Hot on the heels of announcing their revival of the original 1978 Harold Prince production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbuster Evita, Opera Australia and producer John Frost have revealed the Australian pop princess playing Eva Perón: Tina Arena.
Last on the West End ten years ago, playing Roxie Hart in Chicago, Arena will step into a role originated by Elaine Paige on the West End and taken up by Patti LuPone on Broadway. More recently, Madonna starred in the 1996 film adaptation.
Conceived as a concept album in 1976, Evita tells the story of Argentine political figure Eva Perón, who made a remarkable trajectory from a gawky ranch-raised girl to an actress to a political icon. In fact, when she died at 33 from cancer Evita had become one of the most powerful women in Latin America, and was thereafter afforded an almost saintly status.
The Australian revival will reunite the original creative team: 89-year-old director Harold Prince, choreographer Larry Fuller and designer Timothy O’Brien. The full cast is yet to be announced.
Evita will open in September 2018; tickets go on sale August 31, 2017 – or you can join the wait list.
See what else is coming up in 2017-2018 in musical theatre.