Evita

Movie, Musical – US | 1996

A classic historical musical that turned into a movie depicting the life of the former First Lady of Argentina, Eva Perón, starring Madonna, based on the concept album produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in 1976. The story follows her depressing childhood in a small town, her path to success as an actress, and finally married to the president of Argentina, assisted as a political leader from 1946 to 1952 when she died at age of 33. Throughout her political career, she stood on the labour’s side, supported woman’s rights, and set up a foundation for charity, which gained her huge praise for her work in the country.

“Oh what a circus, oh what a show
Argentina has gone to town
Over the death of an actress called Eva Péron“

“Oh What a Circus” Performed by Antonio Banderas, Chorus, and Madonna

The movie was portrayed by a narrator called Ché, starring Antonio Banderas, who also acted as a critic and a passerby of an Argentine. Starting with the enormous public mourning for Eva’s death, Ché was curious about her devotion to the country and what kind of goddess had lived among the citizens, criticizing her did nothing for years. The entire song expressed the emotion of sarcasm and anger with a fast tempo until at the end of the song, Eva calmly sang “so share my glory, so share my coffin”, as a reply to the condemnation.

“Stand back, Buenos Aires
Because you oughta know whatcha gonna get in me
Just a little touch of star quality“

“Buenos Aires” Performed by Madonna

Eva was born as an illegitimate child in a lower-class family, who lived in a poverty town, being isolated and discriminated against in childhood made her ambitious to seek a better life after growing up. She wanted to be successful and eager to move to the big city of Bueno Aries. Although she was being fragile and lost at the beginning, she comforted herself and found her path of being an actress, getting more job opportunities through multiple influential men from Argentina, and rose in fame as “The greatest social climber since Cinderella” which led to meet her husband Juan Perón, starring Johnathon Pryce, an Argentina army general, also a potential president-to-be.

“I’d Be Surprisingly Good for You“

“I’d Be Surprisingly Good for You” Performed by Madonna and Jonathan Pryce

However, their relationship was not as smooth as others. The military troops, the bourgeoisie from the upper class, criticized Eva who was taking advantage of Perón as a backstreet girl. During Perón was arrested for political persecution, she encouraged and promoted Perón to be elected as the president through her fame and passionate speech in the country. Later on, she assisted Perón in his presidency by standing at the workers’ side and listening to the people, which gained great support from the working class against the inequality between the poor and the rich in the country and led to a new Argentina.

The iconic scene was the balcony of Casa Rosada where Eva and Perón first gave their speech to the Peronists after Perón won the election in 1946. Madonna was standing on the balcony of genuine Casa Rosada in Burneo Aires singing “Don’t cry for me Argentina” twice in the show, the last time was sung when Eva was ill and soon to die, numbered “Eva’s Final Broadcast“ in the musical.

“People of Europe,

I send you the Rainbow of Argentina“

“Rainbow Tour” Performed by Antonio Banderas, Gary Brooker, Peter Polycarpou, Jonathan Pryce, Madonna, and John Gower

The classic European political tour during Perón’s regime, also known as “The Rainbow Tour”. Eva dressed up elegantly as an ambassador for Argentina and travelled around different countries in Europe for political visits. She gained mixed receptions, she was well received in Spain but faded in Rome, somehow this tour topped her glory since then. This song was sung by Ché featuring Perón’s aides, arguing about her visit was being accepted by those European countries. The answer is…

During the period of her regime, as the First lady of the country, she was against the bourgeoisie and helped the “descamisados”, a.k.a. working class, by providing them opportunities to study, work, and all sorts of welfare that they should have deserved. She managed to upgrade the utility facilities so that people could be able to have electricity and clean water for their households. She also improved the medical system, arranging vaccination for people from preventing illness. Despite Eva devoting her life to serving her people, her intention was still being queried by cynics. Due to the political crisis and her physical issues, multiple chaoses occurred over the course of time.

“I kept my promise,

don’t keep your distance“

“Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” Performed by Madonna

In 1952, Eva was diagnosed suffering from terminal cancer and was hospitalized for her remaining days of life. There was an imaginary scene that she was having a dance of waltz with Ché, where they confronted and she explained she had tried her very best for the people of the country but sadly the illness interfered with her from helping the Argentines. This scene was epic and beautiful.

This is a classic theatre musical inspired by the concept album written in 1976 with lyrics created by Tim Rice, who was known as the writer of the song “A Whole New World” for Disney, while the music was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who was well-known for the musical composer of “The Phantom of the Opera (1986)”, this duo cooperated to create this classical Evita. Nearly all dialogue in the show was delivered by the lyrics, while some were changed from the original to fit the script, the story was narrated following to the mood of different music genres like Latin, Ballad, and Rock, with phenomenal lyrics to create a vibe for the audience.

“No one else can do it like I can”

“High Flying, Adored” Performed by Antonio Banderas and Madonna

Another surprise in this film is Madonna, some trivia said she was pregnant during filming but she even danced in high heels for so many scenes effortlessly. In fact, she wrote a long letter to introduce herself to the director Alan Parker to get the role, as she saw herself in so many ways similar to Evita in particular, and just like the outro of “Flying adore”, she defended herself confidently for her story was just “at the right place at the perfect time”. Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia, the Spanish co-actor Antonio Banderas was introduced to Hollywood by her in 1991 and he started to learn English since then which in the film you won’t have a clue about it. This is a film produced by a bunch of legends for the legend, worth watching if you haven’t.