Just listen to that! The voice of Argentina! They are loved and adored! Just Off Broadway throwing their hats into the ring for this autumnal season’s offering of Evita. Directed by Jason Crawford, with Musical Direction by Patty DeLisle, and Choreography by Katie Noppinger, this Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber operatic musical (with no spoken dialogue) comes to Epiphany Lutheran Church via Just Off Broadway for two weekends only this November and it has its moments and it has its style. Overall a solid production with some bright, shining talent nestled into the cast, this theatricalized retelling of Eva Peron is tragically beautiful in its own right.
Theresa Bonvegna’s simple set lets the audience focus on the show at hand, with Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber’s beautiful music being augmented by both the performers and Patty DeLisle’s live orchestra. DeLisle, on keys, along with Jim Stewart on guitar, Bill Collier on bass, Darwin Ray on woodwinds, and Chip Traub on drums/percussion, create memorable musical moments all throughout the performance and the sound is extremely well-balanced against the performers, considering how exposed the pit is. The microphones also seem to function without issue, a rare but welcome gem in any theatre space in this day and age. Bonvegna’s set naturally includes the iconic balcony— though hers is bathed in baby pink (with baby blue bunting to lace it…perhaps a nod to the fact that Peron was president but it was Eva, the first lady, that really got them where they were?)— and portraiture of the actual Eva Peron hung on the black backdrop-curtain.
If the show has a technical-aesthetic disappointment it’s the lighting. Designers Andrew Vida and Jason Crawford didn’t utilize the lights as well as they could have, or rather some of the effects they were going for just didn’t read the way they were intended. Vida and Crawford have the rainbow lights going in the swing-drop lighting fixtures during “The Rainbow Tour” (you can see them if you look up at them) but either due to the way they’re positioned or not dimming the other lights on stage, you don’t get that magical popping rainbow effect. There are other moments, like during “The Money Kept Rolling In (And Out)” where the green-lighting effect was so intense it just looked off. Balancing out the off-kilter lighting, however, are Crawford’s projections used at the beginning of the production, where the ensemble is assembled with their backs to the audience, watching an actual black and white film of Eva the actress, followed by subsequent recorded footage of the actual funeral procession and ceremonies that accompanied the death of Argentina’s First Lady.
The costumes are both simple and striking, a cumulative effort on behalf of the cast. (Though it should be noted that given the number of elegant, low-backed or no-backed dresses that Evita wears, finding a more efficient way to cover her tattoo might better serve the overall aesthetic of the show, keeping the audience in the moment of the story’s timeline, rather than pulling focus.) Director Jason Crawford does keep the show moving and some of his blocking choices are intriguing though the most notably fascinating one is the “melt of Evita” near the show’s conclusion when she’s in the balcony gown and just sinks slowly down in arguably one of the most effective uses of lighting in the performance, making it appear as if she’s melting through her gown into the stage.
The production’s choreography is nothing if not enthusiastic. Choreographer Katie Noppinger succeeds in making an ensemble of just nine performers look to be more numerous than they are. The choreography whirls around with a dizziness to it that keeps the verve of the music, if not the tempo, though her questionable choice to include Peron (dressed down as a common man) in “The Money Kept Rolling In (And Out)” does indeed turn heads. With an ensemble so small it’s arguable that Noppinger was trying to fill out the numbers or balance out the number of people in the routine, but by the same token, with an ensemble so small, it’s very noticeable and just looks off to have this man who has notably up until this point played Peron in the production, dressed as an ensemble dancer, leaping about with the others.
Of the aforementioned ensemble, which includes Ryder Bordes, Angela Cava, Miranda Cockey, Lizzie Detar, Christina Rose, John Rose, Chloe Scully, Chris Thomas, and Jeremiah Savage, there is a good sense of both passion for the music and for the story that they’re singing. Keep your eye on Jeremiah Savage, whose revolutionary facial expressions look as if they’re ready to jump out of Evita and straight into Les Miserables during “A New Argentina.” He looks so fiercely determined that you almost expect him to unseat Che and overtake the fiery narrative role. Other members of the ensemble giving noteworthy performances are the ‘Santa Evita Children’, Ryder Bordes and Miranda Cockey. Both young ladies have songbird sweet voices that carry divinely through the song of their characters’ namesake, “Santa Evita”, with each having a solo verse at the top of that number. Both Bordes and Cockey have strong, well-toned voices, a rarity among younger performers, and blend beautifully when singing in the fuller ensemble.
Vocals are also strong with John Rose, performing as Magaldi when not in the ensemble, particularly during his one-off “On This Night of a Thousand Stars.” The true diamond in the dull, gray lives of the ensemble— as they spend most of the production being the downtrodden working class or the servants and military men to Eva and Peron, is the stunning Lizzie Detar, whose featured role of ‘Mistress’ makes her both noteworthy and praiseworthy. Though Detar’s character, like Magaldi and the Santa Evita Children, has just one song, she pours her emotional heart and effervescent sound into it. “Another Suitcase in the Hall” is a showcase of Detar’s vivid facial expressions, displaying the myriad of confusion and resignation that flashes not only over her features but resonates through her body as she climbs into a costume on stage and slowly gets ushered away. And her vocals in this song are gloriously light whilst still carrying the emotional gravitas of the number.
A triangle of actors forms the pyramid upon which Evita stands— Che (Alexander Ose), Peron (Patrick Jay Golden), and Eva (Chinmayee Balachandra.) And the three move through this production in dizzying sweeps, crossing paths with one another and the others. Golden, as Peron, is sturdy and solid of voice, particularly when blending in duet with Eva during “I’d Be Surprisingly Good For You.” He brings the vocal base of this three-tiered setup. Ose, as Che, is ferociously emotional, playing every scene at an intensity beyond compare. His face looks perpetually murderous, his body language in a frenetic state of hyper-charged-feelings. At any moment Ose’s Che looks as if he might snap and attack the story itself. While Golden brings vocals and Ose brings emotion, Balachandra’s Evita brings it all. She has more than just her moments and style in this production.
There is an intensity to Chinmayee Balachandra’s portrayal of Eva Peron, particularly as she rolls through “High Flying, Adored.” Vocally, Balachandra handles the higher soprano sounds assigned to Evita with grace, elegance, and exceptional pitch control and intonation. There is also a frigid severity to the way she portrays Evita, particularly when working her way through the first half of the production. Determined, driven, and moving effortlessly in some of those larger-than-life style costumes, Balachandra is able to win over the people of Argentina as well as the audience. “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” is practically textbook in her delivery; a soothing, self-love letter that charms and dazzles in its superb, almost lullaby-like quality. Balachandra brings versatility to her performance as well, finally hitting that point of deeply vulnerable humanity, late in the second act. Exceptional vocals, keen command of stage presence, and excellent emotional acting, Balachandra sits atop the pyramid of the three, radiating for all to see.
Evita plays just one more weekend this November and is a lovely production in its own right.
Running Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes with one intermission
Evita plays through November 10th 2024 with Just Off Broadway at Epiphany Lutheran Church— 4301 Raspe Avenue in Baltimore, MD. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance online.
