ORR #6: Eva Peron

Title: Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron

The cover of the book I have read.

Author: Nicholas Fraser
Genre: Biography
Pages: 198

Summary:

The story begins in a dusty village lost in the Argentine pampas, where a girl, born out of wedlock, scrambles her way to the capital city of Buenos Aires by the time she is fifteen. It ends with the embalmed corpse of Eva Peron being hidden away by nervous politicians for fear that if the working people of Argentina knew where it was buried, it would inspire them to revolt. In between Eva Peron first became the actress Eva Duarte, then the love interest of Juan Perón, then, in October 1945 after the "shirtless ones" had swept Peron into office, the president's wife. In the colorful, setting of postwar Argentina, she wielded a power--spiritual and practical--that has few parallels outside of hereditary monarchy. She was literally idolized by millions but was hated and feared by many as well. She became Evita, the legend. 

Eva and her husband Juan Peron

Why is my figure the "greatest" human being that ever lived?

Eva Peron was so famous that her legacy has extended even to today. In Argentina, masses are still celebrated for their famous leader, although she was never official designated as a Catholic martyr. And throughout the world, Eva’s legacy is being carried on by a famous musical, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and a new movie, which can still be found in some theaters. Although Eva Peron has been called the most powerful Latin American woman of her time, perhaps ever, many people in North America and Europe had never heard of her. In 1973, renowned lyricist Tim Rice, already famous (and rich) from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, was included in this group. Then, one day, Tim Rice happened to be listening to a BBC broadcast while driving his car, which was a radio show on Eva Peron. Since nothing else was on of interest, he listened to the program, and became fascinated by what he heard. He wasn’t sure, but  e thought there was a chance for the story of Evita to be made into another musical. Rice’s next step was to call his old friend, Andrew Lloyd Webber. The two began to work on the musical. The musical opened in London in 1978, despite all the political controversy. Many people questioned the choice of writing a musical about Eva Peron, who was compared to Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini. Yet through all the controversy about the subject matter, the reviews of the play itself, and especially the music, were fabulous. When the musical traveled to Broadway, with the opening in September of 1979, the political controversy which had so racked the London stage was prevented. Hal Prince, the director, persuaded the authors to play up the part of Che, Evita’s main counterpart. With her infamous opponent playing a part as important as hers, critics could no longer claim a problem with politics behind the play. Still, some scenes from the musical are touchy. As one person described, the first act ends with a “scene suggestive of one of Hitler’s Nuremberg rallies, in this instance presided over by a beaming Peron”. Still, even with all the controversy, the musical became famous, and can still be found on stages around the world today. She was pretty, famous, and did good during her all-too-brief life, and she remains a legend.