Evita - Festival de Wiltz
24/25/26 July | Open Air Theatre, Wiltz | Musical, Stage
That Evita ever reached the stage at all is pretty much down to the tenacity and insistence of lyricist Tim Rice. The idea had first occurred to him after hearing a radio play about the life and times of the now famous but then unknown (outside of Argentina) wife of Argentinean leader, Juan Peron. His partner, Andrew Lloyd Webber was opposed to the idea on the memorable grounds that he didn’t want to write “another piece about an unknown who rises to fame at thirty-three and then dies” having already done that with ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’ Lloyd Webber eventually came around to the idea and the pair produced a concept album of what would later become the musical in 1976. It wasn’t long before Evita was being staged in the West End in London (1976), and later Broadway (1978).
In a nutshell the story of the musical follows the early life, rise to power, good deeds and eventual death of the eponymous heroine. At heart it’s a classic rags to riches story which plays fast and loose with historical fact (there’s no evidence that Eva ever met Che Guevara) but what the heck, it’s a musical not a history lesson. The musical features many styles, ranging from choral, ballad and latinate to rock, but the highlight of the night for many will be the rendition of ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’, a song which over the years has survived being covered by multitudes of singers, not least a near death experience in the 1996 movie version at the hands of Madonna. By virtue of being a show on the road, the version we get a chance to see in Wiltz, starting Friday and running through until Sunday, will by nature be a more stripped down affair than an in-house theatrical production, but the reviews coming through from Germany, where the group have already performed, are very favourable, so it should be well worth the trip up north.
Special festival trains leave from Luxembourg city at 19h05 to get you there in time for the show, but remember it’s outdoors so bring a jumper, blanket, umbrella, tent, or any combination of the above as you see fit.
English language production by Times Square Productions Ltd. London/Berlin in collaboration with ARENA Show & Entertainment GmbH Xanten and the Théâtre musical de Brno.
Starts 20h45 - €65/€55/ €35 - Concs €45.50/ €38.50/€24.50
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