which a few years ago had the second-largest gold reserves in the world, is bankrupt. A country which grew up and grew rich on beef is rationing it. La Prensa, one of the few newspapers which dares to oppose Perónism, has been silenced. And so have all other reasonable voices. I’ll tell you what’s new, Buenos Aires!”
In the backdrop of this turmoil, it is revealed that Eva is slowly dying of cancer. The musical ends with a final “Lament” from Eva, as she reflects on her conflicted legacy:
“The choice was mine and mine completely
I could have any prize that I desired
I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire
Or else—or else I could choose time
Remember I was very young then
And a year was forever and a day
So what use could fifty, sixty, seventy be?
I saw the lights and I was on my way
And how I lived! How they shone!
But how soon the lights were gone!
Oh my daughter! Oh my son!
Understand what I have done!”
This production of Evita will delight both longtime fans of the timeless original, fast approaching its 50th anniversary, and newcomers to Webber and Rice’s work. From the soaring vocal performances, the astonishing choreography (the tango dancers during the “Waltz for Eva and Che” were truly mesmerizing), and the incredible production value of its staging, there is truly something to delight everyone in this production.
My one caveat is that people unfamiliar with Evita may want to listen to its score a few times before seeing it at the Muny. Like Webber and Rice’s other famous works, Evita is a sung-through musical, meaning there is very little spoken dialogue between songs; the exposition is instead delivered almost entirely through song. This may make it somewhat difficult for those without prior knowledge of either Eva Perón’s biography or Evita’s score to follow its plot when seeing it live. The original 1979 Broadway recording is available on Spotify, as is the score for the 1996 movie adaptation starring Madonna as Eva Perón.
Evita runs through Thursday, July 24th at the Muny, with performances at 8:15PM nightly. | David Von Nordheim
