Evita (musical)

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The musical Evita tells the story of the Argentine first wife Eva Perón (1919–1952). Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice ( libretto ) began working on the work in 1974. It was their first collaboration since completing work on Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971.

The musical

In 1976 Evita released the first recording , a double album on LP under the label MCA Records . Julie Covington sang as Evita, Colm Wilkinson as Che and Paul Jones as Juan Domingo Perón in the leading roles . The album and the single Don't Cry for Me Argentina were a great success and landed at number 1 on the charts in many countries. This studio album was recorded from April to September 1976 at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, England.

Evita in the Berlin Theater des Westens

On June 21, 1978 the musical premiered at the Prince Edward Theater in London . Directed by Harold Prince and Larry Fuller coordinated the choreography designed by Tim O'Brien and Tazeena Firth. The role of Eva Perón was played by Elaine Paige at the world premiere , David Essex interpreted Che, and Joss Ackland played the role of Juan Domingo Perón . The London performance of the work won many awards, including the Society of the West End Theater Award for Best Musical in 1978. Elaine Paige also received the Award for Best Performance. Almost a year later, on May 8, 1979, the American premiere took place in Los Angeles at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion . The German-language premiere in the translation by Michael Kunze took place on the day of the inauguration of US President Ronald Reagan , on Tuesday, January 20, 1981, in the Theater an der Wien . Isabel Weicken played the role of Eva Perón , Reinhard Glemnitz was Juan Perón and Alexander Goebel played Che.

On May 19, 1986, the German premiere of the musical was celebrated in the Oberhausen Theater . Olivia Molina , alternating Elfi Gerhards as Evita, Günther Pirow as Peron and Jan Vacik as Che. The director at the time was Fritzdieter Gerhards . The musical was performed over two seasons.

Another well-known German-language version with Susanne Dengler as Evita started on February 1, 1997 in the Schillertheater NRW in the Musiktheater Gelsenkirchen and ran until 1999. Dengler gave a reprise in 2006 in Annaberg-Buchholz. In March 2012, another Broadway production started at the Marquis Theater in Times Square in New York. Ricky Martin and Elena Rogers sing and play the leading roles .

action

The musical depicts the life of Maria Eva Duarte de Perón, called "Evita". The second main character is Che (Eng. "Bursche" or "Boy"), a representative of the Argentine people. (Title of each song in brackets).

1st act:

The musical begins on July 26, 1952 in Buenos Aires . A young Argentinian student, Che, attends a cinema screening. The current film is interrupted by the announcement that Eva Perón, “the spiritual leader of the nation, went into immortality that day at 8.25 p.m.” (A cinema in Buenos Aires, July 26, 1952) . The audience is shocked (Requiem for Evita) . Che is the only one who is an outsider. He cynically describes the grief Argentina has gripped by the death of Evita (What a circus) .

Evita looks back on her life ( Don't cry for me Argentina - in more recent German productions also often sung in Spanish at this point: No llores por mi Argentina).

Che takes the audience back to 1935 in Junin , Eva's hometown. At the age of fifteen she met the tango singer Agustín Magaldi (This night is so clear) and had her first love affair with him. She blackmails Magaldi to take her to Buenos Aires (Eva, don't go to the big city) .

Upon arrival, Eva tells of her hopes and ambitions (Buenos Aires) . After realizing that Magaldi is married and has a child, she leaves him. Che says she has a lot of lovers afterwards. Each and every one of them helps her one step further on the ladder that led to fame and fortune (Adios and thanks) . With her beauty and agility, she becomes a model, radio star and actress. Che indicates that politics in Argentina and Eva's career will soon merge ( The Lady's Got Potential - in productions from 1976 this song is usually replaced by the next song). At the same time, Colonel Juan Perón is fighting members of his political party in order to get to the top himself (The Craft of the Possible) .

Eva meets Magaldi again while attending a charity concert for the victims of an earthquake in San Juan . Juan Domingo Perón speaks to the crowd. When he leaves the stage, he meets Eva. Having a secret rendezvous after the concert, they both realize that they can be useful to each other (I'd be really good for you) .

From that moment on, Eva also has political ambitions. She throws Perón's lover out of his apartment (you pick up the suitcase again) and enters his life.

Eva rises with Perón in the higher social circles of Argentina. Che shows the feudal aristocracy's contempt for Eve and the male chauvinism of the Argentine military. Both groups will work against her until her death (away with the woman) . With the support of the workers and farmers, whose loyalty Eva and Perón have cultivated for a long time through intensive contacts with the trade unions, it will be possible that Perón will be elected president (Wake Up Argentina) .

2nd act:

Perón won his battle for the presidency. In 1946 he stood on the balcony of Casa Rosada and spoke to his supporters, known as “descamisados” (the shirtless people). Then Evita turns to the crowd. She looks back on her previous life and on her rise to fame and power and asks the people or the country to continue to believe in their love for Argentina ( don't cry for me Argentina ) .

At the inauguration ball, Eva dances with the elected President Perón. Che tells about the price of fame (young, beautiful and loved) .

In order to impress the citizens of Argentina and promote Peronism, Eva decides that her image needs to be more glamorous. She prepares a tour through Europe and takes advice from fashion specialists. The success and failure of the rainbow tour of 1946 are historically documented: the Spaniards admire it, the Italians compare it to Mussolini, the French are unimpressed, the English snub them by inviting them to a country house instead of Buckingham Palace (rainbow tour) .

After her return from Europe, Eva defied the growing criticism of the Argentine upper class (I don't play my role as you like) . Che reminds her to help the people in need - just as she promised. She founds the "Eva Perón Foundation". Che describes the contradiction between Eva's charity work and the methods of raising money (donations flow) . Evita's devoted followers see them as modern saints (Santa Evita) .

In other social circles the criticism of the president's wife is growing. To secure her position, Evita is striving for the country's vice presidency, but the generals prevent that. Perón defends her and reveals that Evita's health is bad (a shining, bright star - like a diamond) .

Evita and Che discuss the actions of Evita (waltz for Evita and Che) . Che is disappointed with Evita's selfish behavior. Eve replies that saving the world's problems brings no fame. She insists on moving on even though her health is waning.

At the end of her life Eva understands that Perón loves her for her own sake and not because of what she does for him and his career. The dying Evita realizes that she will not live much longer and swears eternal love for the Argentines (Eva's last radio address) . In her mind's eye, Eva sees what she has achieved in her life; she asks for forgiveness that she has preferred the glory of a long life and the upbringing of children (Lament - Lamentation ) .

Eva dies and her body is embalmed. Che says that a mausoleum was to be built for Eve, but only the base was built. Evita's body is taken out of the country and disappeared for 17 years.

Leading actresses

filming

See main article: Evita (film)

Alan Parker's film adaptation of the musical with Madonna in the title role had great success in 1996, as did the stage play - just like the soundtrack of the same name (see Evita (Soundtrack) ), which received the Oscar for best movie song ( You Must Love Me ) in 1996.

literature

  • Hasso Gottfried Petri: Structural analysis of the musical Evita (= Deutsche Hochschulschriften; 2566). Hänsel-Hohenhausen, Egelsbach u. a. 1998, ISBN 3-8267-2566-2 (microfiche).

proof

  1. ↑ Broadway production 2012 ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.playbill.com
  2. ↑ EVITA. Retrieved June 11, 2017 .

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