Theatre Review: Evita The Musical Delivers With Beautiful Stage and Star-Studded Cast

PUBLISHED February 26th, 2018 11:59 pm

It’s evident that Singapore sees no shortage of world-class musical theatre options, what with the arrival of Evita this February. Winner of over 20 major awards, including two Oliviers and seven Tonys, it’s the first time the iconic musical plays in the city – and Asia, in fact.

The theatre stalwart Evita is the result of a pairing between esteemed lyricist Tim Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, the man behind the legendary The Phantom of the Opera. Putting it all together is the equally known Broadway director Harold Prince, who’s won more Tony awards than anyone in history for credits like West Side Story, Candide, and Sweeney Todd.

But before you set out to see Evita, which is set in Argentina’s capital city Buenos Aires between 1934 and 1952, it is important to know that while somewhat loosely based on the country’s past, this is not a documentary, nor is it a remotely factual account of Eva Perón – affectionately known as Evita -‘s private life.

For all its lack of historical accuracy, Rice and Webber’s work is splendid as a musical, as their main lead becomes a commodity in this story of rags to riches, following a young girl’s rise to the top of an entire country, where she was even heralded the ‘spiritual leader of the nation’ by the Argentine people. The said people start the show with an announcement of Eva’s death, compellingly depicted with iconic scenes from old photographs – a recurring motif throughout the musical.

It also, for all intents and purposes, features a fictional version of the famous Argentinean revolutionary and guerrilla leader Che Guevara, simply referred to as Che here, as a narrator who breaks the fourth wall from his first appearance, convincing the audience that Eva’s political success was was more promiscuity than know-how. He is by far the most interesting character, wonderfully portrayed by South African wunderkind Jonathan Roxmouth, whose vocal abilities effortlessly matches that of co-star Emma Kingston (as Eva), shifting between spouting revolutionary and sulky teenager with tracks like ’The Lady’s Got Potential’ and ‘High Flying Adored’.

Beside him, the British actress Kingston makes for an impressive Eva, and it helps that her mum is Argentinean. Plus, her grandfather lived through the Perón era, so there’s that historical connection. In a way, Kingston is every bit as strong as her character, and let’s face it: playing the political legend – the only woman in the Argentine government at the time – is no easy feat. Quite the technical virtuoso, she ambitiously belts out the score, sailing through the extreme low and high notes from the Act 1 closing song ‘A New Argentina’ all the way to ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ in her stellar white dress. For all of that skill, that were still plenty of parts where I struggled to make out what she was singing. Whether it was questionable enunciation or an overly enthusiastic orchestra, it is unfortunately Rice’s lyrics that fades into the background.

There are three other featured roles in Evita. There is, of course, the controversial Argentinean president Perón played by Robert Finlayson – who I expected to be more domineering vocally, after the man himself. Anton Luitingh, who handpicked the six children chosen to take part in the Singapore production, delivers a flamboyant Magaldi, Eva’s former beau, especially in “On This Night of a Thousand Stars”. The Mistress, played by young ventriloquist and performer Isabella Jane (SA’s Got Talent 2015), is a standout in her one scene of ‘Another Suitcase in Another Hall’, blowing the hall with a hauntingly good voice.

If there is one thing to be disgruntled about, it’d be the overall whiteness of the cast – only Kingston has some form of Argentinian or South American heritage. For a show that deals with post-colonialism and revolutions, it is especially jarring. But all things said, this is still a well-executed revival of the celebrated musical. And as it begins with the announcement of Eva’s demise, it ends again in full circle.

Evita is running from now to 18 March 2018 at Mastercard Theatre at Marina Bay Sands. Tickets are priced from $55 to $185, available here.