Evita

Evita charts the young and ambitious Eva Peron’s meteoric rise to sainthood. Set in Argentina between 1934-1952, the Tony-winning musical follows Eva Duarte on her journey from poor illegitimate child to ambitious actress to, as wife of military leader-turned-president Juan Peron, the most powerful woman in Latin America, before her death from cancer at age 33.

Evita’s memorable “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” was recorded and released in 1976 followed by the complete rock opera concept album, which went gold. The stage production opened on June 21, 1978 at the Prince Edward Theatre in London with Elaine Paige in the title role and Joss Ackland as her formidable Juan Perón.

Following stints in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Evita premiered on Broadway at the Broadway Theatre on 25th September 1979. Evita won an impressive seven 1980 Tony Awards including Best Book, Best Score and Best Musical of the year. In 1981, the Evita cast recording was awarded a Grammy Award.

Productions of Evita have been performed all over the world, including performances in Austria, Spain, Mexico and South Africa. A major 1996 film adaptation starred Madonna in the title role and Antonio Banderas as Che. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Original Song (“You Must Love Me”).