The Vancouver Opera’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice’s Evita was a star-studded affair with some of the biggest Broadway names on stage.
If you’re a theatre person, you’ll have heard of the Canadian voice actor, Ramin Karimloo who plays the narrator, Che in Evita. He was Jean Val Jean in Les Misérables and the title role in Phantom of the Opera. He was also personally selected by Andrew Lloyd Webber to portray the lead role in Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom. The title character, Eva, was played by Caroline Bowman who also recently starred as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway. Eva’s husband, the General Juan Peron, was brought to life by John Cudia who performed as the Phantom and Jean Valjean on Broadway.
The singing was superb, especially the classic rendition of ‘Don’t cry for me, Argentina’, and dance numbers were riveting. But what truly took the cake was the insanely innovative production design. The set itself is sparse, but the multimedia screens bring the past to life as they show images and snapshots of the real Eva Peron and her remarkable rise to power – from the small-town slums into the hearts of the Argentinean people as she champions for the rights of the poor and oppressed as the wife of the General Juan Perón who becomes president of Argentina.
The performance leaves you with a bit of a conundrum – who is the real Eva Peron? Manipulative social climber? Naïve political pawn? Feminist? Either way, this classic rags-to-riches story is a delight to watch and stays with you long after the curtain closes.
Evita is onstage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for only 4 more performances: Thursday, May 5 • 7:30pm Friday, May 6 • 7:30pm Saturday, May 7 • 7:30pm Sunday, May 8 • 2:00pm matinée. Visit www.vancouveropera.caonline for tickets or by phone at 604-683-0222.
Photo: Tim Matheson
