The whole play would have made more sense to someone who hadn't seen it if they had kept the funeral scene in; after all, Evita's hatred of the middle class is the whole underpinning of the story. Later in the narrative, instead of bombs and marches and destruction, this production used a backdrop of factories and workers. It was interesting to see another viewpoint, but detracted from the point that Evita was at her threshold of power while everything was falling apart for everyone else; that was the dynamic that I think was missing from this version.

The plot was hard to follow and Eva's voice was shrill and loud. Since the entire play is done through song, it's important to make sure the audience can understand the words the performers are singing, which we couldn't. And every time Eva sang it actually hurt my ears. Also, this might just be nitpicky, but I was sitting on the end of an aisle, and the curtain wasn't opened all the way, so every time they did anything on stage right, I couldn't see it.

It seemed the only dynamic was forte and you couldn't understand a thing they said. The orchestra was loud, the singers were loud, Evita was shrill and I actually had to cover my ears frequently to soften it so it wouldn't hurt. I was looking forward to my daughter seeing Evita the first time. But she didn't understand anything that was going on because it was rushed and chaotic. I don't know if the sound board was off, the director's interpretation was off or what, but it was terrible. I wanted to leave at intermission but we stuck it out hoping it would get better. Bad decision. Finally later that week I rented Evita and she cried and loved the story. FYI I have been a season ticket holder for many years, a voice major in college and play piano. I have generally loved or at least appreciated every show I have seen at the Kansas City Broadway series until now.

I love musical theater and Evita is my absolute favorite. But from the first notes, this performance was a disappointment. The orchestra was rushed, the trumpets were flat and the voice of Che was weak and uninspired. Evita was shrill and honestly hard to listen to. I could go on, but just know we were not the only guests to leave at intermission.

The above three 1 star reviews are ALL true. May change my mind about attending any of the shows next year in fear that this show may be a sign of things to come.

Not happy with Saturday night’s show of Evita. As a life long fan of the musical, I was thrilled to be seeing it live in Toledo. From the moment the show began I was disappointed. The cast seemed to be auditioning of American Idol rather than singing a piece by Andrew Lloyd Weber. I joked that we should have seen a community theatre show instead but that’s just not nice to say about community theatre. My money would have been much better spent elsewhere.