Driven 'Evita' never lets up
09:39 AM PDT on Wednesday, June 14, 2006
By SHERLI LEONARD
Special to The Press-Enterprise
Photos courtesy of Moonlight Stage Productions and Ken Jacques Photography
"Evita," when performed as it currently is by Performance Riverside, is a modern opera on 20 cups of high-octane coffee. Driven, persistent, intense and almost frenzied, it never lets up.
And it's not for everyone, with its angular and jarring music, pointed lyrics and counter-feel-good story. On the surface, it's a rags-to-riches story of impoverished Eva Duarte climbing her way to the literal top of political life in mid-1940s Argentina. Beneath the veneer runs a sarcasm-laden, sniping line of questions about the motives and benefits of Eva's apparent struggle for the people.
Lyricist Tim Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber teamed up to put this story on stage and created a musical race that challenges the audience to keep up.
Is it believable? Projected on a screen above the action, vintage photos of the real Eva and Juan Peron affirm the fairy tale. The constant, nagging presence of the antagonist Che grounds our urge to root for Evita.
Is it entertaining? In the Performance Riverside incarnation, "Evita" boils over with glorious dancing and fabulous singing that have no superior.
Bets Malone, vocally exquisitely suited for the title role, crafted her character slowly from a cute groupie to a cunning and well-armed vixen who got what she wanted by telling people what they wanted to hear. Or, was she truly enamored with the people? Malone kept us wondering.
On stage for most of the show, Malone maintained a pure, clear voice with fabulous notes at both ends of her tremendous range. Her version of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" riveted her imaginary and real audiences. Except for her occasional, ill-fitting spoken asides, her Eva Peron is as good as it gets.
As Juan Peron, David Grant waffled perfectly, self-serving and happily manipulable. In the "Dice Are Rolling" recitative with the dying Eva, he matched Malone's vocal prowess, passion for passion.
From opening scene to finale, Jason W. Webb's Che wove pithy sarcasm toward Evita's activities and Argentina's politicians. Webb masterfully handled the extreme vocal demands, defiantly spitting consonants at the crowds.
Heroine and antagonist finally meet in the sensuous "Waltz for Eva and Che," a determined Eva in black satin against a bitter Che in fatigues. It's a captivating scene with the duo waltzing alone on the stage, immersed in murky backlighting and fog.
An octet of sweet-voiced girls, praying to Santa Evita, and Michaelia Leigh's simple and simply beautiful rendering of "Another Suitcase" offer two moments of relief from the action's swirling complexities.
This show is so packed with thoughtfully executed lyrics, dramatic visuals, spectacular dancing -- the tango dancers slinking together in silhouette during the courting of Eva and Juan will leave you breathless -- it commands a return visit, if only to pick up on more of the details like the pack of condescending Brits that periodically skulks across the stage, or the crisp movements of the soldiers in "Peron's Latest Flame."
