EVITA

The long awaited and welcomed return of Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music to Bentley Music Academy this December collaborating in one of the all-time great musicals, EVITA by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Directed by Jason Langley and conducted by Kevin Field, this semi-staged concert performance is the third such event between BMA and CQU and will feature emerging talent from Malaysia and Australia, side-by-side with the Orkestra Radio Televisyen Malaysia and dancers from Sri Wilayah Ballet Centre.

Eva Perón, Evita (little Eve or Evie) to her beloved people – virginal Marian saint or scheming Jezebel harlot? Perhaps the closest we can come to the truth is as reflected by her original namesake, the first woman, as Eva herself reflected the fullest realisation of the potentiality of a woman in a man’s world.

Her story, as presented in this musical, begins at the end as the whole of Argentina is plunged into deepest mourning as Eva’s death is announced nationwide. The action then moves back to the beginning to Eva’s humble origins in the hardscrabble provincial town of Junín, where a young Eva Duarte persuades a tango singer named Agustín Magaldi to let her accompany him on his train back to Buenos Aires, where Eva is enraptured by the overwhelming sights and sounds of the city and pledges to plunge herself headlong into the new experiences offered.

Such new experiences apparently included new paramours as Magaldi is cast aside by an ambitious Eva who enters into serial relationships with a stream of partners able to provide her with steadily better opportunities, as she climbs the greasy pole of class-ridden, macho 1940s Buenos Aires society in the only way an unlettered and impoverished girl from the provinces was able to. Eva’s rising career coincided with an Argentina in political turmoil, where the meteoric career of an ambitious colonel named Juan Perón paralleled Eva’s own rise.

Fate was bound to bring these two determined souls together, and sizing each other up quickly, Eva and Juan enter into a partnership of mutual attraction and benefit. Despite the formidable forces arrayed against them, Eva and Juan’s strong appeal with the descamisados (the ‘shirtless ones’ who form the oppressed, downtrodden, and until now forgotten working classes of Argentina) and their political platform of social justice convinced millions to vote for a new Argentina led by the Peróns.

Victorious in the general election of 1946, and after proclaiming the revolutionary policies of the Peron presidency, Eva undertakes a glamorous and gruelling Rainbow Tour of Europe, and usurps the Argentine oligarchs’ philanthropic activities with her own foundation which worked tirelessly to feed, clothe, educate, and heal the descamisados. Her efforts on behalf of the poor coupled with an all-pervasive cult of personality result in Eva’s profile reaching unprecedented heights just as her health falters. The battle between ambition and strength proved to be a losing one for Eva, as power slips from her grasp, and she must come to terms with the decisions she has made as her brief but brilliant life gutters out all too soon.

SHOW DETAILS

Presented by Bentley Music Academy & Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music

Date & Time:
16th & 17th December 2022 @ 8pm
17th & 18th December 2022 @ 3pm

Venue: Pentas 1

Tickets: RM68 / RM88 /RM108

Buy Tickets
Online Purchase: https://www.cloudjoi.com
No phone sales and over the counter sales. E-tickets only.

Enquiry
WhatsApp +6018 227 7212 

Covid-19 Related SOPs
klpac has Covid-19 measures including Covid-19 testing for the cast and crew, sanitisation and disinfection, and going contactless. Mask-wearing is recommended. Venue reserves the right to deny entry if you’re found to be Covid-19 positive or High-Risk status on MySejahtera. No refund will be made to those who have purchased tickets.

For the latest Covid-19 & SOP guide, go to https://www.klpac.org/about-us/your-visit/.

THE TEAM

Music Director & Co-Producer (BMA) – Kevin Field
Project Lead for BMA – Anis Zakaria
Senior Business Development (BMA) – Joelle Phua
Director (CQCM) – Jason Langley
Vocal Coach & Co-Producer (CQCM) – Nicole Thomson
Choreographer (Main Company) & Dance Captain (CQCM) – Emma Goding
Theatre Technician (CQCM) (plus 2 students) – Simon Pope
Music Director ORTM – Datuk Haji Mokhzani Ismail
Director of Sri Wilayah Ballet Centre – Madam Yupin Lee