EVITA should be Sara Ramirez

[Hercules]

I just found this random clip of the Tony award winning Broadway actress Sara Ramirez singing Meadowlark. I am sure the actress who is cast as Evita is fine but the tone and passion in Sara's voice along with her impeccable acting gift is perfection for the title role in EVITA.

Here's a video of Sara singing Meadowlark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqZgbFeW5bc

And here is a video of Sara singing, "Buenos Aires" . WOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX7G8rN2Stg

Check it out!!

[Michael Bennett]

I think Sara would be a great EVITA; probably in a production more based on Hal Prince's take on the character; but she's not really right for this revival as Michael Grandage has conceived the role.

[Hercules]

I unfortunately did not see Mr. Hal Prince's production. I remain confident Sara would be PERFECTION. Her grace, beauty, stage presence and vocal magic would illuminate the story. I appreciate that her speech is authentic and articulate.

[CurtainPullDowner]

She is completely wrong physically for the role of EVITA.
And I doubt she could handle even a 6 show week vocally.

But she's lovely and very talented.

[henrikegerman]

That was my thought, Curtainpulldowner. It would be like casting Christina Hendricks as Nancy Reagan.

[Michael Bennett]

I do think its kind of interesting that so many of the women who have played the part are so 'tiny' because you know Eva Peron was not an especially small woman. She was 5'5 and pretty full figured. I'd go so far as to say that Ramirez is a little closer to the physicality of the real lady than a lot of the gals we associate with the role...

[Reginald Tresilian]

Yes, but Ramirez is nearly 5' 9".

And without putting too fine a point on it, she doesn't look like she's dying of anything.

[ChildrenwillListen]

She's amazing. Saw her in Spamalot.

[SporkGoddess]

Isn't Evita a pretty dance-heavy role?

[Reginald Tresilian]

It is in this particular production.

[Owen22]

Michael, are you sure Evita Peron was that tall...? I remember reading somewhere that Elaine Page was the right height.

[Reginald Tresilian]

According to one of her biographers, Eva was 5' 5".

[Michael Bennett]

Elaine Paige always says in interviews that "Thank God Evita was only 5'3 or I might not have gotten the role" but the coroner's report lists her height as 5'5. That information might not have been readily available in 1978 when she was cast.

[egghumor]

I would pay plenty to see Sara Ramirez in EVITA.

[random person 112]

Michael, in what pictures does Evita look 'full figured' all i can think of this one Eva at her biggest compared to normal weight. ...

EDIT: To those who claim the show could be about 'any female leader', i firmly disagree few women in politics have ever held the power eva did and still does, were so hated and so loved, you couldn't just plop Elizabeth the first in there and get the same show.

[Bettyboy72]

Sara Ramirez had a huge attendance problem in Spamalot. I don't think producers would hang a revival starring role on her.

[StageManager2]

Michael Bennett, Eva Peron was not a full figured woman. One of her fears was that she'd get fat like her mother so she rarely ate anything. When she was a struggling actress, she often went hungry and looked emaciated. Even after she hit it big, she rarely ate for fear of gaining weight. The only time she was a bit chubby was after Peron became president and she gained a couple pounds. The society ladies would call her "gorda" (fatty), but she was hardly fat. Once she threw herself into her work she never had time to eat and had to be reminded to eat something, and after she got cancer she withered away to nothing. But at no point was she what would be considered full figured.

This photo shows Eva at her heaviest; her face is a bit fuller.




random person 112: That Christian Dior gown was not worn to either of Peron's inauguration. She wore that to a performance at the Teatro Colon (Colon Theater) in 1951. Here's the gown without the jacket:



What you are referring to is Peron's second inauguration in 1952 when she wore a thick fur coat to simultaneously hide her rapid weight loss and to obscure the body brace that was keeping her up as she and Peron rode through the streets of Buenos Aires:

[My Oh My]

I remember seeing Patti LuPone, Loni Ackerman, Elaine Paige, and Valerie Perri wearing that Christian Dior dress in production photos for years when I was a kid. I had never seen, or even known, the real Eva actually wore one just like it and had no idea that's what inspired the "Don't Cry For Me" design.

When I did see the photo posted above of the real Eva wearing it, I nearly fell over. I was like, "it's THE dress!!! THE dress!! That prom dress thing!!! She actually wore it!!"

The design had become so iconic to me by then, it was kinda freaky seeing an authentic version of it worn by Eva herself.

Yes, Eva wasn't always thin. I have a documentary up on YT called "Evita: The Woman Behind the Myth" that shows at one point a very obviously chubby Eva. It's very noticeable in her face.

I've seen that Sara Ramirez rendition of "Buenos Aires" before. Just recently, in fact, and I don't care if she physically isn't ideal for the role, she NEEDS to play her someday!! And I agree it would be thrilling to see her in the Hal Prince production.

[AC126748]

I don't think Ramirez's past attendance issues will have any effect on her getting work if/when she decides to return to the stage. Many actors (McDonald, Murphy, Benanti, Peters, etc) have overcome real or perceived attendance problems. And Ramirez is so much more famous now than she was when she did SPAMALOT that I'm sure her bankability has increased.

As others have said, she's all wrong for Evita. She can sing the hell out of it (listen to her singing "Buenos Aires" on YouTube--it's sensational), but she doesn't resemble the real woman at all, and is completely physically different.

[best12bars]

I would never call the real Eva Peron "full figured," by any stretch of the imagination.

[Michael Bennett]

I guess I should clarify by what I meant by "full figured" - I meant she had breasts and had hips- she was curvy and fairly tall- more so than Elaine Paige, LuPone or Elena Roger. If you look at the actual press footage of the Rainbow Tour on YouTube I think you'll know what I mean. Basically, all I'm inferring is that she was not a tiny woman. I'd go so far as to say (in different ways) Elena Roger is as wrong physically for Eva Peron as Sara Ramirez is.


THE RAINBOW TOUR

[random person 112]

For most of the first act she is in her teens and early twenties, during this time while working as a model they frequently had to pad her clothing to make her appear heavier on account of just how thin she was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GxiF0Tj4Xk&feature=related i don't know what you call 'curvy' but i doubt that's it.

[Michael Bennett]

The narrative of thr musical moves so quickly that if you were to try to match the timeline with history, she would already be making movies 20 minutes into the show. I've seen Peron's films and I wouldn't call her especially thin in them-- but I digress- ultimately all I'm saying is that while Sara Ramirez doesn't especially resemble the real Eva Peron, neither did Paige, LuPone or Roger and honestly none of that matters- its a representational musical and photo realism in casting the part isn't really necessary.

[JerseyGirl2]

I saw recent photo of Sara from a fundraiser she's doing and she was pretty thin. Since her best friend died a few years ago, she's really been trying to get healthier. She did some interview that made it sound like she was, at least mostly, a vegetarian now.

She also said Evita is her dream role. I am sure she'll be back on Broadway when GA tanks, which has to be soon.

http://twitpic.com/8wdmxd

[random person 112]

No offense Micheal but in a production like the revival that makes frequent use of pictures of the real eva, with as much rigrous choregraphy as this one Ramirez would just be a really bad choice to play the role