"Evita", Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I spent today in Stratford ... we took the train (it's a two hour ride).

We usually see two plays during the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Today we had tickets to see Evita.

As ambitious as she is charismatic, Eva Duarte rises from poverty in rural Argentina to become first the mistress and then the wildly popular wife of President Juan Perón. Blending the personal with the political, this landmark of the modern musical theatre paints a dazzling portrait of a woman who helped shape history.

Exuberant Latin, rock and jazz rhythms pulse through the score of a show that took the world by storm, winning Tony, Drama Desk and Olivier Awards for best musical.

It was at the Avon Theatre ... we hadn't been there for a while.

This is the third time we've seen Evita (we saw the Mirvish and Canadian Stage productions). It's not one of my favourite plays ... it's one of Gord's top five.

I enjoyed this production. Chilina Kennedy, who plays Eva Perón, gives a powerful performance. Josh Young, who plays Che, was excellent. The music has been pumped up with rock.

The play is just over two hours and it goes by very quickly. I'd definitely recommend this production.

We saw Kiss Me, Kate in May. Kennedy and Juan Chioran, who plays Juan Perón, had major roles in it (we'd enjoyed it).