Evita LA Tour Review- Page 2

[Noel&Cole]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 1:27pm

I saw this production during its LA run and the tour cast is WONDERFUL! They are hands down better than the Broadway cast. This is an incredibly beautiful rendition of the score from all singers in the production.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 4:42pm

I'm seeing the show in San Diego this week. I'll post my thoughts when I do. I'm really excited to see Josh Young again. I loved him in Superstar.

[Theater'sBestFriend]

Posted: 11/12/13 at 9:24pm

I found these reviews from LA:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-review-evita-grandage-pantages-theatre-20131027,0,1958277.story#axzz2kT8a3G9S

http://www.stageandcinema.com/2013/10/26/evita-tour/

http://www.frontiersla.com/Entertainment/Theater-Reviews/Story.aspx?ID=2069512

[grumpyoptimist]

Posted: 11/13/13 at 2:35am

Saw the tour opening night tonight in San Diego. I saw the Broadway revival last year, I liked the two leads in this show EXPONENTIALLY better. This cast is fantastic, and the show is beautifully staged for a touring production. Highly recommend it.

[homeimp]

Posted: 11/13/13 at 11:44pm

I saw the tour in LA at the final Wunday evening performance. If I didn't know the two understudies were on for the leads, I would have sworn they were the leads. They both were excellent. I was disappointed not to see Josh Young. However, I content myself with knowing I saw him perform the same role at the Stratford Festival in Canada. I special word for the lighting. I think I would know any show directed by Michael Grandage because of the gorgeous lighting effects through windows and doors, and the high walls surrounding the stage. He gets that same look from his design team for each of his productions.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/13/13 at 11:52pm

How has this been selling on the road?

[grumpyoptimist]

Posted: 11/14/13 at 1:04am

San Diego they did a $25/$35 for all remaining Tues & Weds seats on Tues. House looked decently full (albeit I was in Orch) on Tues, Opening Night

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/14/13 at 1:28am

It's selling well in San Diego. Most nights have 1,500 to 2,100 seats sold already out of 2,900. It's doing much better than Priscilla where the balcony was closed for most performances.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 4:08am

I'm just going to post my thoughts on the San Diego run here instead of starting a new thread. First off, the cast is excellent. If you're on the fence about seeing this tour you should go just for the singing alone. Yes, I'll always hear echos of Patti in my head when I hear this score sung by anyone else, but Caroline Bowman has a decent set of pipes as well and since I couldn't hear Patti sing the role tonight I'm glad I got to hear her.

Josh Young is a genius. Moving on...

The scenery is scaled back a bit from the Broadway design, but it's nothing too bad. The fabric swag that hung over the proscenium is, indeed, missing and the floating heads of Eva and Juan have been changed to a single profile image of the two of their faces instead of individual headshots. The bar set in Junin has basically been cut in half as seen in the picture below that was posted in the other thread, but what you can't see in that picture is the beautiful (though a bit on the nose) projection of a "night of a thousand stars" right above the wall. It's very pretty, though not as visible from the back of the house as it is the closer you sit.

The balconies or catwalks that were on the sides of the stage on Broadway are not there anymore so "Good Night and Thank You" takes place stage left in front of an ornate cut out of a wall with a door and two light up lamps that slide into place for that scene. The same thing happens again for "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" where the stage right balcony was utilized on Broadway. Now that scene takes place in front of a similar (or identical) wall with a door that slides on from stage right. The loss of the balconies on the sides of the stage has kind of simplified the main unit set overall, but the lighting and the way the light passes through the windows and archways still makes an impact and makes everything look better.

Those were really the only things I noticed that are different. It's a completely different experience with two better leads and I'd recommend it. If anyone has any other questions I can try and answer them.

[theaternut]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 2:07pm

Will catch it in Costa Mesa. Thanks for the review.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 11/15/13 at 2:21pm

Looking forward to seeing this in San Jose next week. Thanks for the info.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 11/16/13 at 2:59am

Just to clarify, not that it's a big deal - there are two different tracking doors used for Goodnight and Thank You, and Another Suitcase. Also, it's actually a fiber optic star drop used above the Junin wall.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/16/13 at 3:21am

I noticed that tonight! The door units are definitely different and the stars are not projected. They appeared to be at first, but seeing it again I could tell that it wasn't a projection.

