So finally, almost twenty years after Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote this musical, I have seen the film version directed by Alan Bates and starring Madonna as Eva Peron. Madonna is brilliant. She doesn't even have to act for this one, though. The story is about a girl who loses a parent and a young age and then uses her physical attributes to climb to the social ladder. On the way people talk about her, love her, criticize her and loathe her. She spends a lot of money and the whole time, so the libretto would have us believe, she cares nothing about anyone but herself. Madonna has a lay down meisare for this role.
But all cynicism aside, Madonna is very fine in this musical. The role requires singing and dancing, and she managed both quite well. Fortunately there was little acting required, because even the tiny bit she needed to do was decidedly weak.
Weaker still, however, were the roles played by Madonna's supporting cast. Antonio Banderas looked constantly ridiculous, probably because he was in a ridiculous role, and Jonathon Pryce as Peron just looked uncomfortable.
The crowd scenes are superb, however, and the real show stealer is the rousing chorus "A New Argentina." Sung by the rising proletariat, this is probably the only moment in the film with any feeling of vitality or reality. There were also totally hideous crowd scenes. The ensemble of rich people looked and sounded like they were imported from the racetrack scene of "My Fair Lady," and who on earth knows what the scene with the soldiers in the showers was all about.
Finally, let me mention the music. I said earlier that a stage version of this show was canceled in Sydney in the late 80s, probably because the Australians thought Evita was a lemon, and it is. The libretto is a constant run of rhyming couplets that 5th graders are taught to avoid. There are even moments that are quite funny in their foolishness. Madonna lies in the hospital dying, but manages to bleat out that she has been through so much, and yet she's still standing. Uh, sorry, you're horizontal on a hospital bed - you're lying...
But the grand booby prize must go to the music. UGH! Andrew Lloyd Webber has
written few original tunes in his life, but in Evita he only uses three melodies to
cover the whole two hour show. Here's all I can say: (Sung to the tune of "Don't
cry for me, Argentina"