Evita at the New Theatre Oxford Review
Evita
New Theatre Oxford
22-25 January 2014
Reviewed by Lucy Hawkins
Evita is the story of Eva Peron, a poor girl from Argentina who made good and married the Argentian president and died at a young age.
Opening night of Evita at the New Theatre Oxford was absolutely amazing. The stars were on top of their game, Marti Pellow as Che was superb and his 20 plus year pedigree shone through. The leading lady who played Eva, Madalena Alberto, was truly stunning. A beautiful and powerful voice that echoed around the auditorium and brought everyone to their feet with a standing ovation at the end. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber really made a spectacular show with Evita, spanning the decades and now on the road with their stunning stage set and immaculate presentation. For a ‘road show’ the set was huge and it’s a shame they’re only here for a few days.
The acting and singing was first rate, not a note was dropped by any of the leading parts, including Juan Peron, played by Mark Heenehan whose presence on stage was awesome and such a versatile voice. The live orchestra was a very pleasant surprise and really added to the ambience of the whole show especially during the balcony scene where Eva and Juan were waving and addressing the adoring crowd below, then Eva bursts into the first lines of ‘Don’t Cry for me Argentina’ and it made the hairs on your arms stand on end. Eva’s final scenes were incredibly emotional and brought a tear to the eye of almost everyone in the house.
The ensemble complemented the main characters exceptionally well and added to the drama and intensity of the overall show. The audience were completely enthralled from start to finish and the time flew by. Before we knew it we were watching the final scenes and completely hooked. The stars took a standing ovation from the audience and all looked incredibly pleased with their performance. It most definitely was one they could be proud of.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £12.90 to £45.90 (plus £4 transaction fee).
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