There's been an upbeat buzz on the "Evita" set at Pioneer Memorial Theater for a good two weeks now.
But no one wants to talk about it.When asked about the chances of the run being extended, set designer George Maxwell hummed and hawed and left.
When asked if any commitments might keep him from staying with the show an extra week or two, Alex Santoriello (Che) quickly changed the subject to motorcycles.
"It's the juju," says Naomi Leach, PMT publicist. "They know they have something really good here and don't want to jinx it."
Well, so far the juju hasn't hurt the show a bit. Last week, even before the opening performance, PMT announced the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical will indeed be held over for an extra week. The show will now run from April 28 through May 22. Curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Matinees are at 2 p.m
In short, the production is quickly shaping up to be the local blockbuster for 1993.
"We still have a week before we open and things are going great," says Santoriello, the New York actor with several Broadway credits. "Janine Lamanna is great in the lead, the show has wonderful production values and the ensemble has been amazing. It's been a real pleasure being involved with this show. Besides, it's springtime in the Rockies. What more could you want?"
"Evita," of course, is the musical that nobody thought would fly. It's the story of Eva Peron, the rough-hewn - though gorgeous - wife of Argentine president Juan Peron. The story tells of her rise to power and - inevitably - her fall from grace.
It's a tale of political infighting, cheap deal-making and decadence. Not exactly the stuff of soaring show tunes and triumphant choruses. Eva Peron was a complicated, muddled soul who became the patron saint of Buenos Aires and the most misunderstood leader Latin America has likely ever produced. To help flesh her out, the show will feature some large multimedia segments that work as a documentary about her life. It is a civics lesson turned entertainment, and in less skillful hands "Evita" would never have won seven Tony Awards, though it might have garnered a plaque from an obscure historical society.
"The thing is, you can't get didactic in this show," explains Santoriello. "You have to focus on entertainment. People aren't going to come out to the show for a history lesson. The life has to come from the spirit. People say Che is something of a counselor to Evita in the show, but I wouldn't know how to play a counselor. I can't even let myself think about the music being beautiful. I have to come at everything dramatically. The romantic world of the theater has very little in common with the reality of the world."
Along with Lamanna - who has "done it all," from "Grease" to "Brigadoon" - director John Going's cast has James Judy as Juan Peron. Judy was in Broadway's "Into the Woods" and sang "La Boheme" with Linda Ronstadt at the New York Shakespeare Festival.
Steven Patrick Sater plays Magaldi - a Buenos Aires nightclub performer - and Jilette Dayton, the BYU ingenue, is the ousted mistress with the show's most melancholy solo, "Another Suitcase, Another Hall."
The ensemble features several PMT regulars, including Robert Peterson, Anne Stewart Mark, Frank Gerrish, Richard Mathews and Hannah Meadows. James Prig-more handles the music, Maxwell worked the sets and Jayne Luke does choreography.
Oh yes, and Santoriello plays Che Guevara, the Marxist renegade who tends to scold, correct and narrate the story of Evita throughout the show. In the original London production, Che's part was minor, but for the American premier Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice beefed up the role and gave the dashing, bearded revolutionary a leading part. His big solo is "High Flying, Adored."
"At heart," says Santoriello, "Che was simply a man who didn't like the idea of large countries controlling small countries. Today we see him as a historical martyr of sorts, but he was also Cuba's main diplomat for five years. He left Argentina a year after Eva Peron died.
"I've studied Che's life, but I try not to look at the way other actors played the role. I like to open myself up to the director's point of view and find the heart of things on my own."
This is Santoriello's third trip to Utah. He was here on a star-crossed motor trip that landed him in the state's no man's land at a rattletrap motel that could have belonged to Norman Bates.
"Scary stuff," he says. "Somebody came knocking on my door at 4 a.m. I didn't know who it was and didn't care."
Last year he made the trek west again, this time to play Gus the Theater Cat at the Capitol Theater in the touring version of "Cats" (Gus, you recall, transforms into Growl Tiger, the swashbuckling matinee idol who's all buff n' muscles.)
He was originally cast as a major figure in the touring production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" but was dropped at the last minute for someone with a more recognizable name. Ironically, the show San-toriello was supposed to be in and the one he is in were in Salt Lake City at the same time two weeks ago. And both happened to be Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals with lyrics by Tim Rice.
"I did go down to see `Jesus Christ Superstar' here," San-toriello says. "Normally I don't go to the theater. For me, going to the theater is like a brain surgeon going to the hospital to watch brain surgery for entertainment. I have other things I'd rather do when I'm not working. But I did want to see that show. And I thought Teddy (Neeley) and Carl (Anderson) were incredible. Carl's even better now. Where you have options to either go up or down with a melody, I take the low note, but Carl always goes up. Always."
As for this Lloyd Webber musical - "Evita" - local audiences have seen it before. Several years ago the touring production of "Evita" came through with bare-bones sets, simple costumes and several powerful singers. It did well enough that other shows followed, including "Cats" and "Les Miz."
The PMT version - which benefits from not having to be toted town to town - will be more elaborate than the road show. There's no "this-stick-represents-a-fence" stuff here. George Maxwell's set is tricky and intricate. The best way to describe it might be "inner-city chic." The muted magentas and mauves suggest a culture that is both downtrodden and hopeful. The quirky angles of buildings, towers and fire escapes say "Third World" from the word go.
An enormous newspaper in Span-ish covers the floor. Sliding props and blocks of scenery keep the scene changes fluid, quick and make for a seamless show. As with several PMT sets, this one will likely merit a round of applause on its own.
In the end, PMT artistic director Charles Morey sums up the feelings of the community and the cast about the show.
"We've had hits before, and we've extended shows before," he says, "but we've never had advance sales like we've had with `Evita.' It should be the most popular show in PMT history. I'm confident it will more than live up to its advance sales. It will be one of the most exciting theatrical experiences in our history."
Don't tell the actors and the stage crew, however.
They still have the "juju" to worry about.