Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Ricky Martin and Elena Roger in the Broadway revival of “Evita.â€Are many tears being shed among Broadway lovers for the comparatively brief run of “Evita,†which announced a January closing on Tuesday? Probably not. The only people crying at the closing of this generally ill-received production are likely to be Ricky Martin fans who never made it to New York to catch the sw ivel-hipped Latin pop star on Broadway.
The original “Evita†ran on Broadway for more than three and a half years, and made stars of its two leads, Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. The current production â€" the first Broadway revival â€" will close after 10 months, because the producers decided they couldn't recast the show with star power sufficient to replace Mr. Martin's. That he was the draw â€" as opposed to Elena Roger, the virtual unknown who played the title character â€" became clear when Mr. Martin went on vacation and the grosses for the show plummeted.
“Evita 2.0†illustrates two pernicious trends in regard to Broadway today. The first and less pernicious: the knee-jerk importing of virtually any show that makes a splash in London. Michael Grandage, a talented director of straight plays new and old, has not r eally evinced an affinity for large-scaled musicals, and his lavish but focus-free production didn't really have much new to say about the material.
But it was a hit in London, so instead of giving an American director a crack at the first Broadway revival of a show that, although written by British men, only became a worldwide sensation when it opened on Broadway, the Grandage production was shipped across the Atlantic, just as was the lackluster Trevor Nunn revival of “A Little Night Music†a couple of seasons ago.
It didn't turn out to be such a safe bet: the London star, Ms. Roger, who came with the production, was a small-scaled Evita who could not sing the role with sufficient power, or act it with sufficient intensity, to make anyone forget the megawatt majesty of Ms. LuPone's performance.
Knowing, of course, that Ms. Roger would not be a draw at the box office, the producers sought a big name for the role of Che, and found one in Mr. Martin. This, of course, brings us to Pernicious Trend No. 2: the insistence on casting movie, television or pop names in Broadway shows, regardless of their appropriateness for the role. Mr. Martin was a far too chipper Che, and while he danced well and sang passably, he signally lacked the fervor and sardonic bite the role required.
Might “Evita†have been a bigger hit if the producers had the courage to cast the roles with accomplished musical theater performers who lack a national profile? “Evita†is, after all, a well-known entity : a star in its own right, you might say.
There are certainly performers out there with the requisite talents: Karen Olivo (“In the Heightsâ€), Idina Menzel (“Wickedâ€), Lea Michele (“Spring Awakening,†TV's “Gleeâ€), to name three possible Evitas. Norbert Leo Butz (“Catch Me If You Canâ€) has the singing and dancing chops for Che, not to mention the wicked humor, and while he's not remotely Latin, well, neither was Mr. Patinkin. Will Swenson, who is currently starring opposite Ms.Olivo in “Murder Ballad†Off Broadway, strikes me also as a performer with the gifts to make a superb Che.
But we may have arrived at a point where even brand-name musicals cannot be mounted without importing celebrities from other spheres. The days when a Broadway musical could make a new star, instead of merely presenting an already established one, may be gone for good.
Could another approach to reviving “Evita†on Broadway have resulted in a more successful production? Are there performers you would like to have seen given a crack at the show's celebrated principal roles?
This post has been revised to reflect the foll owing correction:
Correction: December 13, 2012
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the show in which Ricky Martin made his Broadway debut. He did so in "Les Misérables," not "Evita."
