Evita
Based on: Life of Argentine First Lady Eva Peron
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Tim Rice
Broadway Debut: 1979
Tony Nominations-Wins: 11-7
High points of Evita:
·
The music
Low points of Evita:
·
Patti Lupone. See below.
·
The plot (historical ambiguity and failure to create
empathy)
Evita follows the brief life story of
street-scamp-turned-actress-turned-spiritual-leader-of-Argentina, Eva
Peron. Brought up in impoverished JunÃn, she tags along with a tango
singer to happenin’ Buenos Aires to make her fortune at the tender age of
fifteen. She makes her way up the social ladder to the rank of
“established radio actress” by way of numerous trysts with increasingly
prominent gentlemen. Then she meets the significantly older Col. Juan
Peron at some fancy shindig. They hook up. Rich people and the
military don’t approve. They get married. Rich people and the
military REALLY don’t approve. She gets up on a balcony in a ball gown
and tells the Argentinians that they shouldn’t cry for her. Pandemonium!
Then she gets all dolled up and tours Europe to try and gain favor with other
nations, receiving mixed reviews. She comes home and creates a charity
foundation that happens to line her own pockets quite nicely. She gets
uterine cancer and dies at 33. Argentina is beside itself. Juan sticks
her in a glass coffin and has a bunch of embalming preservatives pumped into
her (I’m guessing he had some Snow White fascination or something, cuz that’s
just creepy). The End.
I spent the majority of this
musicalrockoperawhatever thinking so what? Yeah, she made her way from a bastard street urchin to spiritual leader of Argentina and stuck it to
the elite who snubbed her. Yeah, she was a champion for the descamisados, but she also
manipulated her fascist husband’s political movements, screwed over countless
people and organizations to fund her charity foundation (*cough* money
laundering *cough cough*), and she was an avid Nazi sympathizer (it’s widely
speculated that her European “Rainbow” tour was a front to help transport
former Nazis to South America). Why should I invest in this story
emotionally? She gives me no reason to like her. I give a bigger
shit about Che’s character than hers (and he’s not even a “real” character). So
whenever she’s got her hands raised up on the balcony going, “Oh, my
impoverished Argentine people, I LOVE you!” I’m just thinking How nice, the
power-hungry, full-o-crap tyrant with a better wardrobe than Kate Middleton
loves her people… still don’t care. The only conclusion/revelation
Evita seemed to come to at the end was her “choice” to be a shining flame that dies quickly instead of being a
slow-and-steady success from the sidelines (right, cuz uterine cancer had
nothing to do with it). That’s kind of selfish if you ask me. I wonder if
Jackie Kennedy ever had problems like that…
I do like the songs; very
catchy, memorable, hummable, pretty, sweeping melodies. The usual Andrew Lloyd
Webber recipe. However, does anyone else notice Andrew Lloyd Webber’s habit of
recycling the same tunes? Phantom, Joseph, Cats, Sunset
Blvd, etc. He writes 7 tunes for each show and just has his lyricist write
different lyrics each time they occur. Y’know that song “Don’t Cry For Me,
Argentina?” Well, it’s also pretty much the same tune as “Oh, What A
Circus,” “The Actress Hasn’t Learned The Lines,” and “Eva’s Final
Broadcast.” I’m cool with a reprise from time to time, but that’s just
being lazy.
There are a two songs that make
little sense to me: “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” and “Another Suitcase In
Another Hall.” “Don’t Cry…” finds Evita bidding the rabble below not to mourn
her ascent to stardom, as she still remembers where she came from and loves her
kinsmen. Cue the puke machine! Please, you’re wearing Dior and we’re supposed to find you
endearing because you used to be poor? LAME. I’d be cool if
she sang that after she was dead or something, but you sound like a pompous ass
when no one’s crying yet. I’m pretty sure the reason she always has her
hands raised during this song is because she’s holding up an imaginary cross.
And I’m not alone on this.
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| I fuckin' OWN this place... |
I actually like the song
“Another Suitcase In Another Hall.” Peron’s mistress sings about moving on from
her failed relationship after Evita unceremoniously supplants her. A
fitting song. Crap, my lover/sugar daddy found a new hussy and I’m out
on my ass… However, I feel kinda bad that this lady with such a good song
gets no character development, no addition to the plot, not even a name (she’s
only referred to as “Mistress”). It’s kind of a weird stop in the action
of the show. We’re following Evita’s speedy rise to power and then we’re
sideswiped with having to listen to this sad, nameless chick who just came out
of nowhere…. And then she’s gone, never to be seen again. At least it
made some sense when Madonna sang it in the movie (remember that tango singer?
Well, he jilts her as soon as they get to Buenos Aires in the movie).
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| I've got a glass of Bitch Juice and I ain't afraid to throw it in your face!!! |
And what about Patti
Lupone? I would dedicate an entire post to my disdain for Patti Lupone,
but I’m pretty sure that if she ever read it, I’d never be seen again. In
one of my favorite quotes from The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby describes
the nature of blithe socialite, Daisy, affirming, “Her voice is full of
money.” In my opinion, Patti Lupone’s voice is full of Patti
Lupone. She’s an unabashed diva (not the good kind). At a
performance of Gypsy (which, I believe she demanded be revived on
Broadway about 5 minutes after Benradette Peters’ version closed, just so she could
play Mama Rose), she stopped the entire show to rant at an audience member for trying to take a picture with his phone. Now
phone use is obviously bad form at a performance, but is it the job of a
performer to point that out? I’m pretty sure if any other cast or crew
member had pulled that shit, they’d be on unemployment the next day. The
show must go on, right? ….I guess not if you’re Patti Lupone and someone in the
house is pissing you off. According to her own memoirs, she trashed a dressing
room and threw a lamp out the window because they didn’t cast her in Sunset
Blvd. when it went to Broadway. So in a way, I guess the role of
Evita is perfect for her: spiteful, entitled, tyrannical…
I will grant you, she has some
powerhouse pipes. But when I hear her sing, I hear no character, no richness,
no color, no lilt, no enunciation; just a bunch of shrill, slurred notes being
adequately hit (and I have heard her live… 2nd worst Mrs. Lovett ever). Her brassy voice is reminiscent of Ethel Merman,
but without the personality. Her singing range consists of Loud and
Really Loud. Her emotional range consists of Lethargic and Slightly
Irritated. Have you ever been in a choir where there’s always that one
singer who refuses to blend? Yeah, that’s Patti. She’s just not for me…
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| B.A.M.F. |
So that’s my take on Evita.
Not a bad work, just severely overhyped. But good for Argentina.
The rest of the world can probably find it on a map now, thanks to Andrew Lloyd
Webber. I believe the only rave-worthy thing about this show is Mandy
Patinkin (and maybe Madonna’s 9,000 costume changes in
the movie version). I don’t care what he sings, he makes the show (and
life in general) wonderful. He could be singing The Brady Bunch theme
song and I’d still be geeking out. But he can only make up so much for
the glorified puffery that is Evita’s appeal. That too harsh for
you? Well, you can go to Argentina and cry about it…
