|  Author | Topic: EVITA "Live Update" (Read 12,038 times) |
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|  | EVITA "Live Update"
« Thread Started on May 25, 2006, 2:34pm » | |
The London opening of Evita is surely going to enjoy wide media coverage in the UK over the next few weeks, and there are so many sources to keep track with... In order to help you save time and energies, we have set up this thread, so as to draw your attention as timely as possible to any recent or forthcoming features about the opening of the show. This will include articles, reviews, interviews, photos, videos, etc. coming up on the main theatre portals during the month of June and beyond.
All the news will also be incorporated into the main site on a regular basis.
As this is an open thread, you are very welcome to post here any interesting link that you might come across!
Until very soon,
Your PQG Team
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PQG Team
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|  | Re: EVITA "Live Update"
« Reply #2 on May 28, 2006, 7:56pm » | |
The full cast list of Evita is now on display on a nifty billboard outside the entrance of the Adelphi Theatre.
![[image]](http://www.allthingsquast.info/images/evita/BillBoard.jpg "[image]")
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Gregor
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PQG Team
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PQG Team
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PQG Team
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|  | Review from Sue S
« Reply #8 on Jun 4, 2006, 9:18pm » | |
Big thanks to Sue S. for sharing her views about her first visit to the Adelphi!
About the show in general:
The show is spectacular. Incredible set, great choreography, excellent singing, acting … Philip was, of course, as magnificent as ever. Eva was brilliant. Che was OK and I liked Magaldi. No one else really stood out.
About the story:
I have to say that first viewings are never my favourite - I usually need a second showing to warm to all the characters and this is so again. I rather felt as if I didn't really care what happened to them! The only one that I warmed to was Perón - as his acting convinced me that he loved Eva.
About PQ as Perón:
I worried that Quast’s part would be small but it doesn't seem like that. He takes a while to appear and then it is his voice that first lets you know he is there. But from then on he is very nearly always on stage and does a lot of 'noticeable' singing as well as his solo “She’s a Diamond” in Act Two.
PQ is definitely looking big but majestic. He IS huge next to Elena and there is a scene where he carries her around but it looks rather clumsy... Still only the second performance though!
Miscellaneous:
I like listening to people chatting as they leave and the 'buzz' was very favourable along the 'enjoyed that' lines. One chap said in a surprised tone "I particularly liked Peron - he was really good wasn't he?"
There is a programme but no interesting pics - just the usual small publicity shots of the cast. They could do with a glossy souvenir brochure - here's hoping.
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| | Re: EVITA "Live Update"
« Reply #9 on Jun 6, 2006, 9:04pm » | |
Evita's lyricist Tim Rice and movie director Alan Parker will be the special guests on the BBC Radio 4 show "From Stage to Screen", conducted by Paul Gambaccini.
The programme will be aired on Tuesday 13 June, 1.30 pm to 2pm and will probably be available online for a few days as "Listen Again".
"From Stage to Screen" website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/musicfeature/pip/0iocs/
Cheers,
Your PQG Team
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Eli
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| | My views on "Evita" - SPOILERS
« Reply #11 on Jun 9, 2006, 7:11pm » | |
I saw a preview of Evita earlier this week and wanted to share a few comments.
Overall I enjoyed the show A LOT and not only because it was my first opportunity to see Quast onstage again after more than one year. 
Although I knew the original studio album (the one with J. Covington as Eva) and had distractedly watched the Alan Parker movie once (sorry, I'm not a Madonna fan) I had never attended a fully staged performance of the show. My only 'live' reference was a concert version at an open-air venue back in the 90s – featuring Ria Jones as Eva and Simon Bowman as Che -, which I had thoroughly enjoyed.
Strangely enough, I actually found myself spotting similarities to a show which not many people might know in the English-speaking world, a German musical called Elisabeth, by Michael Kunze & Sylvester Levay. Although the historical figure of Elisabeth of Austria had VERY little in common with Eva Duarte, the 'musical approach', if I may say so, was somewhat similar… But I won't develop this point any further, as I'm not sure many readers on this Board would see what I'm talking about (no offence!)
Though I'm not an unconditional ALW fan I am convinced that some of his shows, like Phantom and indeed Evita, have truly enthralling scores, which never cease to entertain and amaze me, no matter how often I listen to them.