[charliebrown5]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 9:11pm

I saw this production today. It was a middle of the road touring production. Not great, not awful.

I was struck by how completely unlikable Eva Peron, as played by Caroline Bowman, was in this production. Caroline played Eva first as a petulant child, then as a shrill diva and lastly as a soap opera villain. I cannot recall another leading female role which was played without an ounce of likability or sympathy. (It didn't help that Caroline's upper register is shrieky and unpleasant.) Is that a common portrayal? It has been awhile since I've seen this show.

I enjoyed Josh Young as Che - he had all the likability Eva did not possess - but he was occasionally difficult to understand, which was problematic. Sometimes the orchestra was playing over him, but often he just garbled his words. Caroline did the same thing. Since this is a show that tells its story through song, that made for a slightly confusing narrative. Sean MacLaughlin was the easiest to understand. He was also my favorite. What a lovely voice.

Lastly, the lack of any attempt at accents whatsoever in this production was bizarre. This show could have been taking place in Brooklyn as far as the accents were concerned. Maybe it's just because I live in Southern California, but to hear the actors pronounce Argentina (with a soft g) was cringeworthy.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/17/13 at 10:54pm

Seeing this in a few weeks and I honestly can't wait.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 11/18/13 at 12:02am

Lastly, the lack of any attempt at accents whatsoever in this production was bizarre. This show could have been taking place in Brooklyn as far as the accents were concerned. Maybe it's just because I live in Southern California, but to hear the actors pronounce Argentina (with a soft g) was cringeworthy.

That's how "Argentina" is pronounced in English, and itis an English-language musical touring the US. I find it hard to believe that even in California "Argentina' is pronounced any other way, unless someone is speaking in Spanish. The standard pronunciation across the country is with a soft G.

Frankly, I'm glad they're not attempting any sort of Spanish accent. I can't stand to listen to Bob Gunton on the OBCR. Furthermore, they tried to infuse some Spanish pronunciation in the 1999 tour -- mainly, they said "A new Arr-hen-tina" or "Don't cry for me Arr-hen-tina -- which just sounded weird in English.

[charliebrown5]

Posted: 11/18/13 at 12:53am

Most shows nod to the location of the show, be it Mary Poppins, Big Fish or Cabaret. It adds a lot to the show, in my opinion.



Updated On: 11/18/13 at 12:53 AM

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 11/18/13 at 2:59am

I've worked with people from our office in Argentina and when they are dealing with people outside the region, THEY pronounce it with a soft "g". Seriously, if that really made you cringe, I don't know what to tell you.



Updated On: 11/18/13 at 02:59 AM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/18/13 at 3:01am

^Even Elena Roger who has a legitimate Argentinian accent pronounced Argentina with a soft g. I didn't have a problem with them doing that in the tour. It's not a big deal. And I disagree that there was no attempt at accents.

I also saw Desi Oakley as Eva and I thought she was equally as good as Caroline. I think the negative comments are coming from people who just like to hate on the Evita alternates because they're not the main performer so somehow that makes them less-than. Their performances were very evenly matched and their voices are very similar. I would almost argue being a tiny bit more impressed with Desi because she seemed to not hold anything back vocally. Maybe because she doesn't have to pace herself as much as Caroline and save her voice for the rest of the week, she can take more vocal risks and I thought she did just that. Her "and if ever I go to far..." in "Buenos Aires" was also less breathy than Caroline's and had a bit more power. Neither of them belt it like Patti did, but that seems to be the norm for this revival.

[Theater'sBestFriend]

Posted: 11/18/13 at 8:00am

"...to hear the actors pronounce Argentina (with a soft g) was cringeworthy."

