Only a month after premiering their magnificent production of Anastasia, the Frenship High School Theatre Department astounds audiences again with impactful performances of their winter musical, Evita. The six nearly sold-out shows took place from January 8-10 at the Frenship High School Lab Theater.
Jacob Lierman, the FHS Theatre Director, stated that he wanted to present a few challenges to his students with a show such as Evita. The first with the historical nature of the production. This requires the actors to dive into real, living, breathing historical figures. It adds a level of responsibility to represent these historical figures as accurately as possible.
The second challenge was the fact that Evita was composed by Andrew Loyd Webber. The same composer of Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. His music is arguably some of the most difficult music in the musical theatre world. “Our students attacked it with confidence and respect and the result was beautiful,” stated Lierman.
Evita is a powerful musical that concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and death.
One of the most powerful moments of the show was in Act II when Juan Perón tells Eva that she is dying and cannot continue with her political ambitions. The emotional scene captivated audiences each night of the run. Lierman stated that the actors’ performances allowed the audience to look through time and truly see the heartbreak felt in Argentina 1952.
“We watched two actors not just playing a part, but rather experiencing a life, it was so real and beautifully executed,” said Lierman.
The Evita cast was packed full of incredibly talented FHS seniors. There was so much talent in the cast that Lierman decided to alternate between leads throughout the run. Madilyn Sallee and Isaiah Wanzor played Eva and Juan half of the nights and Katelyn Quintanilla and Trevon Joseph assumed the roles the other half of the run.
“We could have cast the leads of this show five times over and it still be the highest of quality,” said Lierman. “We wanted to give more kids opportunities. Double casting is hard, it splits the rehearsal time for each, but they handled it with grace and both casts were incredible.”
In addition to the double casting, many of the actors in Evita were also in the All-Fine Arts Musical, Anastasia, which had its run barely a month ago in December. Both shows auditioned and started rehearsals around the same time. This is a testament to the professionalism and sheer talent of the FHS Theatre students.
“They work so hard, and the production results show that,” said Lierman. “Learning music and lyrics for two musicals at one time is not easy, and they make it look easy. I could not be more satisfied with how the run went. The audiences loved it, the kids had fun and that is all you can ask for.”
In the Texas High School Theatre world, students can earn recognition through Broadway Dallas’ High School Musical Theatre Awards. Both Anastasia and Evita have been submitted for the Broadway Dallas awards. Good Luck!