|
|
May 14, 2004
Arts Club show lacks ambition
Most musicals wallow in sentimentality ... not Weber and Rice's
Evita.
LAURI DONAHUE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Instead of the usual razzle-dazzle, Evita opens with a funeral.
It's 1952 and Maria Eva Duarte de Peron – "Evita"
– has died of cancer at 33. The rest of the show is a flashback,
telling how she rose – with great determination – from
being a poor, illegitimate child from the sticks, to an inept actress
and, finally, to first lady of Argentina.
Evita was created by the powerhouse team of Andrew Lloyd
Weber and Tim Rice (Phantom of the Opera, Cats, etc.).
It started life as a studio recording and best-selling double album
in 1976, came to the London stage in 1978 and Broadway in 1979,
and swept the 1980 Tony Awards, winning seven.
Although many of the tunes (including that scourge of piano bars,
"Don't Cry for Me, Argentina") are hummable, the music's
also quite sophisticated, with numerous changes in tone, tempo and
style – often within the same number. But the Arts Club Theatre's
production fails to do justice to the score. The sound system (which
has also impaired previous productions at the Stanley) often loses
the singers' low registers and turns the witty, cynical lyrics to
inaudible mush. This is especially a problem for the show's two
leads –- Lovena B. Fox as Evita and the mono-named Shiamak
as Che (a narrator based loosely on the real Argentine-born Marxist
revolutionary Che Guevara). As a result, it's the secondary (and
higher-pitched) roles – Matt Palmer as Magaldi and Amy Wallis
as Peron's mistress – who shine in the singing department.
The dance numbers are respectable but fail to measure up to the
standard of excellence set by the Arts Club's last musical, Singin'
in the Rain, lacking the prior show's inventive choreography
and performer virtuosity. The acting, set, lighting and costume
design are likewise competent without being impressive.
For a show that's about ambition, this production could have tried
a little harder.
Evita plays at the Stanley Theatre through June 13. Tickets
are $18.50 to $58 and available from Ticketmaster (604-280-3311)
or the Arts Club box office (604-687-1644 or www.artsclub.com).
Warren Kimmel (Ensemble and Che)
Warren was born to a Conservative Jewish family in South Africa,
the son of a cellist who encouraged him to be "practical"
and get a degree in business – which he never used, since shortly
after receiving his degree he was accepted into the prestigious
Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Warren has performed extensively
in the United Kingdom on stage and television, and arrived in Canada
in May of last year.
Warren understudies the role of Che and will be taking it over during
the latter part of the run of Evita.
Annabel Kershaw (Ensemble)
Annabel's family history sounds like a scenario for a spy thriller.
Her Jewish grandparents lived in Budapest, Hungary, and sent her
father (then a teenager) away to school (and safety) in England
in 1936. When the war broke out, he had just finished school and,
fluent in Hungarian, German and English, joined a special commando
troupe trained to operate behind enemy lines. He took on a new identity
– the family name "Kirschner" became "Kershaw."
Annabel was born in London, then moved to Toronto as a child, and
has lived in Vancouver for the past 25 years. She starred as Anna
in the Gateway Production of The King and I (for a review,
go to Archives, 2003, December, Dec. 5) and has appeared in more
than 25 other productions, winning a Jessie Award for her role in
the Pi Theatre's Aunt Dan and Lemon.
Doran Satanove (Ensemble)
Doran is a Grade 6 student at Richmond Jewish Day School. He's been
involved in theatre since age eight, a participant in the Jewish
Community Centre of Greater Vancouver's Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!
program, and appearing professionally in many local productions
such as Nine and Honk! Doran is the son of Thomas and Justice
Deborah Satanove of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (also
an accomplished actress).
Lauri Donahue is an award-winning playwright and the rebbetzin
of Beth Tikvah Congregation in Richmond.
^TOP
|
|
