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The Villages
Friday, March 29, 2024

Mary Jo Vitale hits career high in opening of ‘Evita’ in The Villages

“Evita” is a musical filled with the convoluted moral ambiguity of its three main characters: a slutty saint, a horny dictator and a rascally radical.

Put them all together and you have Evita Peron, Juan Peron and Che Guevara – as defined by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber in “Evita. The show opened Tuesday in Savannah Center.
Mary Jo Vitale, in what I consider the most impressive performance of her Villages’ career, turned Evita from a statue stereotype into a flesh and blood human being. She somehow conveyed the beauty, manipulation and wonder of Evita.

Mary Jo Vitale played the title role of “Evita..”

“Evita” will be presented again Wednesday and Thursday at 2 and 7 p.m. in Savannah Center. Dawn DiNome will alternate with Vitale in the lead role each day. All shows are sold out.

Vitale, in an immensely complicated singing role – with no spoken dialogue — hit the high notes with conviction and empathy. She tackled the standard “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” with style and grace. But I thought Vitale was even better on Evita’s bittersweet and painful plea, “You Must Love Me.”
Vitale took us on a tumultuous journey through Evita’s life in Argentina. It went from Evita’s teenage days; to sleeping her way to the top, to helping the poor, her political rise and, finally, the moment of her death.

Alex Santoriello as Che, left, with Tim Casey as Juan Peron and Mary Jo Vitale as Evita.

Alex Santoriello, with his commanding stage presence and Broadway bravado, breathed fire into the role Che. Santoriello also directed “Evita” for KC Productions and producer Joan Knapton. The Che character acts as kind of a one-man Greek chorus and social revolutionary.
Santoriello’s Che prowls the stage with rebellious grace. His every move serves a purpose of heightening the drama. His vocals – as on the rousing “Oh What A Circus” — do more than tell a story, they set a musical pace.

And let’s not forget Tim Casey.
Juan Peron was a bloated, brutal dictator with a passion for mistresses and young women. But, somehow, he fell in love with Evita, a woman half his age.

Mary Jo Vitale as Evita talks things over with Tim Casey as Juan Peron.
Dave Saxe played Magaldi, one of Evita’s lovers.

Casey captures Peron’s rigid authority and unflinching quest for power. It’s hard for this dictator to be a sympathetic figure, but in the end, with Evita dying, Casey makes you believe the guy’s heart is breaking.
Kathleen Kane also shined in a brief role as one of Peron’s mistresses. She sang “Another Suitcase In Another Hall,” with a sense of lost dignity.
Dave Saxe played Magaldi, a singer and Evita’s first lover. Saxe provided a dose of a big band Latin sound as he sang, “On This Night of A Thousand Stars.”

Violet Ray’s choreography added to the Argentine flavor of the production. This show featured a big cast of about 30 performers, and Ray was able to mold and move them in dynamic fashion.
There were a few opening-day technical glitches but none that detracted from the production.
“Evita” also featured a nine-piece orchestra, conducted by Kevin O’Connell. The live music gave this production a real authenticity. The musicians: Jerry Bruno, Dave Czohara, Alan Fisher, John Gaffney, Joe Mankowski, Bill Neale, Mike Petix, Thomas Pizzi and Alex Regazzi.

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