To the Home PageThe musical Evita opens in a cinema in Buenos Aires. It is July 26, 1952. The film is stopped by a announcement that Eva Peron, "the spiritual leader of the nation, has entered immortality." The crowd goes nuts.
Evita's funeral is splendid. We hear the crowd singing, in a bizarre musical setting, this "Requiem for Evita":
| Requeim aeternam dona Evita. | (Translation:) Eternal rest grant Evita. |
This is a variant of the introit (entrance song) of the funeral mass:
| Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine. | Eternal rest grant them, O Lord. |
There are huge crowds, much pageantry, wailing, and lamentation. The only non-participant is Che, who denounces the whole thing ("Oh, what a Circus"). The crowd sings:
| Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae:
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve, salve Regina Perón. Ad te clamamus, exules, filii Eva. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes. O clemens, O pia. |
Hail, Queen, mother of mercy: our life, sweetness, and our hope hail, hail Queen Perón. To you we cry, banished children of Eva. To you we sigh, mourning and weeping. O kind, O compassionate one. |
This is a perversion of the Marian Antiphon:
| Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae:
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus, exules, filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum vale. * * * * * O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria. |
Hail, Queen, mother of mercy: our life, sweetness, and our hope, hail. To you we cry, banished children of Eve. To you we sigh, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. * * * * * O kind, O compassionate, O sweet Virgin Mary. |
The rest of the story is in flashback. Go back to 1934. Eva Duarte is 15. She makes her way to Buenos Aires. There she works her way up a series of men, and becomes a successful model, broadcaster, and film actress. In 1943, Eva meets Colonel Juan Perón, and they realize each has something the other wants. She evicts his sixteen-year-old mistress from his flat ("Another Suitcase in Another Hall"). The army and the aristocracy are opposed to Eva ("Perón's Latest Flame"), but she gains the support of the workers ("A New Argentina").
Perón becomes President, and Eva becomes his wife. On the day of his inauguration, the crowd gives her a greater reception than him ("Don't Cry for Me, Argentina"). During the Perón administration, there is a tour of Europe, but little is done to improve the country. Che points out that the regime has done little to help the working class, those that Eva claims to represent. ("High Flying, Adored") But Eva is more concerned about her appearance, as she and Perón are about to embark on a tour of Europe. ("Rainbow High")
Eva starts the Eva Perón foundation ("And the Money Kept Rolling In and Out"), a huge concern with questionable bookkeeping, which does little for the nation but nearly deifies Eva. ("Santa Evita") The workers sing:
| Santa, Santa Evita Madre de todos los niños De los tiranizados De los descamisados De los trabajadores De la Argentina. |
Holy, Saint Evita Mother of all the children of the oppressed of the shirtless ones of the workers of Argentina. |
Che is now totally disenchanted with Eva. They argue ("Waltz for Eva and Che") about the Perón administration and her activities (although in reality the two never met).
Gradually, Eva realizes she is dying, just as Perón is losing power. When she dies, her body is embalmed, with the intent of putting it on display for ever (although this never happened). Instead, it disappears for seventeen years. The end of the story is as bizarre as the rest.
| Character | 1st American Production | Notables' Production |
| Eva Perón | Patti LuPone | Pamela |
| Che | Mandy Patinkin | Roy |
| Perón | Bob Gunton | Joe |
| Magaldi | Mark Syers | --- |
| Mistress | Jane Ohringer | Kathy |
For more information, visit the musicals.net Evita page or Jen's Evita page.
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Last updated: May 28, 2007 by webmaster.