BWW Reviews: EVITA Brings the Rainbow Tour to San Diego

Eva's rainbow tour has finally brought her to San Diego! This tour is of the 2012 Broadway revival of EVITA and is here through Sunday, November 17, 2013.

Like many other Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice musicals, this show lives and dies on the strength of its storytelling through song. But no matter what else you can say about this production, it is beautifully sung.

Caroline Bowman as Eva is not the brash belter that you may be familiar with from prior productions of this show. Her performance is more subtly nuanced, and you can see more of the vulnerability in her. Her strongest number is "You must Love me" and is heartbreaking as she reassures Peron that she can be of use to him still, even in her dying state. Her Eva is calculating, and conniving, but also never over the sense on abandonment - she will love them and leave them before any one else can do that to her. The trade for this more vulnerable Eva is that she loses a bit of razor sharp calculating that she had to have had to compete in this politically fraught environment.

As in Eva's life, the men that occupy her life in this show are excellent compliments in the story. Josh Young as Che, not only has a beautifully clear voice, but also adds a sly sense of humor and wry wit to the role. His Che is a bit more of an everyman. He is more a third party observer than an allusion to the fiery and disdainful revolutionary. Like Young did with his role as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, he brings a bit more humanity to the role, which only serves to add weight to his characters commentary.

Peron, played by Sean MacLaughlin has a great voice and is a wonderfully militant foil to this slightly softer Eva Peron. His introduction is made through a military wrestling match where he uses the knowledge from the people defeated before him to his advantage, and when that doesn't work, he wins by cheating, which tells you everything you need to know about this character.

Additional stand out performers include Christopher Johnstone as Magaldi and Krystina Alabado as Peron's ousted Mistress. Alabado in particular has a very beautifully sweet rendition of "Another Suitcase in Another Hall."

The use of clever staging, and a strategic use of screens and photos allows this show to get by with a few big set pieces that are used in multiple ways. As the show opens to the lamentations of Eva's mourners, the scene is enhanced with photos of the real Eva's memorial. This adds a depth of the history and weight to this (not so complimentary) portrait of the first lady of Argentina's rise to fame and fortune. New to the show was the tango, which is a strong element of Argentinian culture and is as nice addition to this production.

Don't make yourself cry, make sure you don't miss this lovely EVITA Now playing at the San Diego Civic Theatre through Sunday November 17. For show times and ticket prices go towww.broadwaysd.com

Photo Credit:Richard Termine

To post a comment, you must register and login.