Evita

This is the thread for discussing Evita. Does anyone else feel that Madonna was quite good in the movie version? Her singing is actually pretty nice to listen to, and Antonio Banderas, well Antonio is just great IMO. I could listen to that voice all day. This musical is very special to me, since one of my stories is inspired partly by it.

edited 7th Oct '12 7:40:57 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

I've seen the movie version, and I've heard the OST, and Madonna's brashness suits the part better than Lupone's more reserved air. (If she'd played Tragic Mrs. Lovett like Helena Bonham Carter did, that would work, but otherwise, there really isn't a role she's suited for that she's actually played.

Bonfire Note

Iiwahh titump: the protest of a writer whose hand has been forced.

@Doma: Exactly my thoughts! Madonna: teh cool as Eva! Lupone: ehhh.. OK. More regal and less a tough lady. Eva= tough lady with hidden depths.

[shameless self-promotion] My WIP basically is Evita 20 Minutes into the Future in Cuba. Sounds crazy, but I'm doing it. And it's very loosely based. Cuba Libre The only similarities are Eva is an actress against the government and born out of wedlock who wants to be First Lady, Juan is a colonel who's much older than Eva and met her at a charity-related event (a taping of a special episode of a soap opera, meant to raise funds for disaster relief) and there's a character named Che who's the narrator. Except that Che is real and a clone who works for Eva as a kitchen boy. Oh, and Eva has kids and a past as a jinatera and sorta adopted Che [/shameless self-promotion]

edited 21st Nov '12 1:14:45 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

Has anyone heard the concept album?

There's a few tracks available on You Tube, but not the whole thing.

I've gotten kind of obsessed with this show in the last few weeks. I've seen most of the movie, looked up clips of other performances and tried to learn a few of the songs (which I rarely do when it comes to musicals). Also, I think Che is now my dream role.

I highly recommend getting the Broadway Cast Recording. Mandy Patinkin and Patti Lupone are fantastic in their roles.

@Mort: Mine too. What a shame no-one will cast us, because the role is usually (okay, ALWAYS) played by a man.

I'm not a huge ALW fan but I'm really digging this musical. I saw the movie and looked up some stage clips/listened to the OBR. (The OBR Peron was pretty awful, amongst some great talent...I would buy that Evita truly loved Peron but this dude...do not want!)

It's like Elisabeth meets Jesus Christ Superstar.

...I'd probably get shot in some circles for saying this, but I preferred Madonna to Patti Lupone. Granted, I'm not a huge fan of Lupone's voice—she's an awesome lady but it's just personal preference. As someone said above, Madonna brought a brashness to it that worked well, and she sounded so wonderfully broken during "You Must Love Me." The movie is a bit cheesy but fuck it, it's sincere about it! ... and there's no naked gold statues or bad sunburns.

Elena Roger is a really good Evita. This is a nice version of "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You":

Michael Cerveris is awesome...weird voice but I dig it. Not wild about the sudden reprise of "Goodnight and Thank You," but there's a pointed example of how live stage can trump film — sexy-as-hell tango that would've looked ridiculous on screen but looks neat on stage.

edited 2nd Oct '13 6:37:13 PM by phoenixflame

@phoenixflame: Listening to the music and knowing a bit about the history makes me surprised at how much ALW and Tim Rice changed— eg. Magaldi not being very successful as a singer while in real life he was enormously successful. Also I think of Evita as being the same sort of thing as Macbeth, a tragedy based around a historical figure which serves as a psychological study of ambition and power.

edited 6th Nov '13 6:25:26 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

Also, anyone else think a modern-dress Evita would be incredible?