Best Actress in a Musical: The big fizzle of the season is Argentine Elena Roger in “Evita.”The pint size diva was supposed to win all the awards in sight, but her voice is shot, and she left her charisma in Buenos Aires.
Don’t cry for me, Tony voters/ The truth is I’ve lost my big notes/And you can’t see me/Beneath the railing/Though I’m on tiptoe/And use a foot stool.
Who cares how you spell it....she'll forever be remembered (if she is remembered at all) as that woman who ruined Evita.
Funny, because I think she was the woman who absolutely OWNED the role and brought an incredible interpretation to it. I realize people feel differently about her, but saying she alone RUINED Evita is extremely harsh. Words cannot describe how incredible and talented I find her to be. Yes, I am in the vast minority here, but oh well :/ to each their own.
A lot of people care -- it says things about you, not her. (As does all spelling and grammar.)
Who said she 'ruined' it? I don't think ANYONE on that stage is doing a stellar job. The whole thing was blah. That leads me to believe that its more the fault of the direction than any individual actor.
We were unimpressed with the production and Elena Roger when we saw the show in London. Much preferred EP and the original Prince staging! Did think the dancing in this production was pretty amazing though!
Between the people saying the show is great and so is she, the show sucks and she's the best thing in it, and the show is otherwise fabulous but she's horrible, I can't decide if I have to see this for myself or avoid it like a Madonna and Tom Cruise headlined Lion in Winter directed by Mel Gibson with a set by Damien Hirst.
I saw it in London, not seen it on broadway, but in London I disnt have an issue with her voice (other than the diction and thick accent) in terms of belting - I don't feel it has to be belted if the actress is great. She was ok but didn't match the hype but I also thought it was the production overall in terms of set and direction that let it down. Matt Rawle as Che was all I really liked about it
if you have access to clear recordings of the show both here and in the west end, you will notice that she sounds pretty identical. her diction has improved slightly, i guess, but i didn't find it all too distracting in london, either.
She must have been, cause the reviews I've read and the postings I've seen and the video I've watched do not indicate the same fabulous performance I saw a couple years ago. Even more so, her Fosca in the Donmar's "Passion" is still the greatest Fosca I've ever seen (and I've seen most of the "greats"...)
Has anyone noticed that when you walk through the Marquis, Ricky Martin now is front and center in a very large picture and that you can barely see Roger in the background?
Spelling of her name aside, I think the OP is asking a legitimate question-and it's one I'd also like to know the answer to. When the Broadway production was first announced with Roger still playing the title role, I remember there being backlash from posters complaining about her vocals on the cast recording, saying that she really couldn't sing the role. Then there were another group of posters saying that they saw her in London and, although they acknowledged she didn't have the vocal power to sing the score like Patti or Elaine, Roger was giving an electric performance that was not to be missed. Now she gets to Broadway (yes, same show, same role, same director, etc), and very little of that buzz is still around. So maybe her performance really was better in London than Broadway. Seems very odd to me, but possible.
I hate to say it, but I have to agree with the majority. Elena is not doing a great job. I'd say she was mediocre when I saw her. Her acting didn't blow me away either. To be honest, I thought that Christina DeCicco was excellent in the role. Her voice was strong, her acting was great, and had the bite that I imagined for Eva. When I saw Roger, I was on the edge of my seat for the wrong reasons, meaning that I was terrified for her voice and wondered if she was going to hit the notes, and then when the performance was over my throat hurt just from listening to her. Yes, I am a huge Patti LuPone fan, but I went in with a totally open mind and really wanted to like Elena. However, like I said before, I thought DeCicco was excellent and plan on seeing her again.
I saw the show in London, though sadly Roger was out sick the whole week I was there. But I found the production thrilling.
I wish I'd seen Roger then, but I liked her on the cast recording and in the video clips I'd seen. I adored LuPone's Eva, but I was really intrigued by Roger's very different take on the role.
But when I saw the show a few weeks ago, I found the whole thing a let down. I thought Martin was, frankly, amateurish (though I thought he sang it remarkably well). I did find Roger to be a fascinating presence; I pretty much couldn't take my eyes off her, even when she wasn't the center of attention, as in "The Money Kept Rolling In."
But the white-washing of Eva's character, along with Martin's nice-guy Che, made the whole evening rather pointless. There was zero conflict and very little excitement. It was more or less a show about a nice lady doing the best she could for her country. And that wasn't the case in London.
All of which is to say that I think there is a great Eva in there somewhere, but she's been let down by the director. I don't know what happened in the Atlantic crossing, but even without Roger, the show I saw in London was infinitely more exciting than the sedate pageant at the Marquis.
bwayphreak234, you're not alone. I saw her in London at the end of the run in 2007 and was pleasantly surprised. I, of course, was in the mood to hear Patti LuPone's style, given that at that time I had already seen Patti in Sweeney and then later in 2007 at City Center in Gypsy; the different take on the show threw me off a little but I got into Elena's performance. Never got to see her in Piaf or Passion and regret that; she is a very talented person who is singing a difficult role. Her voice is not shot.
I saw her in London and thought she was terrific...not a belter in the LuPone/Paige mode but a gutsy actress, stunning dancer, commanding stage presence and with a distinctive, exciting voice. Alot of the buzz was about the fact that here finally was an Argentinian Eva, and her accent kind of added to that. Since then I had the privilege of seeing her as Piaf and Fosca and, frankly, those roles suited her blend of earthy, quirky dynamism rather better than Evita. Maybe that is why, seeing her on B'way just recently I was a bit disappointed. Possibly hidebound by the limitations of the writing, as opposed to the dramatic opportunities afforded by Gems and Lapine/Sondheim, her performance hasn't grown in the last 6 years and seems a trifle underpowered and mechanical. I still think she is an extraordinary talent and will see as much of her future work as I can. Incidentally, she was a comic knock-out as the Italian stewardess in the 2nd cast of the W/End Boeing Boeing. As I said, a great talent if not perhaps an ideal Evita.
I saw the production in London and was pretty disappointed with the entire show overall. I wasn't impressed with Roger and left the show wondering why she had received such strong notices.
When I was hearing her in the first preview, I thought I was listening more to Edith Piaf (whose music I love) than Eva Peron. from RC in Austin, Texas
How could she possibly have been better?? Unless between now and London roughly 6 yrs ago a frog got caught in her throat. This woman can not sing and definitley can not hit the notes required of Eva. Her acting and stage presence leaves a whole lot to be desired as well. Oh "she can dance" I was told at the first preview by someone involved with the show who was sitting in the audience and heard me panning Elena's performance at intermission. News flash: this is not a dance intesive role. There are only 2 dance numbers for Eva in the whole show. It's more than anything a vocal role and if you can't sing it it's over.
I saw her about six months into the West End run and sad to say, her performance was energetic but ultimately dreadful. Her voice was alternately screechy and threadbare and I suspected she was ill but 'went on' anyway. The praise she received in London was mostly from critics and commentators and not too much from theatergoers; indeed despite how I felt about her performance I give her a lot of credit for taking on such a difficult role on both Broadway and the West End that is not written in her mother tongue and comes with so many expectations from a vocal fan base.
That being said I recall seeing Stephanie Lawrence (said to be Hal Prince's favorite in the role)in 1982 at the Prince Edward; I was disappointed then as well; there was very little belting and she sang and acted the role in a 'Betty Boop' style; yet in Starlight Express, the short lived Marilyn, and in Blood Brothers she belted to the rafters.....
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Posted: 4/28/12 at 02:01am