Evita

[sophizoey]

£50 ticket reduced to £17, 2 hours before curtain up! It techincally belonged to my mam because that's the account registered to my post code, but minor details.

I wasn't expecting that level of emotion and talent. It wasnt perfect, the theatre didnt have the best sound but when it matter it was crystal clear. Don't Cry for Me Argentina was worth the price of the ticket alone, took my breath away for 3 minutes. Also Eva's final broadcast had the entire stalls in tears.

Madalena was lovely as Eva, I have no one else to compare her to but I'm happy for her to become my definition of Eva Peron's character. Jeremy Secomb has all the stage presence in the world and Gian's voice is something else, at first I didn't realise the high notes mid-act 2 were his. I honestly thought they come from a soprano in the ensemble.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2018 1:20:31 GMT @james92 said:

Wierd as Madelena is advertised as lead for Belfast in July

The below press release makes it sound like the current cast are touring into November (or atleast I've read it as that!) but that doesn't seem the case with Madalena and Jeremy both saying they're leaving after Grimsby. I wonder if Kellie Gnauck will take over as Eva, she's had a lot of shows recently.

www.whatsonstage.com/birmingham-theatre/news/evita-tour-dates-announced-2018_45726.html

[Deleted]

Kellie Gnauck will possibly get bumped up but I don’t know if that’s ever happened with Kenwright’s tours. The standby Eva has always remained in her role between casts and they’d always hired a new Eva I think.

It would be lovely for Kellie to lead and for you guys (or even just Burly) to see her and report back on how she is.

[Deleted]

Sorry for double post, but Kellie Gnauck is also leaving, so we’ll have a new Eva, new alternate Eva, probably new Ché and a new Perón.

[hitmewithurbethshot]

Lucy O'Byrne will be playing Eva

[Deleted]

Jul 5, 2018 10:24:44 GMT hitmewithurbethshot said:

Lucy O'Byrne will be playing Eva

Now that's a good bit of casting. Do we know who's playing Che and Peron?

[BurlyBeaR]

I don’t agree. Her acting isn’t up to it.

[Deleted]

Jul 5, 2018 10:51:35 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

I don’t agree. Her acting isn’t up to it.

And I don't believe she can belt either.

[BurlyBeaR]

Jul 5, 2018 11:06:20 GMT @aspiringthespian said:

Jul 5, 2018 10:51:35 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

I don’t agree. Her acting isn’t up to it.

And I don't believe she can belt either.

Well, playing Maria in SoM wouldn’t give her the opportunity to prove one way or the other, and that’s the only thing she’s been in as far as I know. She veers towards classical music from what I remember on The Voice so maybe she can belt. 

But based on the evidence of seeing her as Maria I just dont think she has the gravitas to do Evita justice. 

[Deleted]

As long as she can do the 'arms', she'll be fine. That's all we want from Evita.

[daniel]

Kellie Gnauck is doing panto in Birmingham, for those who may be interested.

[Deleted]

My main concern about Lucy is she seems way too young for Evita, I know the real Evita never aged but now I can see Lucy being more of a Peron’s Mistress than an Evita.

@burlybear She apparently played Fantine in Les Mis, which then made Kenwright advertise her as “The Voice runner-up and West End star”

[BurlyBeaR]

She’s 26 apparently. Eva Peron was only 33 when she died so if we’re going for realism she’s pretty much ideal and for once we won’t have someone who looks 45 pretending to be a 16 year old good time gal. But I guess the reason actresses playing Eva are usually oldetr is because of that gravitas I mentioned before.
As for Fantine, don’t tell Patti I said this but it’s not really acting is it. She’s only on stage for ten minutes and that’s just walking about and looking miserable. I could play Fantine myself! (I’d probably try to inject a bit of comedy into it though).

I could be wrong and I hope I am but I can’t see it working with Lucy. I wish it was stopping off in Manc again as I s like to see her in itjust to check it out.

[Deleted]

Jul 9, 2018 11:47:05 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

She’s 26 apparently. Eva Peron was only 33 when she died so if we’re going for realism she’s pretty much ideal and for once we won’t have someone who looks 45 pretending to be a 16 year old good time gal. But I guess the reason actresses playing Eva are usually oldetr is because of that gravitas I mentioned before.
As for Fantine, don’t tell Patti I said this but it’s not really acting is it. She’s only on stage for ten minutes and that’s just walking about and looking miserable. I could play Fantine myself! (I’d probably try to inject a bit of comedy into it though).