As we all know now, in this new production the orchestrations have been entirely reworked and the result is IMHO even more captivating than the original. I'm not a music expert, but it was a delight to discover all the different "shades of sound" ALW has added to each number, especially in the 'staccatos' by the wind instruments and the somewhat unpredictable bars by the violins… The result is a very modern, very gutsy score which made me feel like standing up and dancing with my neighbour more than once (don't worry, I kept quiet!)
I also liked the simple staging: the three wings of the Casa Rosada (which however is NOT pink!) seemed to literally dance forward and backwards guiding us through the story of Eva and Juan…
Indeed, Eva and Juan… I might have missed Tim Rice's & Grandage's message altogether, but more than the political intrigues the aspect of the show that grabbed me most was the private side of Eva's story, and her relationship with her prestigious husband.
Elena Roger is as petite as yours truly, but that's where all the similarities end: although my show was an early preview she literally exuded talent and assurance whatever she was doing onstage, be it singing, dancing, acting or the three together! Elena has an amazin vocal range (the part of Evita must be one of the hardest in the musical repertoire) and her Latin accent made her performance sound much more authentic. She played the ambitious Eva, the sensual Eva, the powerful Eva, the frail Eva convincingly all through the show. Eva’s illness in particular was so well acted that I used up my entire stock of hankies in matter of minutes.
It must be said that Quast's performance in those final scenes was just as heart-breaking as Elena's. It’s true that ever since the glorious days of Secret Garden and South Pacific I've shamefully developed a certain liking for PQ's "suffering roles" and the final section of this Evita is undoubtedly another quintessential example of the kind: Quast’s cry of despair when Eva collapses on the floor and his whispered "So what happens now…" later on in that scene were totally devastating.
But even for those who are not too keen on Quast’s "suffering roles" Evita reserves plenty of blissful moments of a totally different nature: all through the first half, which follows the rise to power of an extremely confident and charming Perón, his generous smiles could have won the unconditional support of the entire female population of Latin America… 
When I first knew that Quast would be playing Perón I couldn't refrain myself from wondering whether he would be somewhat “wasted” for the part. In a way I was fearing his role would be rather small, and probably overshadowed by Eva in every number of the show. For example, I had no recollection at all of the artist who played Perón at my concert version a few years ago... Now, if it's true that Perón only had a very brief song of his own (‘She's a Diamond’, in Act Two) it's also true that Eva was constantly interacting with him, which meant that Quast was onstage practically as long as Evita herself! Even in his "silent moments" - Eva sings quite a few songs to Perón - PQ did an excellent job in filling the stage with his usual elegance and charisma without distracting the audience from the main focus of attention, ie Eva. Kudos to him!
Some comments about Che: I've always liked Matt Rawle in all his previous roles, but I wasn't 100% convinced by his performance in Evita. Though his voice was strong, his reading of the character was IMO too "neat", not punchy enough... There were moments when I realised he was onstage just because I heard his voice singing. Too bad, because Che has some of the best songs in the score and Rawle didn't perform them as aggressively or provokingly as I expected.
A few final points before I shut up:
- The costumes: beautiful and so many of them! I lost count of Eva's ones, and all of them where superb… As for PQ, in the initial scenes he wears two different kinds of military uniforms, one kaki/beige and one completely white. Then, after Perón resigns from the army, he wears several different suits, in various shades of grey, and also a tuxedo in the opening scene of Act Two (the 'Don't Cry for Me...' one) .
- The curtain calls: first the ensemble - male and female - came out in two rows, followed by Magaldi and the Mistress and then by Che and Perón (Rawle took his bow first, then Quast). Everybody left the stage and Eva came out and took her bow alone centre stage. Finally the whole cast then joined again, all the leads standing in one row.
Sorry, this was longer than planned!
Cheers,
Eli
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mary1961
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| | Re: EVITA "Live Update"
« Reply #14 on Jun 10, 2006, 5:43am » | |
Loved the photos, thanks for the link, Mary! Let's hope a souvenir brochure will be published soon.
Is it just me, or the very last picture, the one with Peron and Evita, heartbreakingly reminds this one? 
![[image]](http://www.allthingsquast.info/images/vv_stage/14.ThereWeWouldGo1.jpg "[image]")
All the best from nostalgic
Eli
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