Award-winning musical ‘Evita’ heading to city stage
BOOKING has opened for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s seven-time Tony Award-winning musical Evita, coming to the Artscape Opera House from December 1.
Presented in South Africa by Pieter Toerien and David Ian, the superb cast of this original West End and Broadway production is led by Emma Kingston (In the Heights, Les Misérables). Kingston hails from the UK and was personally selected by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice and Hal Prince to play the role of Eva Perón.
She stars opposite South Africa’s multiple award-winning musical theatre actor Jonathan Roxmouth (Phantom of the Opera, Grease, Beauty and the Beast, Sunset Boulevard, Sweeney Todd) as Che Guevara.
Robert Finlayson (Jesus Christ Superstar, Miss Saigon, La Cage Aux Folles) will make a welcome return to the stage as Perón.
The show will be choreographed by the original West End and Broadway choreographer Larry Fuller and be designed by the original designer Timothy O’Brien.
Evita charts the rags-to-riches rise of the First Lady of Argentina, who won the love of her countrymen after marrying military leader-turned-president Juan Perón.
Set in Buenos Aires between 1934 to 1952, the musical follows Eva Duarte Perón on her passionate and tragic journey from humble beginnings as a fatherless child and ambitious actress, to becoming the most powerful woman in Latin America who eventually took on a saint-like status after her death from cancer at the age of 33.
With more than 20 major awards to its credit, and an Oscar winning film version starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita is iconic.
It features some of the best loved songs in musical theatre, including Don’t Cry For Me Argentina and On This Night of a Thousand Stars, together with You Must Love Me, the Oscar-winning hit from the film.
Evita opens at Artscape on December 1, and runs until January 7, 2018. Performances are Tuesdays to Fridays at 8pm with matinees on Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm and on Sundays at 2pm and 5:30pm.
Tickets cost from R100 to R485. Advance booking via Computicket, 0861 915 8000 and 021 421 7695, is essential.