Review Roundup: What did the Critics Think of EVITA at Asolo Rep

Asolo Rep presents Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tony Award-winning masterpiece EVITA. Directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes (Broadway: Bright Star, It Shoulda Been You, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, First Date; West End: Carousel, Sweeney Todd; Asolo Rep: Guys and Dolls), the musical opens tomorrow, November 18, and runs through December 30 in the Mertz Theatre, located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Winner of seven Tony Awards, including best musical and best score, EVITA chronicles the electric rise and fall of Eva Peron, who used her beauty and charisma to climb from her poverty - stricken roots on the outskirts of Buenos Aires to become the powerful and polarizing First Lady of Argentina at the age of 27.

The previously announced acclaimed Puerto Rican recording artist and actress Ana
Isabelle leads the all-star cast as Eva Peron, Argentina's magnetic and mesmerizing First Lady. Justin Gregory Lopez, who most recently portrayed Usnavi in Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights (Ordway Center) plays Che. Nick Duckart, whose regional credits include Usnavi in In the Heights (Actors Playhouse), and the world premiere of Carmen (Olney Theatre), plays Juan Pero?n. Gizel Jimenez, who plays Pero?n's Mistress, recently played Rosalia in the National Tour of West Side Story. Victor Souffrant, who was most recently seen in Orlando Shakespeare Theater's production of Man of La Mancha, plays Agustin Magaldi.

The cast also features Andres Acosta, Enrique Brown, Juan Caballer, Sophia
Cavalluzzi, Junior Cervila, Ben Chavez, Emma Diner, Mica Dominquez-
Robinson, Guadalupe Garcia, Gabriela Gomez, Tori Lee Greenlaw, Kourtney Keitt, Caleb Marshall, Trina Mills, Ryan Modjeski, Brandon Michael Nase, Marina Pires, Kyle
Ramon, Santina Umbach, Salvatore Vieira, Sharrod Williams, Olivia Yagy, Kristin Yancy, and Alexa Ziff.

Let's see what the critics have to say!

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Jay Handelman, Herald Tribune: And in Ana Isabelle, a Puerto Rican pop recording star, Rhodes has found a fierce actress with the kind of natural radiance to make you believe this Eva could captivate a nation. Isabelle plays a manipulative woman who grew up resenting the rich, and then slept her way up the ladder to become a popular actress and eventually the spiritual leader for the nation's poor. She meets Col. Juan Peron and they quickly forge a partnership that leads them to the presidential palace and popularity until illness weakens her.

Bill Deyoung, CL Tampa: Rhodes also designed the show's sexy, electifying choreography, which, like Lloyd Weber's score, skillfully blends elements of diverse styles, from tango and rhumba to jazz and rock 'n' roll. There's an argument to be made here that this ensemble is so good, it's another major character in the show. Like Isabelle's Eva, when the ensemble comes onstage you know something fantastic is about to happen.

Carolan Trbovich, BroadwayWorld: Costume Designer Brian C. Hemesath was careful to dress Eva as the dignitary with sass while minding the roles of each cast member and fitting them with appropriate attire. Paul Tate DePoo III's masterful sets included a towering staircase that transformed into the balcony from which Eva sings the famous "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". Projection Designer Alex Basco Koch had his work cut out and he was up to the task providing everything from crowd scenes to images on Eva's dresses that were suspended in the air. Lighting Designer Paul Miller and Lighting Programmer Jackson Miller provided ambient lighting that beautifully elevated or toned down the feel of each scene.

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