Today is Thursday, April 5, marking the official opening night performance of the Broadway revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita, following previews that began March 12 at the Marquis Theatre. The cast is headed by Ricky Martin as Che, Olivier Award winner Elena Roger in her Broadway debut as Eva Perón, Michael Cerveris as Juan Perón, Max von Essen as Magaldi and Rachel Potter as the Mistress. Under the direction of Michael Grandage, and featuring original choreography by Rob Ashford, this is the first new Broadway production of the seven-time Tony Award-winning musical since it debuted at the Broadway Theatre over 30 years ago.
In bocca al lupo to everyone in the show! Loved it in previews and London AND the original 1978 cast, cannot wait for tonight!!
PS: Michael Cerveris on Twitter: Trying to text "in bocca al lupo" (in the wolf's mouth-Italian good luck) to Elena but spellcheck changes it to "in bocca al Lupone" #EVITA
Murray is Mixed on the production and Roger. He loves Martin??
Oh, she can hit all the notes (though not always without visibly working at it). But forget about finding the go-for-broke, stratospheric-belt vocals of Elaine Paige (in London) and Patti LuPone (on Broadway, in 1979). Roger's attack is tentative, even apologetic, and at odds with the reckless ambition of Eva as written whether of the overt ("Buenos Aires") or covert (her "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You" seduction); there's no sting in anything she sings.
Then there's her pronounced, if not quite impenetrable, accent. Roger has apparently not mastered singing in English, and loses more words than is acceptable as the lead in a sung-through show. She runs into particular trouble when Webber's music pulls her to the topmost extent of her range; articulation is challenging up there to begin with, but Roger does not even seem to be trying to communicate the meaning, or even the bare syllables, of Rice's lyrics during those moments. Losing whole verses is a too-common occurrence. Her acting, however, is primitive throughout. Her performance, nothing more than adequate, leaves a gaping hole at the middle of the action that's only partially filled by the superior elements that surround her. Eva should move you, taunt you, and enrage you, but not leave you this cold.
What was expected? Isn't Murray negative about everything?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
"For “Evita” to have maximum impact you really need three triple-threat stars to meet the almost superhuman demands of the score, and they have to be unafraid to show their characters’ nasty sides. Unfortunately, each of Grandage’s headliners falls short in at least one department. Elena Roger, the Argentinean performer who played Evita for him in 2006, is an expressive conveyer of much of the role’s complexity. A tiny woman, Roger is an explosive dynamo, prowling the stage like a tiger as Evita climbs to the top, and her native accent lends a welcome authenticity. But she lacks the vocal strength to fully put across the top notes, often going into a thin head voice when she should belt. Pop star Ricky Martin can certainly sing Che Guevera, the cynical Greek chorus figure, but he lacks the necessary bite and rage to give the commentary the sting it needs. Even Michael Cerveris, who possesses both the vocal and dramatic chops to limn the ruthless dictator Juan Peron, makes the character into a kindly, avuncular figure. But that’s probably how Grandage directed him."
"Much of the buzz coming from the new revival "Evita" has been about the spitfire Argentine playing the title role. But all of the heat actually comes from the guy shaking his bon-bon.
Ricky Martin is easily the best thing about this revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's bio of Eva Peron, which opened Thursday at the Marquis Theatre. He sings beautifully, dances gracefully, athletically climbs ladders, plays his role with a knowing sneer and elicits drools in his suspenders and tight white shirt. He even makes a mustache work.
...
Yet while Roger admirably throws herself into every tango and commands the spotlight, her voice doesn't always seem up for the demand of Tim Rice and Lloyd Webber's songs and gets a bit screechy at the higher registers.
Her Evita, overall, is more insistent and feral, less charismatic and glamorous. She barely pulls off such great lines as "They need to adore me/so Christian Dior me" and "Stand back – you wanna know what'cha gonna get in me/Just a little touch of star quality!" Madonna, who played the crypto-fascist first lady on film, didn't have the authenticity, but at least made those work."
As much as I love Jan and thinks she deserves a Tony for her performance, I almost think it's McDonald vs. Milioti at this point (plus we have yet to see Kelli's reviews/performance). There is no way Elena is winning this Tony. She very well may not even be nominated.
They'd be smart to petition Martin for Featured Actor if his reviews are all this good. He could win in that category, and there is precedent. (Didn't Mandy win Featured?)
Director Michael Grandage scores with a dynamic new "Evita," graced by an impressive performance from Argentinean actress Elena Roger and the ticket-selling presence of recording star Ricky Martin, who acquits himself nicely if not remarkably. The 1979 Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice poperetta comes off fairly well in its first Broadway revival, thanks to a director who doesn't seem crimped or intimidated by Hal Prince's striking original staging. That said, the flaws inherent in the material -- typified by grasping-at-straws rhymes like "That's what they call me/so Lauren Bacall me" -- remain. Look for boffo biz so long as Martin chooses to stay.
That he did. But they may not want to put Cerveris & Martin in the same category.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards