The audience at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre were spellbound last night at a performance of among Lloyd-Webber and Rice’s finest musicals, Evita.
Based upon the life of the darling of Argentina, Eva Peron, Evita informs the tale of an ambitious 15 year old who runs away to Buenos Aires and eventually claws her method into the affections of the President. Eva not only became the First Girl of her nation, but likewise the spiritual leader of her country, prior to her unforeseen death from cancer aged simply 33 in 1952.
Pop legend and Wet, Wet, Wet frontman, the matchless Marti Pellow, heads this spectacular cast, in his best musical theatre performance to this day, offering an impressive, if a little sinister, portrayal of Che Guevara, the narrator of the piece.
Mark Heenehan provides a modest, however strong performance as Peron, the President overshadowed by his very first girl and Sarah McNicholas definitely makes an impact as The Girlfriend, with a melodious variation of Another Suitcase in Another Hall. Nevertheless, the evening actually did belong to Portuguese song bird, the appealing Magdalena Alberto as Eva, whose passionate performance took the theatre by storm. Her portrayal of arguably the finest tune in the program, You Need to Love Me, reaches deep into the soul and provides a picture of simply how vulnerable life is.
The scenery is stunning, never more so than in the well-known balcony scene, which the audience waited for with bated breathe to hear Do not Cry For Me Argentina. Costs Kenwright’s newest providing must certainly be the very best production of Evita given that it’s origination in the late 1970s. Just unmissable. The showcase runs up until August 31.
Video Score: 4/ 5
