Cast Set for EVITA at The Gateway Playhouse

Andrew Lloyd Webber's masterpiece EVITA begins rehearsals and will run at The Gateway Playhouse from May 5 - 28, 2023 to launch the 74th season.

EVITA charts the young and ambitious Eva Peron's meteoric rise to sainthood. Set in Argentina between 1934-1952, the Tony Award-winning musical follows Eva Duarte on her journey from a poor illegitimate child, to an ambitious actress, to the wife of military leader-turned-president Juan Peron, and to the most powerful woman in Latin America, all before her death from cancer at the early age of 33.

The events in Evita's life are presented in song and commented on by the show's narrator, Che. Well-known numbers from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical masterpiece include "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," "Oh What a Circus," "Buenos Aires" and "Another Suitcase in Another Hall."

Amanda Rivera Torres will star as the international icon, Eva Peron. Ms. Torres has starred regionally as Maria in West Side Story, Maria in The Sound of Music, Eponine in Les Misérables, and Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, to name a few.

EVITA will also star Ryan K. Bailer as Juan Peron and Pablo Francisco Torres as Che respectively. Mr. Bailer returns to The Gateway after appearing as Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. He has also appeared in the Broadway tour of Evita as Peron, as well as numerous regional productions. This production marks Mr. Torres' debut at The Gateway. Mr. Torres has appeared Off-Broadway in ¡Americano! A New Musical, Superhero, and regional productions of A Little Night Music and Mary Poppins.

Matthew Malecki Martinez will play Magaldi after playing the role on tour, as well as, appearing regionally in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderalla, West Side Story, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Amanda Rose Gross makes her debut at The Gateway as the Mistress.

The full cast of EVITA includes Carlos Jimenez and Michelle Alves as the tango dancers with Matias Bruno, Jose Contreras, Jorge Echeverria, Marquez Linder, Michael Marrero, Adam Tabellija, Dan Teixeira, Alyxandria Batty-Rivera, Sarah-Ofélia Cosgrove, Nichole Forde, Paola Hernandez, and Gianna Vasquez Bartolini.

The Youth Ensemble will be Sonnie Betts, Sofia DaCosta-Wilson, Sofia DeMatteo, Dominick Heilemann, Sofia Jarmel, Abigail Pirozzi, Ashton Rasmussen, Sarah Robayo, Tamanna Sandhu, and Bree Wilkens.

EVITA will be directed by veteran of The Gateway, Keith Andrews, with associate direction and choreography by Andrés Acosta, and music direction by Andrew Haile Austin

Keith Andrews' previous credits at The Gateway include The Wedding Singer, Head Over Heels, Elf The Musical, The Bodyguard, On Your Feet!, Flashdance the Musical, Nunsense, Little Shop of Horrors, The Rocky Horror Show, Rock of Ages, Avenue Q, Saturday Night Fever, The Addams Family, South Pacific, Spamalot, My Fair Lady, 9 to 5 The Musical (starring Sally Struthers), Happy Days A New Musical, The Holiday Spectacular on Ice, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (starring Joe Piscopo), My Way, Cold as Ice, Urinetown, and The Full Monty. Recently he directed and choreographed the Regional Premiere of A Wall Apart - an original rock musical about the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, with music and lyrics by Lord Graham Russell of the acclaimed rock group, Air Supply.

Andrés Acosta returns to The Gateway as a creative after performing in On Your Feet! in 2017. National Tours include West Side Story, Jersey Boys, and Flashdance the Musical. Other work includes shows at The Muny, Papermill Playhouse, North Shore Music Theater, Asolo Rep, PCLO, and George Street Playhouse.

Andrew Haile Austin has musically directed over 100 productions of operas and musicals across the country, most recently at Virginia Music Theatre, John Engeman Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, and Theatre Under the Stars. As a teacher, he has taught both high school and college-age students working at several schools in NYC including the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), and ten years at the Governor's School for the Arts in Norfolk, VA, and eight seasons for Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute (SSTI) on Hilton Head Island, SC. As a composer, his works have been presented up and down the East Coast. In 2016, he was named composer-in-residence for the Tidewater Opera Initiative in Norfolk, VA who presented his opera, The Snow Maiden of Appalachia. Andrew holds a Doctorate in composition from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University where he studied with composer Kevin Puts. This is his 19th production for The Gateway, most recently music directing Head Over Heels and The Wedding Singer.

Tickets for EVITA are on sale now and start at $55. Want to save money? The Gateway offers many options on how to save! We offer Season Passes with a discount of up to 35% off, Youth and Teen pricing on some performances, as well as, Student Rush tickets which can only be purchased one hour before show-time, at the door, and with a valid Student ID. Group Sale Discounts are also available for groups of 15 people or more. For more information, contact the Box Office at (631) 286-1133, or visit the website at TheGateway.org.

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