I could be wrong and I hope I am but I can’t see it working with Lucy. I wish it was stopping off in Manc again as I s like to see her in itjust to check it out.

How old actually was Madalena? I always thought she looked older than most other Eva’s but her singing was beautiful from what I heard.

[Deleted]

Jul 9, 2018 14:55:17 GMT aingidh said:

Jul 9, 2018 11:47:05 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

She’s 26 apparently. Eva Peron was only 33 when she died so if we’re going for realism she’s pretty much ideal and for once we won’t have someone who looks 45 pretending to be a 16 year old good time gal. But I guess the reason actresses playing Eva are usually oldetr is because of that gravitas I mentioned before.
As for Fantine, don’t tell Patti I said this but it’s not really acting is it. She’s only on stage for ten minutes and that’s just walking about and looking miserable. I could play Fantine myself! (I’d probably try to inject a bit of comedy into it though).

I could be wrong and I hope I am but I can’t see it working with Lucy. I wish it was stopping off in Manc again as I s like to see her in itjust to check it out.

How old actually was Madalena? I always thought she looked older than most other Eva’s but her singing was beautiful from what I heard.

I think she's early 30s.

[BurlyBeaR]

34 accordging to the gospel wiki.

Tina Arena is pushing 50 which is a bit of a stretch for the oz production.

[Deleted]

CLUTCH THE PEARLS!

Tina Arena isn't pushing 50 at all. She's 50 already and she's looking and sounding as fabulous as ever and don't you forget it Mr Bear!

[Deleted]

I wonder what LuPone’s portrayal of Eva would be like if she did it now. Fabulous, I guess.

[BurlyBeaR]

Jul 9, 2018 17:21:51 GMT @ryan said:

CLUTCH THE PEARLS!

Tina Arena isn't pushing 50 at all. She's 50 already and she's looking and sounding as fabulous as ever and don't you forget it Mr Bear!

Y’know whenever I sing along to Tina doing Whistle Down The Wind I always replace that lyric with:

Make it clear and strong
So the whole night long
Every signal that you send
Until the very end
I will not abandon you my furry friend

Ive been doing it so long I sometimes have to remind myself which is the correct version. 

[distantcousin]

Jul 9, 2018 16:46:41 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

34 accordging to the gospel wiki.

Tina Arena is pushing 50 which is a bit of a stretch for the oz production.

totally! Brilliant voice, but it's absolutely preposterous to have an Eva pushing 50! 

They tried it with Marti Webb 20 years ago and it was embarrassing then!

[distantcousin]

Jul 9, 2018 17:28:04 GMT aingidh said:

I wonder what LuPone’s portrayal of Eva would be like if she did it now. Fabulous, I guess.

Completely "wrong" in every sense, I'd predict.

[distantcousin]

Jul 9, 2018 11:47:05 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

She’s 26 apparently. Eva Peron was only 33 when she died so if we’re going for realism she’s pretty much ideal and for once we won’t have someone who looks 45 pretending to be a 16 year old good time gal. But I guess the reason actresses playing Eva are usually oldetr is because of that gravitas I mentioned before.
As for Fantine, don’t tell Patti I said this but it’s not really acting is it. She’s only on stage for ten minutes and that’s just walking about and looking miserable. I could play Fantine myself! (I’d probably try to inject a bit of comedy into it though).

I could be wrong and I hope I am but I can’t see it working with Lucy. I wish it was stopping off in Manc again as I s like to see her in itjust to check it out.

I think late 20's is a perfect age to play her with real authenticity. 

I believe Ria Jones was only 18! The youngest Eva, eva!  On the original UK Tour. 

[Deleted]

Jul 5, 2018 12:06:56 GMT @ryan said:

As long as she can do the 'arms', she'll be fine. That's all we want from Evita.

... and the white dress. How could you possibly forget the white dress?!

[LaLuPone]

Has this Lucy O’Byrne casting actually been confirmed by WhatsOnStage/Kenwright/something?

[Deleted]

Jul 11, 2018 10:20:38 GMT LaLuPone said:

Has this Lucy O’Byrne casting actually been confirmed by WhatsOnStage/Kenwright/something?

Belfast Grand Opera House tweeted it. As it's Kenwright, we'll find out the full cast on the day it opens if we're lucky.