I guess Patty Lupone and Mandy Patinkin would've made you cringe in the original Broadway production too, then.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 11/18/13 at 12:51pm

The Natalie Toro/Raul Esparza tour pronounced Argentina with an H. I Hated it (the pronunciation, not the show)

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/4/13 at 2:56am

Saw this tonight. I have quite a few thoughts to share on this one. I will preface this post by saying that Evita is one of my all time favorite musicals. It's one of those cast recordings that I can listen to all the through without skipping a single song. I love all of the music.

I will start at the beginning. The pre show curtain is this weird floating cardboard cutout of the Perons' profiles. I was not a fan of the floating cutouts that they had of the Perons' heads on Broadway, so I did not really care for this either. When the show was at the Adelphi in London, it was a black screen with a projection of Eva Peron's portrait. I really wish that would have been kept when the revival transferred over. It is so much more coherent with the rest of the design, which is absolutely stunning, but more on that later.

Michael Grandage deserves special mention for some of the most brilliant and visionary directing I have seen in a live production. I would rank the direction of this production up there with Paulus' direction for Pippin and Warchus' direction for Matilda. There are SO many moments and sequences of just sheer brilliance. His direction combined with Rob Ashford's choreography made for an evening of one beautiful stage picture after another. The use of the suitcases for Rainbow Tour and And the Money Kept Rolling In (And Out) was genius. The staging of the Montage at the end with the segue from the empty bed to coffin and then the final moment with Eva, Juan, and Che all positioned onstage...CHILLS.

The set, lighting, and costumes... This is by far one of the most beautiful designs I have ever seen. The use of the projections was perfect. The projections were used at precisely the right moments, and added a lot to the show as a whole. I LOVED the opening with the curtain coming up about 1/4 of the way during Requiem, then splitting open in synchronization with the swelling orchestra to reveal the news headline and funeral footage. The "big reveal" of the whole set at the top of Buenos Aires is worth the price of the ticket alone. The set is so elegant, grandiose, and detailed. It served as an appropriate canvas for all the scenes, and it required little alterations or changes. The lighting captured the heat and sweat of Buenos Aires flawlessly. The light pouring through the doors and windows was also beautiful beyond belief.

The cast was fine for the most part. Josh Young is definitely the standout here. He really captured the essence of Che, and I loved how he faded in and out of the action so seamlessly. Caroline Bowman... I do not think that she had the voice or the stage presence for the role. Don't get me wrong, her voice was very pretty, but it just sounded a little weak. She never really seemed to commandeer the stage. I am accustomed to Eva having a harsh edge and bite and a bitchy side, but Bowman did not really embody this in her performance. i guess it was just a different approach. I was underwhelmed by her during the first act, and thought her Don't Cry... was boring, but then suddenly, out of nowhere, she just LET LOOSE during Rainbow High. I thought to myself, "where has this voice and attitude been for the past ninety minutes?". I definitely liked her more after seeing the second act, but she was still a little underwhelming. She seemed a little lost with the character.

Overall, this is a GREAT production with a lot of really, really beautiful things both from visual and directorial standpoints. I think it is CRIMINAL that this did not receive Tony nods during its season for set, lighting, orchestrations, and directing.

This is by far the highest quality touring production I have seen in terms of set, lighting, and costumes. It is truly a visual feast, and there is not a wrinkled backdrop in sight. I would highly recommend seeing this if it is close to your city. I will definitely be going back a couple times this week, and I look forward to seeing what Desi Oakley does with the role.

[logan2]

Posted: 12/4/13 at 10:29am

Holy Christmas, Batman!!!! I just listened to Caroline Bowman singing Rainbow High on youtube and it's the first time I've ever heard anyone give me the chills like Patti. I immediately checked the tour dates and am so EXCITED it's coming to Houston next year. Please God let Caroline continue on the tour til then!!

Anyone know if Caroline is in for the long haul?

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/4/13 at 11:12am

I'm glad you liked it, bwayphreak234! If Josh Young is in the lobby signing his CD like he was in San Diego I definitely recommend taking some time to talk to him. I was a little too star struck to say very much, but he's super nice and he signed my JCS program too.