Dates, Leads and Vision of Evita Revival Unveiled in London

The creative team behind the upcoming West End production of Evita announced further plans for the new mounting, the first major London revival of the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical, at a press conference in London on January 31. Evita will start performances at the Adelphi Theatre on June 2, with an opening set for June 21.

As previously reported, Argentinean star Elena Roger has landed the coveted leading role of Eva Peron in the new staging. Now confirmed to be co-starring alongside Roger is three-time Olivier Award winner Philip Quast as Juan Peron and Matt Rawle as Che.

"The Brits had Elaine Paige, and Americans had Patti LuPone and Madonna," said Director Michael Grandage, citing how subsequent performers were inspired by the original stars of the West End and Broadway productions of Evita and the film version. "But Elena Roger had Eva Peron as her model. [Elena] delivers an authenticity that we couldn't have imagined when we started this process."

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Roger appeared in productions of Saturday Night Fever, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast and Nine in her homeland. She also appeared on the small screen in the series Hombres de Honor and recently won the ACE critics' award for Best Actress. "It's difficult to see the history you live all your life in a film or a play," Roger, who has only seen the film version, explained. "I was born in 1974, the same year that Andrew and Tim started thinking about Evita.

Quast won Olivier Awards for acclaimed West End performances in Sunday in the Park with George, The Fix and South Pacific. Other appearances include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Stuff Happens at the National Theatre, The Secret Garden, Troilus and Cressida, Macbeth, White Devil and A Christmas Carol with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Rawle has appeared in the West End in Miss Saigon, Martin Guerre, Into the Woods and Hard Times - The Musical. Other credits include South Pacific, Camelot at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Les Miserables, Hello Again at the Bridewell Theatre and Putting It Together.

Director Michael Grandage artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse and Tony-winning choreographer Rob Ashford Thoroughly Modern Millie, the team behind the current hit West End revival of Guys and Dolls, will collaborate again on Evita. Rounding out the creative team will be set and costume designer Christopher Oram, lighting designer Paule Constable, sound designer Mick Potter and musical supervisor Simon Lee.

Evita is based on the life and times of Eva Peron, the second wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron. It chronicles her life as Argentina's most complex and powerful figure, against a backdrop of political unrest, until her tragic death from cancer in 1952. Evita features many classic songs including "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," "Buenos Aires" and "Another Suitcase in Another Hall." This new staging will also feature the Oscar-winning "You Must Love Me," written for the 1996 film adaptation starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas.

"It is fresh and ripe for a reinvention," said Grandage, who plans to add elements of tango and use a new wealth of Argentine sources as well as new orchestrations from Lloyd Webber in his production. "We now have access to a city and a country that maybe we didn't have the first time around," he said.

Starring Elaine Paige, the original London production of Evita opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in 1978 with the highest box office advance in West End history, running for seven consecutive years. The Broadway production opened in 1979 at the Broadway Theatre, where it launched the career of Patti LuPone and ran for 1567 performances.

Chicago, the Adelphi's current tenant, will end its run at the theatre on April 22. It is moving to the smaller Cambridge Theatre, where it will start performances on April 28.