Evita

Evita has arrived at the Palace Theatre, Manchester.

Featuring some of the most famous and inspiring stage music ever written, including the classic songs Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, On This Night of a Thousand Stars, Oh What a Circus, You Must Love Me and Another Suitcase in Another Hall, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s extraordinary musical Evita embarks on a spectacular national tour.

Bringing to life the dynamic, larger-than-life persona of Eva Peron, wife of former Argentine dictator Juan Peron, Evita tells the story  from her young and ambitious beginnings to the enormous wealth and power she gained and her ultimate rise to sainthood.

The story of Eva is fascinating, and a quick search on Google certainly proves this lady has a wonderful story to tell.  For fans of Evita, the musical will not disappoint.  Sitting in a packed out theatre, it was hard not to notice that Evita has some very loyal and passionate fans.  

It was easy to see why so many people are amazed by the story of Evita and were moved from laughter to tears and singing along to well known classics.

However, there is another side to the Evita story and musical that has to be mentioned.  For first time Evita goers, it is well worth understanding the basics of this amazing real life tale beforehand.  At times, the music and production is very fast paced and moves on quickly.  It is quite easy to get lost trying to keep up with what is happening.  The story can take a while to get going and looking around the theatre this clear mixture of opinion was obvious.  The audience was either fascinated or struggling with this production.

However, it is still a must see.  Evita promises to be this years hot theatre ticket, and regardless of opinion, it is well worth going to experience yourself.  Madalena Alberto plays Eva, with Mark Heenehan playing her husband - Peron, both wonderful actors with amazing voices. 

The awarding winning Marti Pellow takes up the role of Che, which was the character I found most difficult to understand and follow.

The ensemble is well worth seeing just by themselves, with dance routines mastered to perfection, they certainly do blow you away and make the story and musical production come to life.  Children from the Stagecoach of Theatre Arts School in Chester support this production and will certainly steal your heart.

If you haven't seen Evita, I would still recommend going and experiencing this production for yourself.  However, you'll either fall utterly in love with this musical and want to return again and again, or for others, it may leave you slightly subdued.  Either way, it is one famous production that shouldn't be missed regardless.  For die hard fans of Evita, you will love this production and it will live up to everything you could wish.

Book your tickets now as it is sure to be a sell out! Details and to book here.

Evita is on at the Palace Theatre, Manchester until Saturday 22nd March 2014.

Published: 19-Mar-2014 (2332)