Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita makes a stop along its UK tour route at the Opera House tonight until Sunday, July 5th starring West End actress Louise Dearman in the role of Evita Peron, Seamus Cullen, a finalist from the hit BBC TV programme "Any Dream Will Do" as Che Guevara, and Mark Heenehan as Juan Peron.
The story of Evita, told entirely through song and dance, follows the life of Argentina's infamous Eva Peron. It begins in 1934 and follows Eva as a young girl from her small hometown to Buenos Aires where she uses her female wiles to climb the ladder of success, first as a model, then an actress, and finally as the wife of General Juan Peron. When Peron is elected president, Eva becomes the most powerful woman in South America.
Originally conceived as a concept album, Evita was destined from the beginning for the stage. It opened in the West End in 1978 and was so successful that a year later when it opened on Broadway, it was nearly sold out before it began. Patti Lupone who just won her second Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical, won her first for her role as Eva Peron in 1980. In her acceptance speech, she described her role as Mama Rose in Gypsy as "the performance of her life", but her role as Eva Peron was a career defining role and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita became her signature song. In 1996 a film version starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas was nominated for five Academy Awards winning only one for Best Original Song "You Must Love Me" which was composed especially for the movie.
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