Did Critics Adore the West End's New Evita?

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's 1978 musical Evita returned to the West End's Adelphi Theatre on June 21 for the first time since it was originally produced in London. The new production, directed by Donmar Warehouse Artistic Director Michael Grandage, stars Argentinian actress Elena Roger in the title role. The cast also features Philip Quast as her husband, Juan Peron, and Matt Rawle as the narrator figure of Che. Did critics cry for this new Evita?

Here's a sampling of what they had to say:

Matt Wolf in his Theatre.com Review: "Opening 28 years to the day after Hal Prince's original London staging beat a global path for the British musical that has scarcely let up since, Grandage has discarded Prince's famously spare, neo-Brechtian approach in favour of something grander and far more self-consciously monumental: a song-and-dance icon fully aware of its formidable status. From our first glimpse of Christopher Oram's imposing set, lit to an elegantly heightened fare-thee-well by Paule Constable, the design hints at what the production goes on to bear out: this Evita pays full obeisance to the operatic aspirations of Lloyd Webber and Rice's rock opera, and if the result bypasses much of the wit—and bitter humour—that first time round sold the sizzle, at least on Broadway, Grandage and co. ensure that on their own terms attention must be paid... Make no doubt about it: Argentine performer Elena Roger is a star, and her Eva Peron brought the crowd to its feet with an enthusiasm extending well beyond opening night protocol."

Benedict Nightingale of The London Times: "There's no doubt that Evita was a fascinating character. One of the show's paradoxical strengths is that its creators can't make up their minds about her. Yes, she ruthlessly slept her way from poverty to the top and did all that she could to manipulate the last of many lovers, Juan Perón, into power. Yet when she says or, this being a sung-through show, sings that, 'I am Argentina,' is it just hubris? Was her bond with the descamisados, or shirtless ones, simply cynicism? Michael Grandage's production and Elena Roger's performance keep us wondering—as we're still wondering about Eva's upper-crust English heir, Diana, Princess of Wales. Roger is Argentinian herself and quite a revelation. Philip Quast's Perón looms over her like a brontosaurus over a stick-insect, but, whether she's shimmering in triumph or preparing for a poignant death, it's Roger who commands the stately marble and elegant iron fretwork of Christopher Oram's set. She has a grin the size of her body, and it can look flirtatious, sassy, voracious or delighted, depending on circumstances. There's also a brashness in her voice, at times so jarring that I thought my ears were being attacked with an electric screwdriver—but then again, wasn't that Evita?"

Michael Billington of The Guardian: "Watching Michael Grandage's perfectly decent revival, one becomes aware of the dramatic insubstantiality of the show itself… To do justice to Eva's story would require a first-rate dramatist. But Rice's lyrics, even though verbally nimble, never give us enough information and seem torn between contradictory attitudes: admiration for Eva's starry glamour and dismay at the demagoguery and crypto-fascism of which she was a part… Lacking any coherent idea, the show is motored by a succession of Lloyd Webber songs. They are some of Lloyd Webber's best and many have been enhanced by new orchestrations filled with tango textures. But a musical is more than a score and there is no real attempt to explore Eva's inner life and only a token gesture towards the economic mayhem caused by Peron's political tyranny. But the show is certainly a great vehicle and the Argentinian Elena Roger rides it in modest triumph… While her voice pleases, it doesn't have the clarion ring of Elaine Paige or the lyric intensity of Julie Covington and what you gain in Latin American authenticity you sometimes lose in comprehensibility."

Charles Spencer of The Daily Telegraph: "What seems to me the greatest strength of the show is its consistently ambivalent attitude to Eva Peron, brilliantly caught by Grandage and his new star. Again and again we are shown what a manipulative, self-serving and amoral little minx she was, with the narrator figure of Che Guevera drawing constant attention to her wiles and weaknesses. Again and again, though, we find ourselves falling for her dangerous allure, just like the poor descamisados the 'shirtless ones' who adored her. The show is a demonstration of the way blatant populist politics work. The audience get suckered too… Elena Roger's tiny and apparently frail Evita dominates the stage with tremendous presence, a wonderfully expressive mouth and eyes and a strong, sometimes rough-edged voice. In short she has exactly the star quality the role requires… I have a strong suspicion that Evita is going to be a huge and durable hit all over again."

Paul Taylor of The Independent: "As she charts the anti-heroine's progress from trashy opportunist to second wife and First Lady of the fascist Juan Peron and then to folk saint, [Elena] Roger is simply sensational. When this kid from the sticks hits the capital in the number 'Buenos Aires', it's as a whirlwind of witty, drop-dead determination, every electrifying high-kick and tumbling, teasing phrase in that furious samba-extravaganza announcing the character's drive, devouring appetite, and sense of arrival. 'Stand back!/You wanna know what you're gonna get in me?/Just a little touch of star quality...' For 'just a little touch', read 'avalanche'. Ms Roger has a wide, voracious mouth and a clarion voice capable of thrilling shrillness and of a pensive purity that's just on the point of curdling. She can also drop into a searing privacy that nonetheless feels partly calculated, as in her extraordinary, modulated reprise of 'Don't Cry For Me...' when as a dying woman, she recycles her greatest hit in a renunciatory, damage-limiting broadcast."

Nicholas de Jongh of The Evening Standard: "I am a touch ashamed to admit I have fallen head over heels for Evita again, with Michael Grandage's dynamic production offering a charismatic titlerole performance, ripe for superlatives, by unknown Argentinian Elena Roger. When Evita premiered 25 years ago I was caught in its emotional fall-out and overwhelmed against my better, politically motivated judgment… Grandage's production may not provide that much of a political edge, yet in the exultant excitement of A New Argentina, which concludes the first act in climactic ecstasy, you see just how the masses can be whipped into wild fervour by clever politicians…. Miss Roger, all vulnerability and cunning, with enough sex appeal and raw erotic energy to snare half a government, initially sports dark hair, a terrific dancing technique and a taste for young men. Once Eva sets her cap, dress and all on Perón, who remains a politically vacant, half-baked character, despite Philip Quast's impressive voice, she turns blonde and graceful. Her performance, which conveys in song and dance the exuberance of a sexual adventuress and the ardour of the presidential saviour she wished to become, brought first nighters to their feet. For me, though, it only takes those famous songs to bowl me over."

Sheridan Morley of The Daily Express: "The evening belongs to [Elena] Roger, who is mesmerising from the beginning in her desperation to escape, via Peron's bed, from a boring and poverty-stricken small town life. Often set in shadows, and surrounded by the crowd that she knew so well how to play to, this Evita is acted out on the border-lines of politics and showbiz… Grandage's edgy staging has the kind of choreography by Rob Ashford that manages to advance the dreama without bringing it to a grinding halt. All in all this is a brilliant rediscovery of a show we thought we knew, but whose dark heart we had overlooked."

Quentin Letts of The Daily Mail: "Tiny though she be, with the bone structure of this fragile gamebird, Argentine Senorita Roger is big, big news. She's going to make this fine musical, oddly overlooked in recent years, a great hooter of a hit all over again… Michael Grandage's production takes 25 minutes to break the seal, but then comes Buenos Aires and Senorita Roger hits full throttle. She starts the song not much more than a graduate of the chorus line. She ends it a top star. It was an exciting moment at last night's splashy opening."