Evita| The Muny, 1 Theatre Dr, St. Louis, MO 63112 | July 18th-24th @ 8PM nightly | $24.50-$100+
The Muny’s 2025 season continues with the classic 1978 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita, opening this weekend. Evita chronicles the life of Argentinian activist Eva Perón, the second wife of that nation’s most influential political figure, Juan Perón. Born into poverty in rural Argentina in 1919, Eva Perón moved to Buenos Aires at the age of 15 to pursue a career as an actress. In 1945, she married Juan Perón, a military officer who had come to national attention for his role in the 1943 coup that overthrew the democratically elected president and instituted a military dictatorship. As first lady of Argentina, Eva Perón became a beloved, almost mythical figure, rising to national prominence in 1945 for her role in the mass demonstrations that followed her husband’s arrest and his subsequent ascension to the presidency.
The Perón administration ushered in a socialist political revolution in Argentina, focusing on expanded rights for workers and the disenfranchised, an industrialization policy emphasizing economic self-sufficiency, and free tuition to public universities. Despite these popular reforms, Perón’s two terms (1946-1955 and 1973 until his death in 1974) were also marked by significant political instability, with Perón’s political career being sandwiched between multiple military coups that granted Argentina’s executive branch unprecedented powers.
Perón’s first presidential term ended with his removal from office after a bloody 1955 coup that resulted in over 300 Argentinians killed. He was subsequently exiled from Argentina, his political party was disbanded, with two more military dictatorships following his term. Almost 20 years later, Perón was reelected to office by the widest margin ever seen in Argentina, serving only one year before his death in 1974.
Historians have hotly debated for decades whether Perón should be considered a fascist given his efforts to centralize political power in his nation through military rule. Despite the many controversies that marked his time in office, however, the Peróns are arguably the most beloved figures in Argentine politics to this day, with the party they founded, the Judicialists, remaining politically relevant in contemporary elections.
Given its subject matter, Evita has sometimes been considered controversial, with some arguing the musical repeats some of the Judicialist party’s own self-mythologizing and propaganda about the Peróns’ and the political violence that surrounded their administration. The first act of the musical begins with Eva (Katerina McCrimmon, in her Muny debut) beginning her career as an actress and her fledgling romance with Juan Perón (Tony-winner Paulo Szot), with the second act following his first presidential term in 1946. The musical then chronicles Eva Perón’s goodwill tour to Europe to promote her husband’s political party. She later learns that she is dying of cancer, and becomes determined to run for the vice presidency and serve in her husband’s cabinet. She is ultimately dissuaded, with the musical ending with Eva on her deathbed, contemplating her controversial life in the limelight.
Like many of Webber and Rice’s beloved musicals, Evita’s score employs a variety of musical styles, combining rock and classical music often within the same piece. Some of the most famous pieces include “Oh What a Circus,” in which the dubious Che (Omar Lopez-Cepero) reacts to the public grieving over Eva’s death, and “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” in which Eva assumes her new identity as the first lady of Argentina. Fans of Webber and Rice’s other iconic works, like Jesus Christ Superstar and The Phantom of the Opera, will not want to miss Evita, which is not revived nearly as often as the latter two musicals.
Evita runs from July 18th through July 24th at the Muny, with performances every night at 8:00PM. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit muny.org. | David von Nordheim
