Two actresses share 'Evita' role at Lincolnshire's Marriott Theatre
Patti LuPone became a star for her Tony Award-winning turn in the 1979 Broadway musical “Evita.” Yet it was a fraught time, and LuPone said other company members schemed to upset and usurp her.
LuPone didn't name names in her 2010 book “Patti LuPone: A Memoir.” But the backstage drama was likely fueled by LuPone having to share the role of the controversial Argentine first lady Eva Perón because the rock-opera score proved to be so vocally taxing.
Many subsequent “Evita” productions — including the current revival at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire — also split the role, minus the machinations.
Actresses Hannah Corneau and Samantha Pauly both laughed when asked if they could foresee a backstage rivalry developing between the two. Corneau makes her Marriott debut as the main Eva, while Marriott veteran Pauly performs in the ensemble and goes on as the alternate Eva mainly for Wednesday and Sunday evenings and Thursday matinees.
“Hannah and I also already have a really great relationship where we're both aware that we're doing this together,” Pauly said. “Even though I might be the cover, I still get my performances, so we are both doing the show and sharing the part.”
“Because it is such a vocally demanding role, it's appropriate,” said Corneau about composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and librettist Tim Rice's Tony-winning score that features songs such as “Don't Cry for Me Argentina” and “Rainbow High.”
“I started rehearsing the role a month before I came here just to really iron out exactly how I'm going to sing it and to build up stamina.”
“It's nonstop,” Pauly added. “Eva has an incredible range in the show. She sings incredibly low and then she's belting her face off two bars later. It's very hard, but it helps to know there's two of us in case something happens. It's a beast of a show, that's for sure.”
Alternates performing in hit shows are nothing new. Currently on Broadway, alternates are deployed for two shows a week for Christine in “The Phantom of the Opera” and for the title role of “Hamilton.” Shows featuring kids such as “Matilda The Musical” and “Billy Elliot” also use alternates, in part because of child labor laws.
The technical singing demands of “Evita” aren't the only difficulty. As dramatized by Rice and Lloyd Webber, Eva Perón is an acting challenge as she steely rises from an ambitious illegitimate country girl to the glamorous first lady to President Juan Peron (Larry Adams). Each step of the way, Eva's actions are questioned and commented on by the firebrand narrator Che (Austin Lesch).
“I've never seen the show, which I count as a blessing because I'm physically given the opportunity to interpret it the way I see fit,” said Corneau, who admits to studying “Evita” cast recordings featuring LuPone and Elaine Paige on the 1978 London highlights album.
“I'm so thrilled to be playing such an iconic role,” Corneau said. “She's so inspiring and it's so relevant in today's society when we see more women rising to power and speaking out for what they believe in.”
Pauly previously performed the role of The Mistress in a Jedlicka Performing Arts Center production of “Evita” at Morton College in Cicero. She auditioned at the Marriott for the same role and was surprised when they asked her at callbacks to look at Eva instead.
“It wasn't a role I was expecting to play just yet,” said Pauly. “I can't imagine having to do all eight shows every week. It would be a nightmare.”
“Evita”
<b>Location:</b> Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, (847) 634-0200 or <a href="http://marriotttheatre.com">marriotttheatre.com</a>
<b>Showtimes:</b> 1 and 8 p.m. Wednesday; 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 4:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday; runs Wednesday, April 13, through June 5
<b>Tickets:</b> $50-$55