As the houselights dim, the excitement in the air is palpable.

Audience conversation is curtailed by the presence of massive


murals above and to each side of us, as well as covering the
stage.

On the rich tapestries (in the style of Jose Clemente Orozco),
we see the people of Argentina--workers and the wealthy,
children, the

sick, the impoverished and the military. There is no overture,

instead we see a film on a huge screen which nearly covers the


stage. Beyond it, the feet and sounds of the theatre patrons.
The

black and white film sputters to a stop and we hear catcalls and

boos from the patrons. A man, silhouetted against the now empty


screen, announces ..."To inform the people of Argentina that Eva


Peron, spiritual leader of the nation, entered immortality at
20.25
hours today."


The screen majestically slides upstage while beaming down lights


to illuminate the grief-stricken patrons. The orchestra surges
into
the funeral dirge and swiftly, the stage is cleared of chairs

and men
in white shirts solemnly lead the funeral procession onstage and


open the coffin. The mourners move in a hesitation step samba

past the coffin, some crossing themselves, others, hysterical,


throwing themselves on the bier. Documentary newreel footage of


the actual funeral procession fills the screen. Into this,
weaves a
cigar smoking, fatigue-garbed man, who looks into the coffin,

then
moves downstage to confront the audience. 'Sing You
Fools,' is his

reaction to the crowd, Oh What a Circus his observation to the

audience. He informs us the glitzy years of Eva's rule were

empty
ones for the country. This all-purpose revolutionary is Che
Guevara,

who will strip the Peron years of their glamour, exposing the

crawling corruption beneath.


Suddenly it is 1935 and the evening light is fading outside a
tawdry

cafe in Junin, Argentina. A well-known tango singer, Agustin
Magaldi, is finishing his act (On This Night of a Thousand
Stars) to

the boredom of the patrons except for 15-year-old Eva Duarte,
her
three sisters and brother. Eva works her charms on him, and in


nothing flat, Magaldi finds himself with her suitcase in his
arms,

taking Eva to Buenos Aires. Eva's first look at the big
city is
passionate. She knew it would be like this. At last, the

possibilities
are endless. Through a clever revolving door (with a mattress on
one

side) the next few years are encapsuled in a procession of
lovers
passing through, leaving an ever-more glamorous Eva, ending with


her in a stunning white ostrich-feather peignoir and better and
better-
dressed men exiting her boudoir.


During this cynical spectacle, Che is there to comment
caustically
on each step upward. He is Everyman, the Stage Manager and
Greek Chorus. (Guevara never met Eva, but he was Argentine, from


a staunchly liberal family.)

Meanwhile, Juan Peron survives a ruthless game of musical
rocking
chairs (The Art of the Possible) with the rest of the G.O.U.

colonels
and becomes a power in the new government. He's the
principal
speaker at a Charity Concert (brilliantly staged facing into the


wings, so we can see the intricate maneuvering behind the
scenes), where he and Eva meet, calculatingly appraise each
other, and each decides I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You.
Eva
ruthlessly tosses out Peron's nubile mistress du jour, who
sings

the plaintive Another Suitcase In Another Hall.

As Eva and Peron move toward the top of the power structure, two

groups take notice--the offended army, and the aristocrats, who

have been ousted from power. The two groups interweave on the


stage with menace, but with no power to stop the couple
(Peron's
Latest Flame). Now installed in the luxury of Peron's
colonel's
quarters, a glamorous Eva in a cream satin robe convinces the


faltering Juan to take control (A New Argentina) because he has
the
workers on his side. And suddenly, there they are--surrounding
the
lush bed with signs, banners and flaming torches to proclaim
their
support.


Act 2 begins with The balcony pushed way downstage, the screen

behind it projecting the facade of the Casa Rosada. A crowd
below
is getting revved up by Peron on the balcony. Che gets in one


comment "One has to admire the stage management" before being

mugged and dragged offstage by Peron's henchmen. Then
everything stills and the crowd calls, 'Evita, Evita,'
and she
emerges, resplendent in a glittering white ball gown and tells
the

people she loves them (Don't Cry for Me Argentina). After
the song
but before her speech, we get a glimpse behind the scenes as the

center of the balcony revolves, the people move to the other
side,
the monstrous crowd is shown on the screen. It revolves again,
and
Eve delivers her rabble-rousing speech. She and Peron are now

married and he is the president of Argentina. When it's all
over, Eva
deals with one voice of dissent and then undresses and sits at
her
vanity (facing upstage) as Che asks her what now (High Flying,

Adored)? It's fascinating to watch her in repose (the only
time we'll
see her that way), but her self contemplation becomes self
confidence and she finishes the song for him with a verse
showing
her determination and ambition.

She dresses (Rainbow High) for her Rainbow Tour, and leaves
while
Peron and his 'yes' men watch newsreel footage of the
tour
projected on the screen. As Eva's reception in Europe
falters,
Peron is more preoccupied by the two little cuties he's
bouncing on
his knees. The consensus is 'yes' and 'no'
but no one cares, really.
She comes back as the sleek, all-business, ruthless Eva, who has

built a shield to protect her from slings and arrows. Che
questions
her motives, but she says, "Everything done will be justified by
my
foundation" and the scene segues into The Money Keeps Rolling

In (and Out) as Eva dispenses cash and other goods to the poor.

Che notes that though the foundation funds are growing, so is
Juan
and Eva's Swiss bank account. The aristocrats appear for
one more
try to oust her, and she has her goons undress them, turning
them
into the poor. After a staged religious tribute (Santa Evita),
Che
observes, "Get them while they're young, Evita. Get them
while
they're young."

This time, she whirls and confronts him and they berate each
other
as they do a waltz macabre (Waltz for Eva and Che), never
touching, but with this electricity connecting them. No one wins
as
she tells him to get on his bus, then cries to God about her
deteriorating physical health. Peron reminds the officers
Eva's kept
them where they are (Dice are Rolling). It's a shock to see
a
withered, shriveled Eva in her and Juan's adjoining
bedrooms while
she begs to be made vice president, because "I'm not that
ill..." but
Juan bluntly informs her she's dying. He slams the door
between
them, then comes in when she collapses onto the floor. He looks
in
the hall and swiftly closes the door so no one will see. Eva
goes on
the radio (Eva's Final Broadcast) to decline the nomination
officially,
then sees visions of her triumphs pass her, mockingly, on the

stage. She's helped to a hospital bed by a nurse and sings
of her
dreams (Lament) and dies. The embalmers move in, Che emerges
to stare at Peron, who leaves, realizing he's got to find
some way to
stop the erosion of his power base now that Eva's gone, and
Che
tells us "A monument to Eva was planned, but never completed,

Peron was ousted three years later, and Eva's body
disappeared for
17 years."