Musicals Blog

Evita

by Claire J Rottenberg


Although the film version of "Evita" was a financial success, earning almost $140 million in profit, the film did not reach the Broadway play's critical acclaim and success.

"Evita," unlike most of the musicals before it, did not begin or achieve its first success on Broadway. Instead, it started as a concept album in 1976 and then two years later became a success on the West End of London. It took another year to bring "Evita" to Broadway and US success. The Broadway version starred Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin and it ran on Broadway for 1,567 performances, over a period of close to 4 years. "Evita" received 11 Tony nominations and it won 4 Tony awards, including the awards for Best Musical, Best Book and Best Director.

The beautiful music for "Evita" was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with poignant lyrics by Tim Rice, who also wrote the book for the play. The screenplay was adapted by Rice and Webber plus Alan Parker and Oliver Stone. Several songs from the original stage production were eliminated from the 1996 movie version and one new song, the beautiful "You Must Love Me," was added to the film.

The movie version of "Evita" is wonderful with a perfect, superb cast. Yet, it only won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song ("You Must Love Me") and the other 4 nominations it received were minor awards. There were no nominations for any of the stars, even though Antonio Banderas was the perfect Che and no one could have been better than Madonna as Eva Peron.

"Evita" was my first exposure to Madonna (really) and I was thoroughly impressed with her acting and incredibly beautiful singing voice. Although "Evita" made money for its producers and investors, 12 years later the film has become a lesser purchased and viewed film. Yet, it is a film will worth watching over and over. If you haven't seen "Evita," give it a try this Christmas and you'll be in for a special treat.