Evita

[BurlyBeaR]

Jun 23, 2017 16:33:11 GMT danieljohnson14 said:

I wonder if the twitter group EmmaLeavesArgentina, dedicated to a leaving gift for Emma, will hold off on giving her the gift or they will just give it to her as a end of tour gift anyway?

We've all got the joke now Daniel, shall we move things along please? 

[AliceFearnFan2212]

Booked for Opening & Closing! And gonna book for more performances closer to the time! Love this show

[daniel]

There appears to have been a slight adjustment in pricing for this...the very back row of the Upper Circle has dropped from £35 to £25. Otherwise, all seems the same as @theatremonkey's earlier analysis.

[Michael]

Jul 10, 2017 19:21:50 GMT @theatremonkey said:

Well, thank goodness for that.

You couldn't be happier

[daniel]

Jul 11, 2017 8:14:35 GMT @theatremonkey said:

Oztastic, in fact.

[richey]

Big discounts appearing for this already and it's not even opened!

[sayers500]

My first time seeing Evita and this production and I have rarely been so angry at a piece of theatre to the extent that I almost did a Parsley!
Hatton is extraordinary as Eva but is let down by a creative team of mediocre men who seem to lack a shred of artistic integrity. If these people are expecting punters to pay West End prices, they should present a show that is up to West End standards. Instead, they have presented us with a clunky, inelegant and impractical set, lighting design that wants to blind the audience and sound design that makes the Phoenix sound like a barn (it's only the first few performances but I think it's unlikely to change that much). Schiaretti lacks charisma as Che and just seems to breeze through the show and the child soloist, god bless her, totally crumpled. It seemed like she hadn't had enough preparation and was unfairly thrown into the situation. I am really fond of the score but the electronic strings made it sound so artificial. A man clearly agreed with me at the interval, making a real fuss towards the end of the interval to the steward with a quiet auditorium listening to every word.
Hatton is an incredible Eva, encapsulating her determination and vulnerability and in a different production, her performance would make a greater impression. However, like most of the productions of his that I've seen, Kenright has destroyed the brilliance of the source material and I cannot and will not sit through another show produced by that man.

[d'James]

When you say the girl crumpled, what do you mean? I hope she's OK.

[sayers500]

Jul 29, 2017 21:52:50 GMT d'James said:

When you say the girl crumpled, what do you mean? I hope she's OK.

Not physically crumpled, she just couldn't get through her solo, started off out of key and then lost confidence. Luckily, the actor playing her mother joined in to help her out.

[d'James]

Jul 29, 2017 22:00:23 GMT sayers500 said:

Jul 29, 2017 21:52:50 GMT d'James said:

When you say the girl crumpled, what do you mean? I hope she's OK.

Not physically crumpled, she just couldn't get through her solo, started off out of key and then lost confidence. Luckily, the actor playing her mother joined in to help her out.

Oh OK. I was imagining her bursting into tears or something.

[Deleted]

I once paid to see this production on tour. Not making that mistake again.

Grandage's production was far superior.

[tom]

Jul 29, 2017 22:07:48 GMT d'James said:

Jul 29, 2017 22:00:23 GMT sayers500 said:

Not physically crumpled, she just couldn't get through her solo, started off out of key and then lost confidence. Luckily, the actor playing her mother joined in to help her out.

Oh OK. I was imagining her bursting into tears or something.

When I saw a previous tour with Rachael Wooding as Evita I am pretty sure the little girl soloist was miming to a prerecorded track. Is Buenos Aires sung live now too?

I much preferred the tour version to the revival at The Adelphi. The set was obviously inferior but it just felt better to me somehow.

[Deleted]

I am a big fan of Evita but have to say I really do not see the need for the current tour to transfer into the West End. I loved the Grandage production but that does not feel like that long ago, plus the tour did a stint at the Dominion fairly recently.

For the West End, the piece is worthy of a full scale reimagination to bring something new to it.

Saw the tour in Bristol and it was fine (personal gripe is I felt the orchestrations lacked oomph) but it does not merit West End prices.

Saw the Kenwright Whistle Down The Wind which was similarly cheap on tour but when it came to The Palace and charged West End prices was ludicrous.

Are ALW and Kenwright great friends? Always surprises me that when the RUG productions are (generally) fairly lavish that they give permission to Kenwright to produce so much of ALW's stuff on the cheap.

Interestingly RUG don't generally show much interest in touring their shows. Compared to Cameron Mackintosh who is a wonderful example of how you can produce shows of an amazing standard on tour. Mary Poppins and Miss Saigon both incredible. His commitment to doing these shows is wonderful and much appreciated for those that don't live in London. (Of course he was also involved in the Cats and Phantom tours, probably as the driving force).

Wish ALW would invest more into tours. Am probably wrong but the last tours produced exclusively by RUG I can think of are Gale Edward's versions of JCS and Aspects of Love!

Sorry I've gone completely off topic - but yes Kenwright's Evita is not value for money.

