Don’t cry for Andrew Lloyd Webber.
True, his “Bad Cinderella,” a renamed version of his COVID-troubled West End musical “Cinderella” in London, closed on Broadway in June after only 85 performances and was largely eviscerated by critics.
So what? “Evita” continues to thrive.
Forty-five years after it opened on Broadway with Patti LuPone in the title role, Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s “rock musical” about the life and death of Argentinian political figure Eva Peron continues to be produced the world round. Cygnet Theatre in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park begins previews of its own “Evita” next Wednesday, with opening night on Aug. 12.
Cygnet Artistic Director Sean Murray is directing, with musical direction by Patrick Marion and choreography by Carlos Mendoza.
Berto Fernández, left, and Ariella Kvashny play Juan and Eva Peron in Cygnet Theatre’s “Evita” musical.
(Courtesy of Karli Cadel Photography)
Ariella Kvashny, recently seen in the Old Globe Theatre’s tribute to telenovelas “Destiny of Desire,” is Cygnet’s Eva Peron. For the recent Bachelor of Fine Arts graduate from UC Irvine, this is “hands down” her most significant casting yet on the musical stage.
“This is one of those roles that is part of the iconic musical theater canon,” said Kvashny, who is also making her Cygnet debut. “It’s an honor to be taking it on.”
Portraying Eva’s husband, Argentinian president (from 1946 to 1955, then briefly in the early ‘70s) Juan Peron is Berto Fernández.
Fernández — who was honored earlier this year by the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle as one of its Actors of the Year — calls “Evita” “so Lloyd Webber in all its glory. It’s pretty spectacular and I’m really excited.”
Kvashny and Fernández have worked together before, in the cast of the Old Globe’s holiday traditional “Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” Theirs is a mutual admiration society.
“Berto is a lovely human being,” said Kvashny. “He has this warm, calming energy, and he also understands the role and the grandeur of it all.”
Fernández considers Kvashny, in turn, “an incredible talent. We have such a great connection.”
What about the connection between the Perons’ story, which dates back more than 75 years, and today’s geopolitical world?
“We are seeing the same type of political turmoil and battles between the church and the institutions, and where the common folks end up,” said Fernández, alluding to the Perons’ advocacy for working class Argentinians while in conflict with other power brokers in and outside the government.
Eva Peron, said Kvashny, “is still relevant because she was ahead of her time in many ways. She gave a voice to people who weren’t typically at the table in terms of politics: the poor working-class and women. She was a champion for people who were often ignored.”
“I think that although she’s a very polarizing figure in terms of politics, she’s still important because she gave people hope.”
Fernández acknowledged that Juan Peron, too, was a controversial figure, but “there’s a misconception that he was very stern and menacing. Actually Peron was a charmer. In the musical, it’s almost like two charismatic powerhouses meeting. The chemistry happens and it’s like ‘Wow. Imagine what we two could do together. Let’s go run a country!’”
The Cygnet production features an 18-member ensemble that, Fernández says, reflects those who lived and led during this time in South American history.
“I want to say that 85 percent of the cast is Latine,” he said (using the new gender-inclusive term for Hispanic people), “so it’s special to tell this story of Argentinians with Latine people.”
As for “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina,” Kvashny considers the show’s most famous song emblematic of the character who sings it.
“You get to feel the heart and why people fell in love with this woman,” she said. “It’s a beautiful moment.”
‘Evita’
When: Previews begin Wednesday. Opens Aug. 12 and runs through Sept. 24. Showtimes 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Where: Cygnet Theatre, 4040 Twiggs St., Old Town State Historic Park
Tickets: $37 and up
Phone: (619) 337-1525
Online: cygnettheatre.com
Coddon is a freelance writer.