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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 6, 2019 16:50:13 GMT
For any particular reason? Was there some reference (other than the flag) for it to be necessary? Or just because it looked edgy? Struggling to understand the logic there haha. Because she’s laying herself bare to the crowd? Exposing herself and her feelings? |
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Post by freckles on Aug 6, 2019 17:31:59 GMT
What are “long knickers”??
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2019 18:21:46 GMT
Why she sings DCFMA in underwear though? Not sure! Making the point that without the white dress, iconic blond bun and jewels, she’s deeply ordinary?! Because she’s laying herself bare to the crowd? Exposing herself and her feelings? The words can do that. And the acting. You don’t need to reduce her to her smalls to batter a message across. Sounds quite unsubtle. |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 6, 2019 19:42:49 GMT
What are “long knickers”?? Knickerbockers! |
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Post by scarpia on Aug 6, 2019 20:45:59 GMT
Why she sings DCFMA in underwear though? Not sure! Making the point that without the white dress, iconic blond bun and jewels, she’s deeply ordinary?! Because she’s laying herself bare to the crowd? Exposing herself and her feelings? I hope that's not the logic behind it, because DCFMA is supposed to be a dishonest political speech... |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2019 20:47:59 GMT
What are “long knickers”?? Errr, female equivalent of boxers?! Not sure what retail description is for what she had on lol, hopefully someone who’s also seen them can help out! As a big gay, deffo describing knickers not one of my talents.... |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 6, 2019 21:37:40 GMT
Cami knickers?,
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 6, 2019 21:39:25 GMT
Because she’s laying herself bare to the crowd? Exposing herself and her feelings? I hope that's not the logic behind it, because DCFMA is supposed to be a dishonest political speech... Ok so she has so little regard for the crowd, she can’t even be bothered to put a frock on for it? |
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Post by theoracle on Aug 6, 2019 21:48:08 GMT
I thought the descamisados were supposed to be the shirtless ones? Maybe this was Evita’s way of honouring them? The dressless one?
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 6, 2019 22:26:34 GMT
Thank god she’s keeping her knickers on, in that case.
(Shut up @theatremonkey )
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Post by Deal J on Aug 6, 2019 22:50:06 GMT
What are “long knickers”?? Knickerbockers! Well she only asked! 😉 |
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Post by Someone in a tree on Aug 7, 2019 5:26:39 GMT
Sorry to be a killjoy but please bear in mind our rule about copyright. Unless it’s clear that pics posted here are from official sources we have to assume they’re not, and remove them. From WoS Facebook feed. |
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Post by richey on Aug 7, 2019 5:48:07 GMT
So she's singing about being "dressed up to the nines" whilst stood there in her Bridget Jones pants? Weird.
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Post by fiyero on Aug 7, 2019 21:38:39 GMT
So, I loved this but it is obviously a more challenging piece than I was expecting. My friend is going with her mum and aunt later in the run, I showed her a picture of the stage and she was a bit shocked. She then asked where the balcony was... I wasn't sure what to tell her! I am not sure she will 'get it'
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Post by vabbian on Aug 8, 2019 10:12:47 GMT
4.5 stars
This was sensational! Staging really incredible, good use of the lighting and spoiler alert -confetti.
Best thing I've seen in regents park by a long way. It feels modern and fresh compared to traditional staging of Evita with the balcony and wigs.
Would love to go again but tickets are pricey!!
Don't go to the matinee, I feel it won't have the same impact in daylight.
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Post by jgblunners on Aug 8, 2019 11:22:28 GMT
Loved it, loved it, loved it. Exactly what I was hoping for and far exceeded my expectations. The abstract approach works much better than I thought it would (although I'm not sure how easily you'd follow the plot if you weren't familiar with the show) and the whole ethos of this production has increased poignancy in the age of social media and 'fake news'. Lloyd's vision is big, bold, bitchy, and unashamed. He's not afraid to come down strongly on the damning side of the fence regarding Eva's ambition, and that makes a real change. Gone is the ambiguity of how much she truly loves the people (or her lovers), gone is the bitch/saint superposition, this is Evita through her own eyes with no holds barred, unafraid to use people and do whatever she has to in order to climb the ladder and achieve immortality. Perhaps the most impressive of Lloyd's feats is making The Art of the Possible and Peron's Latest Flame - in my opinion the only two dull parts of the show - into engaging and interesting scenes. As others have said, the last 20 minutes are more affecting than ever before, with the confrontation between Eva and Che, Eva's demise, and a haunting montage, all staged simply but to raw effect.