[show69]

When I last saw it on tour, it was sadly all pre recorded vocals and orchestra. I swear I also heard real violins at one point..!!

[daniel]

Press Night tonight - I suppose the important questions are how many stars will it get in the press, and will Biggins be there?!

[musicallady]

Best Eva I have ever seen was years back when Jacqui Scott was Eva. I saw the alternate Paula Simpson and she was amazing.

[Scswp]

Aug 2, 2017 22:04:18 GMT musicallady said:

Best Eva I have ever seen was years back when Jacqui Scott was Eva. I saw the alternate Paula Simpson and she was amazing.

I saw this tour twice too. Saw Jacqui Scott the first time and she was amazing as Evita - both in terms of the singing and acting. The second time was a matinee and I, too, saw Paula Simpson. She was good, but not up to the standard of Jacqui Scott. Simpson sang the main songs well enough (Buenos Aires, Rainbow High etc...) but other parts were not as strong (A New Argentina, Waltz for Eva and Che). Scott was stronger and fiercer throughout the whole score.

[Stasia]

Seriously impressed by WOS reviewer's description of one of the performers:


The weak link, unfortunately, is Gian Marco Schiaretti's Che, who as commentator on the action is the man who holds the story together, looking forward and back. He's a handsome chap (though surely too muscular around the shoulders for a revolutionary leader) with an appealing light voice, but it's a performance that misses the importance of Che's analysis of events, his knowledge of their significance in Argentina's troubled development.

Like, seriously? What's next? "Her breasts are too big for a schooolgirl part she is playing"? "His figure is not muscular for a handsome lover character"?

Why can't revolutionary leaders have big shoulders? Why people are paid for describing shoulders not shows?

Would like to hear your thoughts on the shoulders appropriate way of describing an artist.

[Deleted]

I mean, they are lovely shoulders though. I'll just leave this one here for you all. Seriously, do we really care if he can sing or act or not?

[Stasia]

Aug 3, 2017 8:09:12 GMT @ryan said:

I mean, they are lovely shoulders though. I'll just leave this one here for you all. Seriously, do we really care if he can sing or act or not?

the shoulders are perfect for my taste, and this is where we are on the same side
And his acting and singing are good enough for me to like him for about 9 years

I just thought this character could have whichever shoulders the actor has got, as there is no "revoulutionary leader shoulder standard"

[d'James]

Aug 3, 2017 8:09:12 GMT @ryan said:

I mean, they are lovely shoulders though. I'll just leave this one here for you all. Seriously, do we really care if he can sing or act or not?

I really liked him. I was far back from the stage so didn't particularly notice his shoulders but he was lovely.

[sushisamba]

On a completely random note can I just have a little brag about the fact that I played in a charity mixed tennis tournament at Queen's Club last week with about 32 people and one of the contestants was Elaine Paige! Didn't get a chance to play against her sadly but we spoke briefly and she was lovely.

[d'James]

Aug 3, 2017 8:42:27 GMT sushisamba said:

On a completely random note can I just have a little brag about the fact that I played in a charity mixed tennis tournament at Queen's Club last week with about 32 people and one of the contestants was Elaine Paige! Didn't get a chance to play against her sadly but we spoke briefly and she was lovely.

Sounds great. How did you become part of that?

[sushisamba]

Aug 3, 2017 8:48:18 GMT d'James said:

Sounds great. How did you become part of that?

My father has played in the annual event for many years and I partnered him this year. It's in support of the Friends of Israel Sport Centre for the Disabled.

[theatremadness]

Well I don't think this is anywhere near as bad as some make it out to be. OK granted, this is the only version of Evita I have seen, but you can still tell a bad production when you see one, and I don't think this is one. The set fits perfectly into the theatre so it hardly ever feels bare. And a good sized cast also helps this, too. The ensemble work so, so hard in this and it's really hard to find fault in their performances. Sound levels seemed to have been adjusted as all was well, at least from centre stalls anyway. OK maybe the fake strings are a little too noticeable but the band are really tight and sound fabulous. The orchestrations make some of the score sound incredibly fresh. The set is automated for this run too, now, so no more crew pushing the balconies back and forth which makes the whole thing look at lot more smooth and classier. I never thought the show was ever bad on tour, but I feel it's all stepped up a little for this run.

Emma Hatton is exquisite in the role of Eva and her Rainbow High is a real highlight. WoS is right, she is really bright-eyed at the beginning and turns into this feisty, doggedly-determined woman. God knows how Hatton still makes her likeable! Supporting cast are also all good. Peron has stunning vocals as does Magaldi, played with just the right smarminess. I think WoS go way too far in their slating of Gian as Che and I don't particularly agree at all. But out of the supporting cast, it's Sarah O'Connor as the Mistress who almost steals the show. Such pure vocals and a completely devastating performance.

Unlike the story, this production isn't revolutionary. But it's damn good filler (compared to what we sometimes get in the West End) of a really challenging and well-performed musical.