Katerina McCrimmon, who opened the national tour of Funny Girl in the title role, will play Eva Per贸n in the Muny staging of the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical Evita this summer.
Directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, the Tony-winning musical will play the Missouri venue July 18-24.
McCrimmon will be joined by Tony winner Paulo Szot (South Pacific) as Per贸n, Omar Lopez-Cepero (On Your Feet!) as Che, and Daniel Torres (Sweeney Todd) as Magaldi. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.
The through-sung musical follows Eva Duarte, an illegitimate young
girl from Los Toldos, who rose from anonymity to become an actress and
eventually the First Lady of Argentina before her tragic death from
cancer at the age of 33. Song titles include "Don鈥檛 Cry for Me Argentina," "Buenos Aires," "Rainbow High," and "High
Flying Adored," among others.
Evita originally premiered as a two-LP recording in 1976 starring Julie Covington in the title role and Colm Wilkinson as Che. Harold Prince staged both the original London and New York productions of the musical, which made stars of Elaine Paige in London in 1978 and Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone the following year on Broadway, where it won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Lloyd Webber and Rice had previously collaborated on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar. Evita would mark their last major collaboration together.
Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce starred in the 1996 film version of Evita. A 2012 Broadway revival starred Elena Roger and Ricky Martin. The most recent New York production, staged at City Center in November 2019, featured Solea Pfeiffer and Maia Reficco splitting the titular role under the direction of Sammi Cannold. Jamie Lloyd will direct a production at the London Palladium this summer.
The Muny staging will also have associate direction and choreography by Lee Wilkins, music direction by conductor Ben Whiteley, tango choreography by Junior Cervila, assistant choreography by Natalia Nieves-Melchor, scenic design by Adam Koch, costume design by Brian C. Hemesath, lighting design by Paige Seber, sound design by John Shivers and David Patridge, video design by Steven Royal, and wig design by Kelley Jordan.
The Muny artistic staff includes Artistic Director and Executive Producer Mike Isaacson, Associate Artistic Director Michael Baxter, Director of Production Tracy Utzmyers, and Music Supervisor Michael Horsley.
Season 107 at The Muny includes Bring It On: The Musical (June 16-22), Come From Away (June 26-July 2), Disney鈥檚 Frozen (July 6-14), Evita (July 18-24), Dear Evan Hansen (July 28-August 3), La Cage aux Folles (August 8-14), and Jersey Boys (August 18-24).
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