Evita revival - Curve Leicester Christmas 2023

Dominic Cavendish gives three stars in the Torygraph, and has an alternative take to any notion that Foster is copying Lloyd in style. Watching the latter's Sunset, Cavendish writes "I definitely had moments of déjà vu, to put it mildly.". He's suggesting that it is in fact Lloyd who borrowed ideas from Foster's streamed, lockdown version of Sunset.

Lol. All the greats. Surprised not to see ATD there 😂😱🤦🏻‍♂️.

I saw a production of EVITA in London a while ago that used most of these:

"minimal set/workings of theatre visible/white lighting/video/modern chromatic dress".  

Can't remember the director's name.  Somebody Prince, I think.  Gerald Prince?    ; )

I saw yesterday’s matinee and I absolutely loathed this. Shame as Nikolai is a lovely guy and great to work with, but I really hated every aspect of this production. This kind of staging is really just not my cup of tea even when done slickly and stylishly. Stage looks bare, set is janky, performances are far removed from the characters I know. The singing was generally okay.

What was the deal with the muscle men? It was like someone staged Chicago based on a hallucinogenic fever dream they half remember.

Some shows simply don’t work with the Van Hove/Lloyd style and this is one of them.

1* and wish I’d left at the interval: it was only the long journey and the fact I had a time specific train back which kept me there. If anything the second act was worse.

Are we getting to a stage where we’d rather have no revivals than half arsed cheapo ones? I know that our expectations need managing in a recession and that it should be the impetus that creatives need to try and do more with less; but not if they just serve up bland, insipid, watered down retreads. I’m looking to Starlight to see if they actually spend any money or expend any creative energy on it.

You can at least pretend that it was your intention if a new show looks cheap & under-produced. It’s a stylistic choice. If you revive something that used to be shiny & nice with lesser production values it becomes blatantly obvious. Sunset avoids this by sounding glorious, filling the stage with quality talent and having a clear aesthetic. Perhaps ‘Evita’ should have tried a bit harder.

The set and costumes alone, as much as I hated them (and I really hated them) weren’t even the biggest faults in my opinion. It was just so soulless. The chap next to me described it as “hollow”.

The Kenwright tour was miles ahead of this. Dreadful.

Just back from queer Magic Mike!
I mean, Evita.

Loved it. Stylish, sleek, minimalist, atmospheric, sexual, creative, refreshing. Lit to within an inch of its life and exposing all the workings of this gorgeous building. Stunning.

Cast sublime.

Full report to follow at some point.

“ For performances from 17 - 21 and 30 December, you can book top price seats for £35, a discount of up to 28%. To take advantage of this offer, simply quote TOKEN35 when calling the box office on 0116 242 3595, plus you can use your Theatre Tokens!”

Oh yes I think it's a really nice theatre. It's new ish so it's still quite shiny and the wings and fly tower and all the lighting rigs that they expose in this (and many) productions look incredibly theatrical and atmospheric IMHO. After the show the sides of the stage literally lift up and as you leave you can see straight through from one side of stage to other. 

But the FOH spaces are nice too. Plenty of room, no pinch points, clean and spacious loos, bar and cafe space good. Really high ceilings. Inside excellent leg room, comfort and sightlines. Reminds me of many of the European theatres I go to as well as some of the other newer UK ones. A much more pleasurable audience experience that most London theatres and a joy to visit I'd say.

I love the feel of modern/industrial style buildings with glass/metal/clean lines and surfaces though so maybe it is just to my taste. And I love theatres where once the lights go down you're not distracted by the auditorium. 

It's a shame financial constraints stop them staging more "mega" productions as it's a venue with excellent facilities capable of staging the biggest productions. Of course many large scale tours like Miss Saigon and Les Mis tech and launch there.  

Very much so - in fact for a brand new building I was shocked by how cramped the FOH and loos were at Soho Place. FOH also looks cheap. Plus terrible legroom inside. I do think in 20 years it won't have aged well....

You took the words out of my mouth.