Vancouver Opera’s Company Premiere of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony Award winning smash hit EVITA will open at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 30^th.

Few women in history have had the allure of Eva Perón,  She once said “My biggest fear in life is to be forgotten.”  Her legend lives on….

A very brief bio because the musical will explain everything in about 2 hours and 45 minutes including a short intermission:

*Don’t cry for me Argentina

Maria Eva Duarte de Perón was born out of wedlock on May 7, 1919, in Los Toldos, Argentina.  Eva (commonly known as Evita), left school when she was 16 and went to Buenos Aires in the 1930s to pursue her dream of becoming a star. She had reasonable success as an actress before marrying Juan Perón in 1945, who became president of Argentina the following year. Eva Perón used her position as first lady to fight for women’s suffrage and improving the lives of the poor, and became a legendary figure in Argentine politics. She died in 1952.

I’m really looking forward to this musical especially having been to Buenos Aires and since visiting the mausoleum of Evita in La Recoleta Cemetary.  It is most definitely one of the most amazing cemeteries I’ve ever seen.

Tickets are selling out for the VO’s brand new full-scale production taking place at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre with only 6 performances, from April 30^th – May 8, 2016.  It has won 7 Tony Awards.

VO’s Evita will star three seasoned Broadway stars with international followings.

Ramin Karimloo will star as Che. Mr. Karimloo has played both Jean Valjean (Les Misérables) on Broadway and The Phantom (Phantom of the Opera) in London’s West End. He was personally selected by Andrew Lloyd Webber to star in the London World Premiere of the Phantom sequel, Love Never Dies. This will be his first appearance as Che.

Caroline Bowman will play Evita, a role she has also played in the Broadway revival and on tour in the United States. She also starred in the Broadway productions of Wicked (as Elphaba) and in Kinky Boots.

John Cudia will play Perón. Mr. Cudia is the first and only performer to have played the roles of The Phantom and Jean Valjean on Broadway. Equally at home on opera, theatre and concert stages, Mr.Cudia is a lyric tenor who has also sung Alfredo in La traviata with Lyric Opera of the North.

“I have one thing that counts, and that is my heart; it burns in my soul, it aches in my flesh, and it ignites my nerves: that is my love for the people and Peron.” – Evita

She will not be forgotten

*Don’t Cry for me Argentina is a song composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Tim Rice. It was first recorded by Julie Covington on the 1976 concept album Evita, and was later included in the 1978 stage musical of the same name.   It appeared at the opening and near the end of the show, initially as the spirit of the dead Eva exhorting the people of Argentina not to mourn her, and finally during Eva’s speech from the balcony of Casa Rosada.