Producers Hal Luftig and Scott Sanders announced today that Michael Cerveris will star as Juan Perón in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's landmark musical EVITA opening on Broadway in the spring of 2012 at The Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway. Cerveris joins the previously announced world renowned music artist Ricky Martin (Che) and, in her Broadway debut, Olivier Award Winning Argentinean actress Elena Roger (Eva). Olivier Award winner Michael Grandage and Tony Award winner Rob Ashford will direct and choreograph, respectively. This is the first new Broadway production of the seven-time Tony Award-winning musical since it debuted on Broadway more than 30 years ago.
From his "magnificent" Sweeney Todd to his "captivating, mesmerizing and enthralling" Hedwig and his Tony Award winning performance as
John Wilkes Booth in Assassins,
Michael Cerveris has been giving electrifying performances each time he's graced the stage since his Broadway debut as the title character in The Who's Tommy (The New York Times). A four-time Tony Award nominee, Cerveris' Broadway, West End and regional theatre credits include In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), Hedda Gabler, LoveMusik, Titanic, Cymbeline, King Lear, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard II and Sunday in the Park With George. He has also appeared in the films Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, The Mexican and Stakeland and on TV most recently and notably as The Observer on "Fringe," as well as a recurring role in HBO's "Treme." An exceptional musician and song-writer, he has also toured with Bob Mould and
Pete Townshend and release a solo album, Dog Eared. He is currently working on a musical called Nine Lives, based on Dan Baum's bestselling post-Hurricane Katrina book "Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death and Life in New Orleans."
Eva Perón used her beauty and charisma to rise meteorically from the slums of Argentina to the presidential mansion as First Lady. She won international acclaim and adoration from her own people as a champion of the poor, while glamour, power and greed made her the world's first major political celebrity.
EVITA tells Eva's passionate and tragic story through
Tim Rice and
Andrew Lloyd Webber's most dazzling and beloved score, including "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" and "High Flying Adored," together with "You Must Love Me," the Oscar-winning hit from the film EVITA.
After researching the life of Eva Perón for many years,
Tim Rice and
Andrew Lloyd Webber released EVITA in 1976 as a concept album with
Julie Covington as Eva and it became a world-wide hit. Soon after, the production debuted on stage in London's West End starring
Elaine Paige and directed by
Hal Prince. The production transferred to Broadway and opened in 1979 starring
Patti LuPone, who went on to win one of the seven 1980 Tony Awards the show earned. A major 1996 film of the musical was made starring Madonna as Eva,
Antonio Banderas as Che and
Jonathan Pryce as Juan Peron.
Michael Grandage's production of EVITA, which opened in 2006, took London by storm and garnered critical acclaim for the show and its leading lady,
Elena Roger.
Official dates, additional creative team members and casting will be announced at a later date.
