Movie Review (Classic)-----EVITA

In just a week and a half, I will see the first ever Broadway Revival of EVITA starring Ricky Martin, Elena Rogers, and Michael Cerveris. I have never seen a real production of EVITA. I saw a particularly bad community theater production several years ago that soured me on the musical altogether. But I do remember admiring the Alan Parker directed film version, so in order to make myself a bit more excited about seeing the Revival, I recently rewatched the film. There had been talk of making a movie of EVITA for years ever since the musical took Broadway by storm. Stars like Michelle Pfeiffer, Meryl Streep, and Barbra Streisand were mentioned as possible Eva Perons for years before Madonna nabbed the coveted role in the 90's. Parker and Hollywood Pictures spared no expense as they traveled to Argentina to film as much of the film on location as possible. The movie looks incredible from the art design to the costume design. It's gorgeous. Antonio Banderas plays Che and although a few of his lyrics are in desperate need of subtitles, he sounds great and looks fabulous. Jonathan Pryce plays Juan Peron and is very effective, especially in his tenderness with Eva near the tragic end of her life. But the film belongs to Madonna. There was so much controversy over this casting decision, but it paid off. She spent a lot of time preparing vocally for the role and sounds terrific. It's not Patti LuPone or Elaine Paige and certainly Michelle Pfeiffer or Meryl Streep could have sung it better, not to mention Babs....but Madonna holds her own. And when you put the singing with the visuals, it absolutely works. She is ravishing in this role. Every look, every costume, every moment absolutely works. The last 20 minutes of the film proves that with the proper director and with her own passion involved, she is a capable actress. She won a well deserved Golden Globe for her performance and quite frankly, she should have been nominated for an Oscar. It's one of those performances that no one expected and in my opinion, she pulled it off. It was even more impressive all these years later watching it a second time. One of the many great things about making a movie out of a Broadway hit is that the orchestrations can be even lusher and fuller than an orchestra pit can allow. And EVITA is no exception. The music sounds glorious and gives the picture a non-stop momentum that carries through for 135 minutes. Watching the film of EVITA again, it did what I hoped it would do....it made me excited to experience a true production on stage in just a few days.