Patti has a passage in her book where she mentions a similar story. She just says that early on in the run when Mandy would come out for his bow the crowd would go crazy, and when she came out for the last bow they would hush their applause slightly.
"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
She also got mixed reviews, although the NY Times review I pulled up was more positive than I thought it was. (Although all it said was that she sang the role "well" and moved with a serpent like vitality.)
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
Sorry for stretching out the column, but I only have a PDF of the original review, so I have to post it as an image.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
"This time we have a fierce dynamo of a Broadway debut by Elena Roger as Eva, the ambitious street girl with a contradictory fondness for finery, Mussolini and the poor, and who slept her way to superstar first lady before dying of cancer at 33. Roger, despite a few frayed top notes at Tuesday's preview, is a justly celebrated Argentine native whose sprite of a dancer's body belies a massive theatrical presence and the steely heft of her tangy voice. (Christina DeCicco plays the strenuous role on Wednesday nights and Saturday matinees.)
We also have the splendid Michael Cerveris in an unusually empathetic portrayal of Juan Perón, tyrant and adoring husband of the woman whose fame overtook his own."
"While Buenos Aires-born Roger is new to Broadway, this production made her a star in London, where it originated in 2006. At the risk of sounding harsh, the actress is physically unprepossessing – short and beaky – not to mention occasionally shrill in the vocal department. But she acts the hell out of the role.
In Eva’s thrilling arrival in the big city, “Buenos Aires,” Roger dances up a storm while exuding such bold ambition, determination and confidence that she grows in stature and beauty before our eyes. It’s no empty boast when she heralds her own “star quality” in song. In a town where vast numbers of theatergoers still attribute ownership of the role to Patti LuPone, it takes chutzpah to step into those shoes. Roger has it to spare."
Entertainment Weekly is mixed to negative (C+) with a pan for Elena:
"There are three questions facing any woman in the title role of the 1979 Andrew Lloyd Webber–Tim Rice musical Evita: How is her 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina'? How is her arm raise (a.k.a. the signature Evita pose)? And how does she handle that vocal-cord-killing score? For Argentine actress Elena Roger in the adequate new Broadway revival, the answers are: Passable. Effective. And badly.
Not every Evita needs to produce aural pyrotechnics like original Broadway star Patti LuPone. She does, however, need to hit every note with laserlike precision, and Roger misses too many. She's a fierce dancer; at one point, choreographer Rob Ashford entangles her in an impressive threesome tango. (Ashford has designed innumerable intricate variations, from funeral dirge to mating ritual, on the Argentine backroom-and-bar dance.)"
These are exactly the kind of reviews we should have been expecting. Roger's performance is a love it or hate it endeavor.
"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
"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
I also can't stand EW's reviews. You can tell they JUST started reviewing theatre like a year ago or so. I'm excited to see this. I wish others would give Elena a chance at a new interpretation of Eva, and not expect a copycat of belting Patti.
"Yet the triumph of this Evita, which opened Thursday at the Marquis Theatre, is its accessible, graceful humanity. As played by Argentine actress Elena Roger, reprising her West End performance from 2006, the title character is not the fiery spellbinder introduced on Broadway by Patti LuPone or the glamorous diva Madonna was in the film version. What's most striking about Roger's Eva is her fragility and her hunger."
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.
Maybe I'm crazy, or maybe it's just the fact that it's EVITA, but I find this show to be Andrew Lloyd Webber's best. Brantley's review reminds me of his LA CAGE review from a few seasons ago, where he just doesn't like the show, regardless of the production.
"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
"Despite the inadequacies of its nominal star, Mr. Grandage's "Evita" is an impressive achievement that should be judged on its own merits, which are legion. Even if you don't like Andrew Lloyd Webber's music, it will hold your eye from curtain to curtain."
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.