Samantha Pauly is simply sensational in the title role - there's no other word for it. Her voice glides through the score effortlessly, from shimmering head voice to soaring belt, and no opting out of tricky segments (there's even a cheeky extra high note thrown in at the end of Rainbow High, which I've never heard anyone add before). When you combine her with the gorgeous and chaotically energetic Trent Saunders as Che, I'd hazard a guess that this could be the best the score has ever been sung. Notably, the leading duo's diction is exquisite and last night I could make out lyrics that sometimes evade me even on cast recordings. Mention should also be made of Ektor Rivera and Frances Mayli McCann, who excel in their roles of Peron and The Mistress.
Fabian Aloise brings his best work yet to the choreography here, with chaotic sassy energy flowing through every move from Eva's poses as she dreams of Buenos Aires to the begging lower classes in The Money Kept Rolling In. I particularly loved the geometry of his choreo - the ensemble constantly forming moving arrays, circles, lines, that flex as they make use of the staircase set. When you add the lighting - at times feeling like it's pulled straight from an arena rock tour - you get an exquisite picture up on that stage.
And the band, oh the band. They are simply divine. The orchestrations are lush and vibrant, an intertwining meld of rock and musical theatre, and there's no scrimping on numbers, with each section big enough to produce the full sound that we need from this score.
Regent's Park are officially 2 for 2 on their ALW revamps. Which is next?
Edit: oh and the balloon dress was indeed gone last night too, so looks like they've binned it for good. And for those who are interested, Lauren Drew (of Heathers and Sweet Charity) is 2nd cover Eva after Marsha Songcome.
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Post by theatrefan77 on Aug 8, 2019 13:37:49 GMT
Went for the second time yesterday. I didn't hate it but didn't love it either. It has improved since the first preview last week, but for me the director has clearly chosen style over substance. In my view this production takes for granted that you have to know in advance the story. If you don't, I don't think the politics come across strongly enough to understand the whole story and what Peronism meant meant for Argentina in the 1940s and 1950s.
Also I prefer when the director lets the audience decide whether Eva is a saint or a sinner, or both. In this production she's clearly a sinner with no redeeming features, which is course the director's prerogative. Still there's a lot to enjoy here. The score sounded wonderful and the performances are good, although Samantha Pauly sounded very screechy at times. The choreography is well executed and some of the visuals are stunning. |
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Post by justsaying113 on Aug 8, 2019 15:01:18 GMT
This production is completely bonkers in parts but there were elements I really liked - and well done to Jamie Lloyd for trying something new. There's no point trying to replicate Hal Prince's original - it's timeless and in a league of its own - so at least striving for something fresh and different is to be applauded, even if (in my view) there are times it fails spectacularly. However, when it does work (as in "And the Money..." and "Waltz for Che and Eva") it's pretty exciting stuff. Samantha Pauly sings this most demanding of scores superbly but her "Argentina" left me cold (very poorly delivered and the whole point of the song being a political speech and not a song is completely lost). Trent Saunders is good but he lacks what the best of the Che portrayals have had (a mix of rage and cheeky humour). And Ektor Rivera is excellent but a Juan Peron he is not - JP was 25 years older than Eva at the time of her death; Ektor looks like her kid brother. I thought the ensemble was terrific, bits of the choreography truly exciting and some of the staging of the ensemble set pieces really worked. And I liked (and this does revert to the original) the disrobing of the oligarchs so they become the descamicados. It'll be really interesting to read the reviews and see if this brave but flawed revival has a wider life. I hope those still to go have a very enjoyable time.
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Post by winonaforever on Aug 8, 2019 15:06:21 GMT
4.5 stars This was sensational! Staging really incredible, good use of the lighting and spoiler alert -confetti. Best thing I've seen in regents park by a long way. It feels modern and fresh compared to traditional staging of Evita with the balcony and wigs. Would love to go again but tickets are pricey!! Don't go to the matinee, I feel it won't have the same impact in daylight. I thought the same thing about the matinee after reading some of the things on here about the production. Although I'm going twice, it's a matinee both times  |
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Post by Steve on Aug 8, 2019 16:56:15 GMT
Saw this last night, and it's thrilling and topical and unmissable! Some spoilers follow. . . Never a fan of elitist "subtlety" or sentimentality, Jamie Lloyd here loads Tim Rice's cynical sardonic lyrics with all the bite and muscle, all the showbiz pizzazz and fireworks, of the populist age he is critiquing. Evita is the X factor and TOWIE, she is will-to-power Madonna, she is fake news, she is Trump firing up his deplorables (aka descamisados), she is Ozymandias (as depicted in the enormous rusted out lettering of her name, and in Samantha Pauly's tragic final awareness). This is a truly brilliant interpretation of "Evita" and should be seen in the evening, with the full showbiz spectacle of the pyrotechnics intact, and with the incandescent Samantha Pauly in it, before an inevitable transfer. Echoes of other Jamie Lloyd productions and preoccupations are here, from the presentation of human hierarchies as in steps (as in the Harold Pinter season), to the utilisation of entertainment and communications technology as a source of power (as in his Richard III), to the amoral degenerate darkness of the showbiz soul (as in his Doctor Faustus), and here he has the perfect vehicle for speaking to the major themes of the age in Tim Rice's witty sly suspicious cynicism and the easily weaponised emotionalism and easily manipulated huge heart of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Pauly is so X factor, so much more determined and ruthless than her manipulative weaponised backstory, and yet as an empowered woman in a man's world, she is nonetheless admirable in her will-to-power wily-won't-take-sh*t-Madonna-material-girl-way (it's so obvious seeing this why Madonna HAD to play Evita), and despite the absolute cynicism and ruthlessness of Lloyd's take on Evita, Pauly embodies a universally human kind of ambition, such that when a universal kind of human frailty overtakes her, it is still immensely sad. After seeing more sentimental, wishy washy takes on Evita by Elena Roger and Madalena Alberto in previous productions, which diluted the acidity of Rice's lyrics, I found I was much more edge-of-my-seat engaged by the bitter tartness and sharpness of vision of this production, though I acknowledge that anyone attached to lionising Evita the person might feel revulsed at this kind of clarity. One great boon of this production was being able at last to forget Marti Pellow's Che, who was not in fine voice when I saw him, as Trent Saunders is SENSATIONAL as Che, hitting and modulating every note and emotion, every caustic beat of the lyrics, even as he assumes Mel Gibson Passion of the Christ levels of abuse. And as others have noted above, when Frances Mayli McCann performs "Another Suitcase in Another Hall," her ability to counterpoint the savageness and cynicism all around her with tender sincere expression is exquisitely and wonderfully heartbreaking. For me, this is an Evita for the age, a solid five stars that I expect to sell out!  |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Aug 8, 2019 17:04:12 GMT
I think that review might even convince @remark to book for this? 😉
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Post by richey on Aug 8, 2019 17:36:49 GMT
Wow that is one hell of a review Steve! Next Wednesday can't come quick enough for me!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2019 18:21:45 GMT
I'm sure it's been said somewhere already but I can't find the posts - does Marsha have any scheduled dates as Eva?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2019 18:23:31 GMT
jgblunners and Steve Thanks so much for your reviews. You express more eloquently than me everything I felt about this production. So thrilled to hear such positive reviews coming through now people are starting to see the show. As I've said I loved this and found it absolutely thrilling. Without doubt the must see event of the Summer IMO. Can't go again till September sadly (just started new job) but literally cannot wait!
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Post by jgblunners on Aug 8, 2019 18:27:35 GMT
I'm sure it's been said somewhere already but I can't find the posts - does Marsha have any scheduled dates as Eva? At the moment only the extra Wednesday matinees - 21st and 28th of August. No details on the website or in the programme about her being an alternate or Samantha doing anything less than 8 shows a week - an impressive feat if that is indeed the case, and a testament to her vocal strength and stamina. |
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