Saturday 25th March 2017 and once again I’m back in Cardiff for my second performance of Evita at the New Theatre. Another glorious day, (wow two in a row, will wonders never cease), so ‘chillin’ in Cardiff Bay before making my way to town for the evening performance. This gives me the chance to take a few photos around the Bay (my other pastime), for a few hours while the sun shines.

After last nights  show, I talked a lot about the brilliant Emma Hatton, so it’s only right today to mention some of the other cast members, and how much I enjoyed their performances. Gian Marco Schiaretti’s portrayal of Che was superb, with quite a wide vocal range to his repertoire, a very impressive narrator, of sorts, with quite a big role to fill. Along with Kevin Stephen-Jones (Peron) and Oscar Balmaseda (Magaldi), the male leads impressed greatly, with commanding vocals, really getting the audience enthralled as the show builds. The female leads, (headed by Emma and Natalie Langston), also impressed (as I mentioned in yesterday’s blog).

The ensemble also have to have a mention, as they always do. These artists are so good at their job, they add that extra sheen to proceedings,  with beautiful harmonies ringing out over the auditorium on many of the fabulous songs in the show.  If you mention the ensemble then the orchestra also needs to be talked about. Again these guys are magnificent, always on time, making it so easy for the actors to know when to start their lines or burst into song.

Having now seen it twice, I’ve realised just how good this musical is. It has great singing with a superb score underpinning the whole performance. A great cast,who work so well together. Moments of sheer magic intertwined with a wonderful storyline, just grips an already enthralled audience. 

Even though I know what’s happening from scene to scene, I still get quite emotional at the right times. This shows me just how powerful live theatre can be, laughing one minute to tugging at your heartstrings the next. Evita has to be in that bracket of just brilliant storytelling, and you would expect nothing else from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, true masters of amazing British theatre. Totally fabulous every show they are involved with.

One last thing to mention before I sign off for another week, is just how phenomenal Emma and Gian were for the last show in Cardiff, they really did pull out all the stops tonight. It seems that all the cast were just superb to go with it. An absolutely fabulous evenings entertainment.