Evita @ The Manchester Opera House

I am not at all a lover of musical.  I love this show though.  Maybe it's the subject matter that drags me in.  I find Eva a fascinating character.  The songs appeal to me.  They have spunk.  I like the battle between Eva and Che.

I haven't seen this musical on the stage for over 20 years.  I have seen the film but it didn't have the same resonance with me.

I was wondering how I'd find it.  I have lived for 20+ years on 2 flawless cast recordings from the beginnings of this show's life.  It's hard to live up to Julie Covington and Elaine Paige.  One of the first things I noticed was how the show has evolved since I've seen it.  The music has a much more Hispanic feel.  Though this felt slightly strange at first it works well in an Argentinian tale.

The cast were pretty good.  The only weak link for me was Che.  He played with sarcasm well but with not enough force or spite for me.  Eva was played well by Abigail Jaye.  She did the iconic role justice.  I just wish the band wouldn't have drowned her out in parts of the earlier numbers.  We had the understudy Juan Peron, Johnathon Tweedie.  Who was perfect in the role.  The stand out performer for me was Sasha Ransley as The Mistress.  She has a wonderful voice and I will try and see more of her in other roles.  After a wonderful performance you were left a little gutted that she wouldn't be on stage again.

The sets were quite sparse and multi usage.  I was quite impressed with how, and the speed in which, they changed them around.  Thus never interrupting the flow of the show.  The lighting was pretty great too.  Mostly used to change the atmosphere on stage.

I wasn't chuffed to see they'd introduced You Must Love Me into the show.  I find it awfully meh.

As ever my favourite song was Rainbow High.  It didn't quite reach the heights I was looking for but it was done very well.

4 out of 5 pawprints  and I think I'll be digging my biographies out again soon :-)