Get ready for a little touch of star quality in Leicester this Christmas with the epic new Made at Curve production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical, Evita.
Running at the theatre between 27 November and 13 January 2024, the show tells the story of Eva Perón, one of history’s most glamorous, glorified and divisive figures, and features an unforgettable song-list including ‘Buenos Aires’, ‘Another Suitcase in Another Hall’, ‘Oh What a Circus’ and the anthemic ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’.
Directed by Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster, whose recent productions include The Wizard of Oz (Curve and The London Palladium) and Billy Elliot the Musical (winner of the UK Theatre Award for Best Musical Production and the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Regional Production), Evita at Curve this Christmas is set to capture the magic and scale of the original 1978 West End production, in Curve’s innovative style.
“While respecting the fact that this play is based on real people and historical figures, we wanted to really draw on the themes that this play presents. This idea of women in politics, nationalism, and greed. The idea that when you acquire power and wealth, it can be quite corrupting. These are all relevant and significant ideas today,” says Foster.
“Eva is somebody who literally came from nothing and through the celebrity that she acquired, through meeting this political figure Juan Perón, they became a power couple. Their politics and their view of the country changed the course of Argentina forever.”
Born Eva Duarte, Evita follows Eva on her road to stardom, meeting Juan Perón, and becoming one of the most powerful people in Argentina. Considering Eva’s legacy, Foster notes, “What’s really interesting about Eva and her life, is that in some ways, she was the first ‘influencer’. She reached a much wider, much more egalitarian demographic than someone like Juan Perón would have done without her, because she was a radio star, and her radio soap opera was being beamed into millions of homes around Argentina. Much like we see with celebrity today, she was able to connect with an audience and share the ideology of Perónism and a new political idea to a much wider audience. Part of our concept leans into that in a more contemporary aspect – It feels like an Evita for the 21st Century.”
Martha Kirby is playing Eva Perón in the production. She is returning to Curve after a fantastic run as Sandy in the 2019 UK tour of Curve’s Grease the Musical, and was recently seen as Raven in the UK tour of Bat Out of Hell.
On playing the legendary character, Kirby says: “It’s a massive role. It’s colossal, it’s almost mythological. People have such different perceptions of her, people either love her or hate her. I think it’s an incredible show.
“It’s powerful, it’s dramatic, it’s an epic musical that should be celebrated. ”
“I’m really excited about being back at Curve,” adds Kirby, “it’s really nice to be back in such a beautiful space.”
Foster adds, “It’s been lovely welcoming Martha back to Curve. First of all, her voice is phenomenal, but what she will bring is a really intelligent, fierce, courageous reading to the role. The bravery, the courage and the fearlessness with which she will approach this is really exciting.”
Curve has set a high bar with its productions in recent years, with award wins and an array of five-star reviews
for recent Made at Curve productions – so what can audiences expect from this new production of Evita? “It’s going to be electrifying,” says Foster, “It’s really one of the almighty nights out in the theatre. Our audiences are amazing, and we all know that Christmas at Curve is a really special time.”
So don’t keep your distance from Curve this winter. Dress up to the nines and see Evita. As Kirby finishes, “You’ll be in for a great time.”
For more information, visit: www.curveonline.co.uk
