Evita in Concert - Drury Lane

Absolutely. We are actually saying the same thing. We saw different shows for certain, in the evening no cues were missed, it just wasn't as I said as good as I felt it could have been with a proper rehearsal /sets. There were some stand out moments along with the orchestra. But this was billed as a concert not a fully fledged production. We got something in between. Which was essentially a show still in rehearsal. 

I just lie the blame with the producers and these 'concerts' overall, not with a cast who don't know the show, expected to do staging, costume changes and learn a whole score / cues and to find out it was all in 4 days and one orchestra rehearsal. I don't think any other performer who hadn't already done the show like Matt & Jeremy would have been better in the circumstances. Evita is a very difficult part and it's churlish and somewhat cruel for the producers to expect for anyone to get that under a belt in such a short time. Auli'i said she'd never heard of the show before being cast in her interview on this morning. That was never going to come off in a week and the producers should know better. Especially as you say with the price of some of the tickets. So I agree if they continue to do this cast people who know the show or have done it in the past so they have a chance! 

I was there last night and would give it a solid 3 stars.

Even with a couple of performances under their belt, it felt/sounded quite unrehearsed with missed cues, wrong words/lyrics and some pretty cringy harmonies, especially in "Goodnight and Thank You" where at one point, both Matt and Auli"i could not locate their notes at all.

Auli"i was a misfire but with potential. She got stronger in the 2nd act but simply didn't have the voice of the presence for a solid Eva, even in a concert version. Yes, she could manage the high notes, but everything else was often pitchy, occasionally sharp and she was clearly challenged in terms of keeping in tempo or on the mark with the orchestra. That said, if she had a proper six weeks to rehearse and a decent director, there might have been potential....and she might have had an easier time with the lyrics which she muddled on more than a couple of occasions. 

The staging was quite amateurish. What they were doing with "Art of The Possible" is anyone's guess but they clearly thought musical chairs was too much of a challenge. And having several entrances upstage with the conductor nearly centerstage meant 1/3 or more of the house, at least in the stalls, could not see what was happening. 

Matt Rawle was ok and like Auli"i, was stronger in the second act. "And The Money Kept Rolling In" was thrilling despite some weird choreography happening stage right (don't try and stage a crowd scene complete with bodyguards when you only have 8 players....totally naff).

The saving grace was the orchestra which sounded rich and full, in spite of some uneven tempos.

At the prices they were charging, this really should have been a LOT more professional and not something that looked thrown together in a day.

Saw the matinee, having seen several full stage versions of Evita, I was really curious to this concert version and expected/hoped the music to sound glorious (let alone in this iconic theatre), and I think this was absolutely the case! The orchestra sounded stunning - especially in the big songs - like did the actress who played Evita too (she felt so at ease in those well known songs). Strong performances from the other leads, especially the actor/singer who played Peron stood out giving a masterclass performance to the part. Not to forget the amazing, stunning ensemble - pitch perfect in my opinion, not in the least in the choreographed parts!

I read somewhere in the comments above about 4 days of rehearsals - gosh even more remarkable how they did put together this semi-staged version for only 3 shows!
Some of the performers I understand were already (very) familiar to the show, but even with much professional experience, it must have been challenging, not in the least the part of Eva Peron.

Really poor matinee performance yesterday. Lead roles were worst especially Evita, to the extent that I wondered if they were hungover. The lady who sung Another Suitcase was far better. Acting was wooden and there was absolutely no chemistry between the lead characters. Felt unrehearsed and pitching was awful at times. Very disappointed.

It was at this point that I genuinely thought I might actually be losing my mind... and my hearing. I thought the issue must be with me because it couldn't possibly be as bad as I thought I was. A leading lady who shouts, screams, can't reach the notes and isn't on a *large* proportion of notes she could reach. How can you let that go ahead. 

These concerts always have issues so, on one hand, I don't know why I'm surprised. On the other hand, people are paying real money, as much, and in many cases, more money than they would for a longer running production and shouldn't have to settle for this.

You'd think that after a terrible run of artistic outcomes and even more dreadful publicity that ALW/Really Useful would be demanding that everything is top notch, or just vetoing it if in any doubt. Someone at RUG needs to get a grip - including on their main asset ALW.

I have a feeling there are a lot of wannabe producers out there who are trying to make a buck by putting on all these one off, highly priced, under rehearsed, concerts instead of actually doing any producing: or putting the time and effort into raising enough money to fund a proper “production”. They blag themselves a half famous name (usually from the states) sling it on the poster and hope for the best. It’s getting so boring.
If they were smaller, cheaper “try out” concerts, to discover ways the show can work, to rework old classics etc, I might understand. But I’m afraid all I see here is lazy greed.

I don't think it's been done before, but what RUG needs is to recruit an Artistic Director. 

Mods - can we add the star rating please to see what the average consensus is for this?!

Surprised so many people found this SO bad.

I thought was such an enjoyable evening, the orchestra and score sounded wonderful. Production values for a concert I thought were very high.

The only mistake was casting Auli’i!

Yes, but "step right back in and protect his legacy" by employing someone of talent and taste, and then leaving them to it.  Someone who can say...hmm, Bill Deamer....average...Producers - come back with a stronger idea and we'll happily consider it again".