Evita is the musical that in 1978 launched Britain's global assault on the form that continued for all of the next decade, providing a template for such successes as Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. All of them were contemporary pop operas that dared to tell their lush, epic stories entirely through song and in spectacular physical productions. | "In an age of the cult of celebrity and Big Brother, this tale of a highly opportunistic Buenos Aires actress has powerful new resonances..." | | Mark Shenton |
Evita ran in the West End for 8 years, but has not been seen here since it closed in 1986. Now, at last, it is back, in a spectacularly re-imagined new production that throws new light - in every sense - on the darkness at its centre. In an age of the cult of celebrity and Big Brother - when anyone can become a star - this tale of a highly opportunistic Buenos Aires actress who caught the heart of the nation when she lived fast, married a general who became the President of Argentina, and died young has powerful new resonances. An icon of the age was turned into an iconic musical; but now it is also an ironic one. pursuit of power She became a massive star, much like Princess Diana, but as much as she was admired by a population who put her on a pedestal, there's also the smirking presence of Che (Matt Rawle) to remind us of her craven pursuit of power and the powerful.
 | | Elena Roger is a transfixing presence |
And in Michael Grandage's epic and sweeping new production, played out in the courtyard of the Casa Rosada presidential palace, which is beautifully realised in Christropher Oram's design, the pulsing contradictions of the character are vividly brought to life in the seemingly physically slight but powerhouse performance of Argentinian actress Elena Roger. She's a transfixing presence who sings with a heavily accented, not always distinct, soprano that makes the character's self-belief and her doubt abundantly clear. Staged in a tapestry of continual movement by choreographer Rob Ashford, Andrew Lloyd Webber's best score has been thrillingly given new Latin-inflected orchestrations that make his dazzling melodies freshly powerful. Combined with Tim Rice's most artful and witty of lyrics, this is also Lloyd Webber's most dramatically successful musical, too. Evita is at the Adelphi Theatre, The Strand WC2. Tickets: £22.50 - £55. Box office: 0870 403 0303. Booking to 21 October. | 
