NESA presents EVITA

The North East School of the Arts kicks off its 21st season with the Tony Award® winning, EVITA.  Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic musical maps the rise and fall of the legendary Eva Duarte Perón, wife of Argentine dictator, Juan Perón.

Determined to become a star, Eva leaves her family in Los Toldos for opportunity in Argentina’s capital city, Buenos Aires. She overcomes poverty and shame, eventually finding steady work as a radio and film actress. At an earthquake benefit, she meets Colonel Perón, who is determined to become president. Eventually, he wins over the majority and is elected leader; however it is quickly evident that the attention of the Argentine people lies with the charismatic Eva.

Dazzling in the highest fashion of the time, she was warmly referred to as “Evita” by the working class “descamisados” (shirtless ones). She won the adoration of Argentina’s poor, by establishing a charity to aid them, while earning the contempt of the military and the upper class, who considered her a distraction. As both the most cherished and despised woman in Argentina, Eva continued to appear in public, despite an ongoing battle with debilitating cancer that ended her life at the young age of thirty-three.

EVITA’s renowned music highlights invigorating Latin, Rock, Pop, and Jazz rhythms, with popular tunes like “Oh, What a Circus”, “Buenos Aires”, and “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”, proving to be one of the most acclaimed works of the partnership between Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice.