ASNN

evita

Brief update, trying to get my once-per-week post quota fulfilled:

We saw Evita at the Pantages Theater on Wednesday night. It was both better and worse than I thought it would be. It was worse in that the first 20 minutes or so is completely discordant and chaotic; both Vanessa and I confessed to internally begging for a stinking melody among the clashing. But as the play went on, it became clear that the chaos was totally appropriate for the beginning of the play, when Argentina is thrown into a fit at news of Evita's death.

But in general, it was far, far better than I thought it would be. I hadn't seen the movie or the production prior to Wednesday; heck, I was only marginally aware of the storyline. (And we arrived JUST as they were dimming the lights (stupid 101) so we didn't get a chance to read the playbill ahead of time.) So some of the history was a bit confusing, especially as Che Guevara, a contemporary of Evita though they never met, was the narrator and antagonist throughout Evita's life. As described elsewhere, he was the Greek chorus, the voice of the Argentine revolution in this case.

The songs were extremely interesting - a lot of the chaos in the first scene carried through the musical, even though passages of beautiful melody occasionally snuck through. "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" and "Buenos Aires", the two songs of which I was somewhat aware, were reasonably good. But the lesser-known (to me) songs were the real gems: "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You" was a sweet, seductive duet (though Eva, appropriately, did most of the singing); "Art of the Possible" was clever in many regards; and the "Waltz for Eva and Che" was intense and deadly. Those were just a few that caught my fancy; I've spent a few minutes locating the best recording to purchase, as the music was really compelling once I allowed it to sink in.

The company was wonderful. In addition to Vanessa, my parents were there, as were my VERY pregnant sister (all dolled up with her big ol' pregnant rocket belly distorting her dress "ever so slightly") and brother-in-law. We hit Denny's (of course) afterwards and had a great time goofing on each other, recounting old and embarrassing stories (mostly about me, given Vanessa's presence), and annoying the wait staff. (Thanks Dad. :-P)

Good times were had by all, and we'll definitely be doing it again. "The King and I" plays in April, and is a well-received musical; maybe we'll go see that one. Or maybe I'll just whisk away to London to finally see Phantom live. Until then... seven days until Maroon 5... :-D

Posted by pcg at March 4, 2005 1:38 AM