Evita

Manly Musical Society’s final production of the year, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s powerful bio-musical Evita, played at the Star of The Sea Theatre in Manly.

Having only ever seen the 1996 movie staring Madonna and Antonio Banderas, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the stage show.

Walking into the theatre and seeing a pretty blank set with a projection screen intrigued me.

Once the house lights went out and the cast made their way through the audience, I knew I was in for a very intimate production. With only a small tight cast of 18, one or two of the lead roles also doubled in the chorus.

Keira Connelly played the lead role of Eva Peron with a lot of heart, her portrayal of the Actress come President’s wife was strong and she showed great prowess on stage. Her stand out song, “You must love me”, was sung with great conviction.

Opposite Keira in the role of Peron, the Lieutenant General come President of Argentina, Neville Bereyne was very convincing. Although he came across a bit breathy in some vocals, he had some strong moments and built a nice chemistry throughout with Connelly. The lack of emotion at the end of the show when Eva was dying let his performance down but didn’t ruin his portrayal.

Playing the Tango singer Augustin Magaldi (the man responsible for bringing Eva to Buenos Aires) was William Sunderland. His rendition of the famous “On this night of a thousand stars” was sung with gusto, but it lacked the charm and rhythmic Latinate feel the number really needed. He seemed to perform better in the chorus numbers and really shone in an enthusiastic and talented group of dancers and singers. Luke Holland played the Latin narrator role of Che. Although Holland didn’t have the Latino accent with which so many have played the role before, this didn’t effect his performance as his delivery of the dialogue was played with suavity and made you overlook the accent.

The production elements were very effective, the set was very minimalistic, just using a truck with two sets of stairs and a podium in many different ways, and to of greatest effect in the choreographed number “The Art of the possible”. Director Carl Olsen’s vision of the show was clear and made the musical ‘s themes very understandable for a first time viewer.

Musical Director Anthony Cutrupi got every ounce of talent out the cast with some lovely harmonies, especially in the second act.

Choreography by Alison Logie seemed quite complicated in parts but was handled with ease by both the men and women in the ensemble and looked very effective.

This production of Evita, performed very emotionally by its cast and produced by its crew really worked well and made me a fan of the show and kept me captivated all night.

James Russell

Photographer: Jim Muir