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THEATRICAL THROWBACK THURSDAY: EVITA's 35th Broadway Birthday

By: Oct. 02, 2014
THEATRICAL THROWBACK THURSDAYS
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Today we are celebrating 35 years of one of Broadway's most iconic musicals and turning our attention to a popular and recognizable show featuring one of the most memorable title roles in history, EVITA.

Buenos Aires Big Apple

When the concept album for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's follow-up to the internationally successful recording of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, EVITA, burst onto the music scene in 1976, the unexpected worldwide success of the unusual and theatrical lead single "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" by concept album Eva, smoky-voiced recording artist Julie Covington, could not have caught the composing team behind the experimental and politically rife rock opera more by surprise. As history would have it, at the very last moment, the title of that song itself was changed, and, if you yourself venture to sing the original title along with the melody of the now internationally renown tune, you will hear the vast possibilities - dramatic, thematic, theatrical and otherwise - of Rice's original intention for the lyric: "It's Only Your Lover Returning". While no complete demo of this original lyric has been unearthed as of yet, there are some intriguing demos and rare oddities that have arisen over the years - due in no small part to the various attempts to film the hit show. After all, Michelle Pfeiffer, Liza Minnelli and Meryl Streep all were under serious consideration for the eponymous character by the many proposed directors of the potential film property, some getting as far along in the process as pre-production and screen-tests - Ken Russell and Oliver Stone among them, the latter retaining a screenwriting credit on the eventual final film version, starring Madonna and directed by FAME director Alan Parker, as a matter of fact.

More than any other names, though, the two leading ladies most inextricably linked to the legend and lore of EVITA are the West End and Broadway originators - Elaine Paige and Patti LuPone. In 1978, Paige took the town by storm with her commanding, fearless turn as the opportunistic wife of dictator Juan Peron, and, on September 25, 1979, LuPone made her own major mark on the character across the pond, inciting a similar cause celebre in NYC on opening night. Nevertheless, many viewers may be only familiar with the respectful and visually arresting 1996 film starring Madonna, yet the electric power of the score as originally intended by Webber and Rice is unquestionably most fully realized in any of the three readily available recordings showcasing Covington, Paige and LuPone - especially the latter, no doubt. Madonna made the character her own, yet Paige and LuPone virtually embodied Eva - and traversed the three-octave-plus range of the score with assured ease and palpable ferocity. There's never been a musical quite like EVITA and these actresses go a long way in proving it.

No question about it, since her album debut nearly 40 years ago and her first Broadway bow in 1979, EVITA has come a long, long way from her concept album roots in 1976 - from 6s and 7s all the way to dressed to the nines, actually.

Relive the spine-tingling 1980 Tony Awards performance by the original Broadway cast of EVITA featuring Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin.

Also, view this vintage clip of Patti LuPone performing the show's signature song.

As a special bonus, peruse the 2012 Broadway revival company.

So, what is your personal favorite iteration of the grand and complex score for EVITA to date? Furthermore, who has been your absolute favorite Eva of them all? With this many magnificent leading ladies having laid claim to the role and so many prime candidates coming up the ranks today, the next 35 years of EVITA's history on Broadway looks just as promising as the first 35.

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