What, you might reasonably ask, does a Broadway show have to do with a Travel Blog?

Well, the connection is tangential at best, but here goes – the theatre is located within the Marriott Marquis hotel on Times Square, and I travelled to get here. Do those two count?

A bit of history

As some of you may know the original Evita record was a ‘concept album’ and so not really designed as a theatre production. It was launched in my (late) teenage years and when eventually it became a stage show, I was able to book a ticket for a preview. I was about 17 years old at the time and remember coming out of the evening having really enjoyed the show. It was, of course, the original London cast as they like to call it.

What brought me to Broadway

As some of you may know a number of Boarding Area bloggers are in New York for BlogWorld and I decided to come along.

Booking the ticket from the UK

Booking the ticket was relatively easy, but as I did not have a US billed credit card I could not print my own ticket and so had to collect it at the box office. The ticket price was $137, with a $3.20 processing fee and a $2.50 International Will-call charge. Upon arrival at the theatre, I showed my passport and was given my ticket.  I had chosen the second floor, on the aisle, in the balcony or Mezzaine.

The Show

My perception was that most people had come to see Ricky Martin and not everyone knew the show. I suspect some people had obtained tickets through tkts as it was not full (probably 1/2 – 1/3rd empty).

In truth it is hard not to love a show that I know so well. The staging felt small, I suspect because the Prince Edward in London is a huge space. However, with 20+ members of the chorus the stage felt full during the big numbers.

The choreography was excellent, with some very strong elements, although these were often repeated.

Now, the stars. The New York Times did not rate Ricky Martin’s (Che) performance, but I felt he was excellent. A strong voice, clear lyrics and what seemed to be a performance he enjoyed delivering to a very enthusiastic crowd.  As for Elena Roger (Evita) I felt her voice lacked strength and sounded ‘whiny’ at times. As for Michael Cerveris (Peron), he sounded like a Russian General sometimes, rather than an Argentine dictator.

So, worth a visit, but get your seat at tkts.

Oh, and one final travel connection

In the song ‘High Flying, Adored’ there are the following lines:

No we wouldn’t mind seeing her at Harrod’s
But behind the jewelry counter, not in front

Now, on one of my very first trips to Buenos Aires I was walking the street and found the (then empty) Harrods store (spanish language site). It seemed odd, out of place, and a little sad.