Andrew Lloyd Webber’s fifth musical masterpiece, Evita, is the story of Argentinian Eva Duarte and her rise to power in this rags to riches tale. The story charts the journey as Eva begins her life living in poverty in a small Argentinian town, then moves to Buenos Aires, and eventually becoming a radio star, then an actress and finally Argentina’s first lady Eva Peron (commonly referred to as Evita). Lloyd Webber explores the theme of saint or sinner very well in this production as Evita has a lot to be sorry about from her younger years and how she clawed her way to the top but after becoming so widely adored by the lower classes because of her work to use her status to help them, she ends up being revered much like a saint.
Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre Company is one of the oldest amateur groups in the country, dating back to 1916 when they performed light opera. The group have grown over the years, developing a youth theatre and adult company, creating a huge boost for the avid theatre goers of Northwich and the surrounding areas. The company performing Evita boasted more than 80 in the cast, crew and orchestra. The production took place at The Memorial Court Theatre which opened as part of a huge leisure facility in 2015. This fabulous facility provides the community with a fantastic 500 seater auditorium with comfortable seating and high tech light and sound. Both the company performing and the choice of venue helped to create a really professional quality of production.
Director, Louise Colohan clearly had a fantastic vision and this has been brought to fruition by a superb creative team. Choreography by Liz Cardall grabbed every opportunity for a big number and livened up what is a very sombre show with some fabulous moments of movement; a particular favourite being ‘And The Money Kept Rolling In’. The fourteen-piece orchestra, led by Musical Director Marilyn Bland were superb throughout and kept up with a lengthy score with few breaks as the production was almost entirely sung.
There are very few principle roles in Evita and much of the solo singing rests on just seven performers, with two of these performing the ‘lion’s share’ of songs. Andrew Lee, in the role of Che, was out of this world. He brought this production to another level of professionalism, in my eyes. His vocals were spot on in pitch, dynamics and interpretation and his diction was crystal clear, which really helped as his role often acted as narrator. Lee’s stage presence was such an asset to this production and I felt in capable hands whenever he was present on stage.
Eva Peron, played by Colette Williams gave a powerful performance of the rags to riches girl and brought a sense of believability and dignity to her character’s demise. It was in the second half of the production when Williams was at her best. Act two opened with the classic musical theatre number, ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’. Seeing it performed in the context of the story brought this song to life and the words had so much more meaning. Williams’ vocals, at this point of the show were at their finest.
Other notable performances were from Laura Merriman as Juan Peron’s former Mistress, in her rendition of ‘Another Suitcase In Another Hall’ which was spine-tinglingly beautiful. Stuart Dutton’s portrayal of Magaldi as Eva’s ex-boyfriend, whom she used to climb the ladder of fame, is excellent in the role and has some strong vocals which this production didn’t fully allow him to explore.
Evita has scope for a huge ensemble and Mid Cheshire MTC grabbed that opportunity with both hands. The thirty-strong ensemble were dynamic and brought the stage to life throughout. I particularly enjoyed the characterisation, choreography and costume of the soldiers and aristocracy in ‘Peron’s Latest Flame’, which brought a lovely sense of humour to the dark context of the plot. If I were to criticise anything it would be the choice to have sound recordings of the chants for Peron during the balcony scenes. This large and lively ensemble seemed very capable of producing the live vocals and the recordings seems somewhat electronic. That said, I really enjoyed all of the large chorus numbers and felt that they drove the energy of this production forward.
Reviewer - Johanna Hassouna-Smith
on - 26/9/19
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