Evita

Don't Cry For Her: EVITA Turns 20

By Richard Ridge

It's hard to believe that it has been twenty years since Evita took New York by storm. Evita opened at the Broadway Theatre on September 25th 1979, with lyrics by Tim Rice, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and direction by Harold Prince. Evita is based on the life of Eva Peron, the most powerful woman in Latin America in the late 1940's and early 1950's. The story follows Eva from her poverty-stricken youth to her becoming the wife of Argentine president Juan Peron. She is an unscrupulous woman who manipulates the working class people and the media to achieve fame, wealth, and power. Yet she is loved and adored by her people, who call her "Evita." Her life is played out to the narration of Che Guevara, depicted as an anti-Peron activist who exposes her selfishness and greed. Evita went on to win 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It was a long road to Broadway, so lets go back to the beginning. The question is how did this Argentine femme fatale become the full blown "star" of her own musical?

All of this began in London in 1973,when lyricist Tim Rice heard a BBC radio program on the life of Eva Peron. Rice decided that Eva would be a great subject for a serious musical. At the same time, Lloyd Webber and Rice were involved in the transition of Jesus Christ Superstar from record album to stage show to film, and a London revival of their earlier hit, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Through all of this, they talked about writing a pop opera about Eva Peron, and after a few false starts, serious work began on their new effort.

"Don't Cry For Me Argentina," Evita's greatest hit, was created very early on in the composing process. Lloyd Webber said at the time, "I wanted a theme song for Evita, but something more, too. I remember seeing Judy Garland in London very late in her career, when she could barely sing. She did "Over the Rainbow," but the song that had been her trademark had turned on her. And that's what I tried to do with 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina.' It is Evita's great song at her moment of triumph, but when she is dying, it also turns on her and is used against her."

Harold Prince was the only director that Rice and Lloyd Webber wanted for Evita. As was the case with, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita blossomed from a successful record album. Prince's involvement with Evita began in June of 1976 when Lloyd Webber brought him tapes of the unfinished Evita album. Prince later sent Lloyd Webber a 3,000-word critique. Prince got nothing more then a "thank you," so he thought they had hated his advice.

The Evita album was an instant hit. "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" topped the charts. Robert Stigwood came on board with Lloyd Webber and Rice to produce the musical. But meanwhile, Hal Prince was in New York tied up with other projects, so Evita on-stage was stalled. They were being pressured to get the show moving for London, but Lloyd Webber and Rice sat tight and waited for Prince. Lloyd Webber is quoted as saying, "It was worth it. Hal is particularly superb at staging continuous music. I have always felt that is the key to musicals. To make them a continuous music event like opera. He is also a brilliant stager of big musical moments."

Hal Prince was finally free to originate the show in London but the young British singer Julie Covington, who had sung the role of Evita on the album, decided out of nowhere that she did not want to play the role of Evita on stage. The public and the press started a frenzy over who was going to play Evita. The authors and Prince insisted on casting an unknown. During the audition process, Rice said, "We want her to be one of the crowd who becomes suddenly and dynamically attractive." In London, the role went to Elaine Paige, who became an overnight sensation. Evita became one of London's biggest hits, running 2,900 performances.

Before tackling Broadway, Evita played Los Angeles and San Francisco. Among the stars seriously considered to play Eva in the original Broadway production were Meryl Streep, Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch, Ann-Margret, and even Charo, but a relative unknown, Patti LuPone was cast as Evita. LuPone's auditioning for Evita posed a problem in and of itself. She was working on Steven Spielberg's film 1941. She had one day to fly to New York, audition, and fly back to L.A. to finish the film. The story goes that she paid her own way and got caught in a snowstorm rushing back to L.A. Her friend, Christopher Reeve, then at the height of his Superman fame, threw some of his weight around and got her a plane seat back to L.A. so she could finish the movie. LuPone went on to win a Tony Award for her portrayal of Eva Peron. "I'm sure I'll always be associated with Evita," she told me during her Broadway run in Master Class. "I hope I am; it's a great part. The role was a powerful one that was written about a powerful woman in history."

Another unknown, Mandy Patinkin, was cast as Che. He hadn't done any singing since high school. In New York he had only done straight plays. "I was asked to audition and given two songs to learn," Patinkin later said. "I studied them overnight, and I sang them (at the audition). Rather badly, I thought, too. Then, about two hours later, I got a call saying I had the part. 'In an opera! What have I done! I don't even like opera!'" Patinkin enjoyed doing the part because " the character presents a different point of view. It's exhilarating."

Evita enjoyed a Broadway run of 1,567 performances and has been performed in 28 countries in 14 languages. There have been more than a dozen recordings of the entire score of Evita, including full cast recordings in many languages. There have been literally hundreds of recordings of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina." Not everybody was in love with Evita, however. The show was banned in the Philippines by the Marcos regime because of the obvious parallels to Imelda. The film version of Evita was announced and postponed so many times over 16 years that in 1994, Newsweek dubbed it "the most famous movie never made." Needless to say, it was made in 1996, starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas.

Currently there is a new 20th anniversary revival of the show, which has played a 20-city tour and if all goes well, is headed for Broadway. On the heels of the revival, Hal Prince has said, "(Evita) was the first of the really long runs. I never predicted its success. I never know…." Evita, the musical, in its 20th year is capturing new generations of theatre-goers. Something tells me that Evita, the woman, would be so proud - and would want a cut of the box office.