Rob Ashford to Choreograph 2006 London Evita

By: BWW News Desk Aug. 08, 2005

In-demand Tony Award-winning choreographer Rob Ashford will travel overseas to choreograph the upcoming West End revival of Evita, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Ashford is the only member of the show's creative team so far, as the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice classic is not set to open on the West End until next spring. Evita, which is considered one of the first pop/rock operas with its sung-through score, was originally choreographed by Larry Fuller in its 1979 Broadway production; Harold Prince directed (and won a Tony Award for his work).

Ashford garnered his Tony Award for his peppy dances for Thoroughly Modern Millie. He was the sole choreographer for The Boys from Syracuse, and Broadway credits as associate or assistant choreographer include Seussical, Kiss Me, Kate, Ring Round the Moon and Parade. Ashford will next devise the dances for the Broadway-bound musical adaptations of John Waters' Cry-Baby and the fairy tale film Ever After, as well as for Curtains, Kander and Ebb's final musical. He recently choreographed David Zippel's musical Princesses and Doctor Doolittle, which is currently touring the country.

Evita, which began life as a 1975 concept album, takes a cynical but multifaceted view of Eva Peron's rise to power as the first lady of Argentina. With music by Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Rice, the show opened at London's Prince Edward Theatre in 1978 with Elaine Paige as Eva and David Essex as Che. In New York, it ran 1,567 performances at the Broadway Theatre, and won the 1980 Tony Award for Best Musical, as well as six others. The show starred Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin (both of whom won Tonys) and Bob Gunton. A 1996 film version of Evita starred Madonna.

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Rob Ashford to Choreograph 2006 London Evita

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