A masterclass production of the Lloyd Webber/Rice classic

Evita

to read Nicholas Beeby's Director's Perspective, click here
to see the full cast list, click here

It is difficult now to appreciate how, in only a few short years, such a profound renaissance in the creative arts in Hurst has been achieved. Driven by quite exceptionally talented and committed staff, our pupils now regularly transform the College’s spaces and stages with outstanding dance, drama and music.

 

 Indeed, the selection of Evita as Hurst’s 2011 musical speaks of a deeply impressive ambition and confidence amongst both staff and students. For there is no let-up, no pause even for spoken dialogue in this wonderfully challenging through-composed modern pop opera. Eva’s story flows via a seamless sequence of music and lyrics that have given us so many songs that are now classics in their own right.

It is even more difficult now to conjure up the world in which a beautiful and charismatic girl, born out of wedlock in rural Los Toldos, clawed her way to the top of Argentina’s politico/military elite to become idolised as the champion of the poor whilst sating her lust for glamour, prestige and power.

Eva Peron died in 1952 and this Lloyd Webber/Rice collaboration appeared on stage in 1978 yet Evita remains as powerful and fresh as the day it was first performed and this performance was simply and unquestionably 'remarkable' in every sense of the word.

In short, the audience was treated to a truly professional production of as spectacular a piece of musical theatre as they could wish to see as some extraordinarily talented youngsters showed exactly how it should be done.

This was Hurst at its very, very best. As songsters, as actors, every single member of the cast put on a simply stunning performance.

The talent and capacity for hard work exhibited by every one of the cast and crew as well as the inspirational guidance and leadership of Neil Matthews, Nicholas Beeby, Nicola Dominy and their colleagues have, between them, created a masterpiece that it will be extremely difficult to match, let alone better.

What a challenge for 2012!

A Director's perspective

Nicholas Beeby, Hurst's Director of Drama and Director of this production of Evita writes:

After the success, not only of shows like Les Miserables, Godspell, The Sound of Music and West Side Story, but also the recent smaller shows (Boeing Boeing, Love's Labour's Lost, The Importance of Being Earnest, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Closer...), a discipline instils itself in the creative community in which one works. Consequently, the path we have trodden in rehearsing Evita has been a straight one. The cast came to the rehearsal process understanding where the bar was, and strove from the outset to reach, and indeed exceed that standard. As a director, that is certainly a gratifying position to be in. Mostly, I now believe, because of the nature of the creative environment at Hurst, it is a question of students just understanding implicitly what is expected of them and (to paraphrase Nike) they just do it! For my part, and that of my colleagues, it means that we get to work in an atmosphere of rigour, focus and commitment - surely a desirable position for anyone. It is truly rewarding to work with such a talented group of young people, who are clearly deriving so much from the rehearsal and performance experience. This will stay with them for the rest of their lives. This, however, must not detract from the huge amounts of time and hard work that have gone into this show - the cast and crew deserve the extraordinary success they achieved ...

Cast

Che - Miles Borrett
Younger Eva - Amie Shouler
Older Eva - Beatrix Waggott
Juan Peron - Richard Hadfield
Agustin Magaldi - James Mitchell
Peron’s Mistress - Olivia Beeby
President of Argentina - Edward Zeidler
Eva’s mother - Elena Hargreaves
Press Secretary - Charlotte Atkinson
Eva’s maid - Abigail Biggs
Eva’s sister - Chloe Burrows
Cabinet minister - Tom Campbell
Pope - Joshua Fowler
Peasant woman - Ella Gibson
Eva’s maid - Amelia Hammond
Eva’s lover - Hugo Healy
Aristocrat - Helena Leeper
Nurse - Madeleine Leeper
Reporter - Matthew Pearson-Miles
Priest - Zack Pinsent
Sick child - Isabelle Rayner
Eva’s lover - Guy Sandys-Renton
Italian ex-Admiral - Matthew Smith
French diplomat’s wife - Nicole Tuffin
Aristocrat - Hollie Trist
Peasant woman - Isabel Tunley-Lo
Eva’s maid - Meriel Tunley-Lo
Nurse - Yasmin Ziyada
All other parts are played by members of the company