London Evita Revival Set to Close 5/26
The current West End production, which garnered three Olivier Award nominations and three Evening Standard Award nominations, received warm notices when it opened last summer. In his Theatre.com review, Matt Wolf wrote: "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."