Alex Santoriello remembers the time he auditioned for Andrew Lloyd Webber. Santoriello was going to sing “High Flying Adored” from “Evita.”
“I walked to the front of the room, looked at Webber and the other people sitting at a table in front of me,” Santoriello said. “The music started, I was all set to sing four verses, but, I forgot the lyrics.”
Santoriello tried to fake his way through. It didn’t work. Andrew Lloyd Webber had two words for him: “Thank you.”
Santoriello didn’t get the part, but now the Broadway veteran who lives in The Villages is directing “Evita” – with Dawn DiNome and Mary Jo Vitale alternating in the title role. Santoriello also plays the role of Che. The musical, with music by Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, runs March 20-22 in the Savannah Center.
Joan Knapton’s KC Productions produces the show, which features performances at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Most of the six shows are sold out, although some tickets remain for afternoon performances.
“Evita” is a huge local undertaking with a cast of about 35; a 10-piece orchestra and a crew of nearly 15 people. Violet Ray does the choreography. The cast also features Tim Casey as Juan Peron, Kathleen Kane as the Mistress and Dave Saxe as Magaldi.
But the focus is on Evita Peron, who grew up in poverty as Eva Duarte, became a movie star and eventually married Juan Peron, the military dictator of Argentina. She was a hero to the poor and disenfranchised who called her Evita. She died from cancer at 33.
When Evita died, the New York Times described her as: “ambitious, ruthless, untiring, clever and strikingly beautiful.”
Patti LuPone became a star playing “Evita” in the 1979 Tony Award winning Broadway musical. Madonna played Evita in the movies in 1996.
Now, Vitale and DiNome tackle the role of Evita, and her story is laced with power, sexual politics, love and tragedy.
“It’s hard to find the real Evita, so much of her is myth,” DiNome said. “What I’m trying to bring out is the human side of her.”
“I love playing Evita,” Vitale said. “If I was in her position, I would hope I could be just as strong. She’s a complicated human being who was loved by millions of people. But just because millions love you, that doesn’t mind you have found love.”
Che Guevara, the Cuban revolutionary, narrates much of the play. He criticizes Evita as a manipulator and liar, who uses men to climb the political and social ladder. Peron was 48 when he began an affair with Evita, then 24.
“Che is the conscience of this piece,” Santoriello said.
Despite Che’s criticism, Evita not only achieved power, she used it to help the poor and broke ground for women in politics and society.
“There’s an arc to Evita’s character,” said Tim Casey, who plays Juan Peron. “In the beginning she uses everyone and reaches the pinnacle of power. She develops this cult of celebrity. She becomes a populist who tries to help people. Then she loses her health.”
Her relationship to Peron also changes.
“Their relationship goes through three phases: lust, like and, finally, love,” Casey said.
Vitale believes the musical and Evita is about “manipulation.” Vitale said Evita can be a manipulator, or be manipulated. “It’s all part of the game, and she knows how to play it.”
“Like they say, ‘Don’t hate the player; hate the game,” said DiNome, who gives Evita the benefit of age.
“All this was happening when she was in her 20s,” she said. “There is a human side to Evita no matter what she did. She died at 33 and was worshipped by the poor who wanted to make her saint.”
Saint or sinner, the Webber/Rice musical offers memorable songs. The list includes “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” “Oh What a Circus,” “Buenos Aires” and “Another Suitcase in Another Hall.”
Another song from the 1996 movie – “You Must Love Me” – will be in the production.
“I think that song expresses what she feels; and what she is all about.” DiNome said.
All that was missing in Evita’s life were children.
“She never had children, but felt her children were the poor and the needy,” Vitale said. “So much of Evita is a mystery. She’s so fascinating and so complicated.”
Just like the musical.
