Complete casting has been announced for the Australian staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita, which will arrive at the Sydney Opera House September 13 starring Tina Arena in the title role. Performances continue through November 2.
Arena will star as Eva Peron in a cast that will also feature Tony Award winner Paulo Szot (South Pacific) as Juan Peron, West End actor Kurt Kansley (Miss Saigon) as Che, Michael Falzon as Magaldi, Alexis van Maanan as Peron's mistress, and Jemma Rix as the Eva alternate.
Prince has reunited with Evita’s original Tony-nominated choreographer Larry Fuller on the production, which replicates the original Tony-nominated scenic and costume designs by Timothy O’Brien and Tazeena Firth.
Read: HAROLD PRINCE AIMING TO BRING ORIGINAL EVITA STAGING TO BROADWAY AFTER INTERNATIONAL TOUR
Added for the tour is the Oscar-winning song “You Must Love Me,” written for Madonna in the 1996 film adaptation of Evita. The production also incorporates new orchestrations by David Cullen, who re-orchestrated Evita for a 2006 London revival that later played Broadway in 2012.
Opera Australia, John Frost, and David Ian present the Sydney run.
The Evita ensemble includes Justin Anderson, Anton Berezin, Michaerl Camilleri, Olivia Carniato, Rachel Cole, Allie Coste, Jade C outs, Kristian Crowe, Todd Dewberry, Rodney Dobson, Samantha Dodemaide, Laura Field, Zoy Frangos, Ashleigh Gurnett, Kate Maree Hoolihan, Georgina Hopson, Thomas Johansson, Thern Reynolds, Christopher Scalzo, David Sirianni, Tod Strike, Simon Tichelaar, Dean Vince, Rachel Ward, and Paul Whiteley.
Joining the design team are lighting designer Richard Winkler, sound designer Mick Potter, projection designer Duncan McLean, and musical supervisor Guy Simpson.
This new international tour of Evita launched last fall in South Africa with a separate company of actors. The tour (starring Emma Kingston, Jonathan Roxmouth, and Robert Finlayson) arrives in Hong Kong May 11–June 3, with a July 4–29 engagement at Tokyo’s Theatre Orb, where Prince of Broadway had its 2015 world premiere.
Prince previously told Playbill that he is hopeful this restaging of his original Tony-winning production will return to Broadway.
Szot has been a special guest performers on Playbill’s Broadway on the High Seas cruises. Tickets are now on sale for the Broadway on the Rhône River 2 cruise April 7–14, 2019, and the Broadway on the High Seas 10: Odyssey Through the Greek Isles cruise June 24–July 1, 2019. Lineups of top Broadway stars will be announced at a later date. Call Judy Perl Worldwide for tickets at (844) 561-3625. Visit PlaybillTravel.com for booking and information.
