Los Angeles Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...True, the show's liabilities - protractedly archetypal characters, recounted rather than dramatized events, undistinguished lyrics, incessant reprises of main tunes - have not vanished. Yet what Grandage and Ashford achieve, along with an imposing design scheme and a formidable triple-threat ensemble, largely minimizes those flaws."
LA Weekly - Somewhat Recommended
"...But don't expect nuanced political history: The approach is metaphorical (in part through director Michael Grandage's stunning visual images) and generalized rather than specific. The show's appeal lies elsewhere. Andrew Lloyd Webber's passionately melodic score, Tim Rice's lyrics and the athletic and aggressive choreography by Rob Ashford provide a stirring spectacle, enhanced by Christopher Bram's costumes and grandiosely architectural set. There are impressive performances by Bowman, Josh Young as Che, Sean McLaughlin as Juan Peron, Krystina Alabado as Peron's discarded mistress and Christopher Johnstone as Eva's feckless first husband. It's an enthralling but curiously remote, impersonal theatrical experience."
Broadway World - Somewhat Recommended
"...This new revival tour may be the best overall production of Evita to date."
Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended
"...Well, a little bit of a miracle came rolling into Hollywood this week: With across-the-board hot performers, a streamlined National Tour of that revival substantiates how boffo talent combined with a sizzling score can go a long way in the theater. Grandage's scaled-down bus-and-truck version is one of the most satisfying experiences I have had at the Pantages in years."
EyeSpyLA - Recommended
"...The current revival, which began in London in 2006, moves away from post-modernism into a more traditional "Broadway" production. There are now representational sets. Che loses his guerilla fatigues and seems, instead of Che Guevara, to be a generic man of the people. So, while this production loses the weirdness of two historical people, Eva Peron and Che Guevara, from different times engaging in a song-battle of wits over whether fascism or communism is the way to go, there is a new problem in trying for realism –it makes no sense that Eva would bother talking for a minute to this one cranky constituent."
StageHappenings.com - Somewhat Recommended
"...This is an Evita to be seen and remembered."
ArtsInLA - Somewhat Recommended
"...Last fall's revival production helmed by British wunderkind Michael Grandage was greeted with some critical indifference; but that version, now on tour at the Pantages, is unquestionably triumphant. If the show has the reputation of a lavish but empty songfest, then a stellar cast and canny theatricality redeem it."
LA Stage Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...It's a handsome, evocative production, enhanced by Rob Ashford's tango-centric choreography and blistering but glamorous performances by Caroline Bowman as Eva, Josh Young as Che and Sean MacLaughlin as Juan Perón."
Neon Tommy - Recommended
"...All these great elements (cast, choreography, design) are almost enough to distract the audience from just how bad "Evita" is as a show. Under Grandage's direction, the first act moves along at a good clip, and is thoroughly entertaining. After intermission, though, the show becomes as dull and lifeless as cancer-stricken Eva (though they never actually say it's cancer, she just collapses at one point, and then dies a few scenes later). Perhaps this is a moment of artistic genius for Grandage, making a statement about how illness infiltrated every aspect of the heroine's life, but more than anything, it highlights the show's shoddy writing. Such statements have greater effect when they don't come from moments of unfathomable ennui."
Frontiers - Somewhat Recommended
"...You might not think a show about an Argentinian political leader's wife is anything to run to the theatre to see, but think again. Aspects of Evita's story mirror that of some popular figures of today. And aside from that, you will get to see an outstanding production of now-classic theater. This is the kind of musical that brought Broadway to life. It's nice to revisit it to remind yourself what spectacular theater is all about."
TheatreMania - Somewhat Recommended
"...Evita, currently playing the Pantages Theatre, is the first production in ages that, after the curtain came down, I wanted to run up to the box office and buy tickets for the next day's performance. This cast, capable of exquisite singing and acting, adds new life to the pop opera, making for an exhilarating event."