I saw the article on broadwayworld and I am BEYOND excited that Jenn Collela and Ramin Karimloo are playing Evita and Che in Vancouver Opera's production of Evita. I bought tickets about a month ago and it was selling well then. Vancouver isn't the best arts town but this is a definite coup for the Vancouver Opera. I cannot wait!
ALW would love another of his shows on the Great White Way! With the Cats revivial the longstanding Phantom and new show School of Rock he wants to take over the world!
I have my tickets! I'm so excited to see this production. I must admit the last Vancouver Opera production I saw was West Side Story - it was excellent. Truly looking forward to this one :)
Thank you Lizzie Curry. I was going to do the same but I didn't. I'd just get accused of chastising the original poster.
Looks like I might even take a trip to Canada. Karimloo will be great in this, no doubt.
I don't think Vancouverites in general know who Ramin is??... there are lots of amazing seats available for $130 Cdn. which is what??? $90 USD thereabouts... Canada is on sale right now for Americans to come visit!
^ there are worse options. I think Sierra, especially back when she used more of her belt as opposed to her head voice like in "Little Mermaid," could handle Eva. I'm just so excited for Jenn in this production! She's such a talent and has a killer voice.
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
It's a shame that Jenn won't be doing this - here's hoping she will play the role soon! I saw Caroline twice on tour and was always wowed by her - she's a true triple threat. In some ideal world they'd record her and Ramin so we could get a newer recording without some of the iffy vocals of the recent revival.
"I saw Pavarotti play Rodolfo on stage and with his girth I thought he was about to eat the whole table at the Cafe Momus." - Dollypop
I have my tickets--8th row, not bad (the Queen E theatre is a bit of a barn so I recommend trying to get close).
I thought something was up with Jenn not being listed for several weeks now on their page. Still, I'm not too upset by this. I'll be more curious about the production--it looks like some of the creative team involved did the Stratford one a few years back which seemed to get wildly varying reviews. Vancouver Opera does one musical a year now--at least for the past four or so years--and have been hit or miss. Their WSS was surprisingly strong, albeit largely to do with the quality of the dancing. Their Sweeney last year got a lot of good press, but the odd, semi updated setting completely baffled me personally.
The set designs are usually strong (as I said I didn't really like the quasi update done to Sweeney but for the concept the sets worked). It's a very large stage. They always have a full and thrilling orchestra, of course.
If you're planning to go and want good seats, I'd recommend getting some soon. If you don't really care about seats though I can't see the cheaper seats selling out soon.
Caroline Bowman is a tour de force and was an astonishing Evita on the tour. I'd be disappointed if I had tickets and Jenn was no longer in it, too, but don't miss Bowman in the role.
Van Opera has released production photos. Looks very solid (meaning I'm not particularly impressed or unimpressed with the set--typical Evita look). Am excited to see it on Thursday!