Eva speaks from the balcony of the Presidential Palace to her adoring supporters, where she reveals that despite her initial goal of achieving fame and glory, she has found her true calling to be the people of her country ("Don't Cry for Me Argentina").

Eva affirms her disdain for the upper class, while Che asks her to start helping those in need as she made a promise ("The Actress Hasn't Learned the Lines (You'd Like to Hear)").

Che points out the disastrous results of Perón's policies on Argentina: its treasury is bankrupt, its once-thriving beef industry is under rationing, and the press and other critics of the regime are muzzled.

Notes In 1972, Robert Stigwood proposed that Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice develop a new musical version of Peter Pan, but abandoned the project.

"[6] The more Rice investigated Eva Perón, going so far as to travel to Buenos Aires to research her life with many documents and contacts that Pasini had supplied, the more fascinated he became by the woman; he even named his first daughter after her.

[5] He decided instead to collaborate with Alan Ayckbourn on Jeeves, a traditional Rodgers and Hart-style musical based on the P. G. Wodehouse character, which proved to be a critical and commercial failure.

[11] As they had previously done with Jesus Christ Superstar, the songwriting team decided to record Evita as an album musical and selected actress and singer Julie Covington to sing the title role, after having caught an episode of Rock Follies and remembered her from the original London production of Godspell.

"[citation needed] Mike d'Abo, who had succeeded Paul Jones as lead singer of Manfred Mann, had a minor role on the album which was notable as the first one which both had appeared.

Rhythmic Latinate styles are heard in pieces such as "Buenos Aires", "And the Money Kept Rolling in (And Out)" and "On This Night of a Thousand Stars", while ballads include "High Flying, Adored" and "Another Suitcase in Another Hall".

The song was reinstated for the 1996 film with revised lyrics by Rice, and has also been used in Japanese,[14] Czech,[15] and Danish[16] stage productions to expand on Argentine history for audiences less familiar with the subject.

Tomas Eloy Martinez noted: Che as well as Evita symbolise certain naïve, but effective, beliefs: the hope for a better world; a life sacrificed on the altar of the disinherited, the humiliated, the poor of the earth.

[21] Elaine Paige played Eva with David Essex as Che, Joss Ackland as Perón, Mark Ryan (actor) as Magaldi and Siobhán McCarthy as Mistress.

Paige was succeeded by Marti Webb, Stephanie Lawrence, Siobhán McCarthy (who had played The Mistress when the show opened), Jacquey Chappell and ultimately, Kathryn Evans with Maria Morgan.

Gary Bond replaced David Essex as Che, then Mark Ryan, who had first starred as Magaldi, later assumed the role, followed by Martin Smith and Jimmy Kean.

In his review in The Sunday Times, Derek Jewell called the show "quite marvellous" and described Lloyd Webber's "ambitious" score "an unparallelled fusion of 20th century musical experience" and Rice's lyrics as "trenchant" and "witty".

New York Times critic Frank Rich stated: "Loni Ackerman, the current Eva Perón, has no discernible Latin blood, but she sings the role better than any of the American Evitas, as well as acting and dancing it with nonstop energy.

Anthony Crivello, a performer new to me, is easily the best Che I've seen in New York or London: not only does he have a supple voice, but he also moves with such grace that he lightens the heavy, moralizing tone his character must bear.

[39] Directed by Maurício Shermann and starring Cláudia as Evita, Mauro Mendonça as Péron, Carlos Augusto Strazzer as Che, Sílvia Massari as Perón's mistress, and Hildon Prado as Magaldi, it premiered at Teatro João Caetano in Rio de Janeiro on 12 January 1983.

Directed by Michael Grandage, Argentine actress Elena Roger debuted as Eva, while Philip Quast appeared as Perón with Matt Rawle as Che.

[43][44] A second Brazilian production directed by Jorge Takla premiered at Teatro Alfa in March 2011, with Paula Capovilla as Evita, Daniel Boaventura as Perón and Fred Silveira as Che.

The production starred Samantha Pauly in her London debut as Eva, Ektor Rivera as Juan Peron, Trent Saunders as Che, Adam Pearce as Magaldi, and Frances Mayli McCann as the Mistress.

Cannold again directed the musical at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts from May-July 2023 with Shereen Pimentel in the title role with Omar Lopez-Cepero as Che, Caesar Samayoa as Juan, and Gabriel Burrafato as Magaldi.

A touring production was mounted in anticipation of the film version which lasted nearly two years and featured several actresses in the title role, including Valerie Perri, Donna Marie Asbury and Marla Schaffel.

Led by Emma Hatton, with Gian Marco Schiaretti as Che; Jeremy Secomb as Juan Perón; Oscar Balmaseda as Magaldi and Sarah O’Connor as the Mistress; this production ran through to July.

The young actors are: Federica Aramburu, Lilo Baier, Mika Barel, Charmaine Chan, Hindya Dickinson, Jasmine Huilian Ellis, Gabriel Frade, Sam Howie, Annabelle Jarvis, Jayden Alim Lai, Lia Marie Elaine Macdonell, Max Makatsaria, Nanako Masui, Faith Ong, Sofia Ella Poston, Sebastian Street, Damien Rocco Weber, Charisse Low Yu Xin.

[73][74] On 7 May 2018, Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini, along with producers John Frost and David Ian, announced the full cast for the upcoming Australian production of Evita.

Jemma Rix was cast as the alternate Eva Perón and was scheduled to be appearing in the role at least once a week (the Wednesday 7:30 pm show) throughout the Sydney season, according to the Evita-Australia website.

The young actors are: Jack Barton, Alysiah Carlino, Julien Daher, Jacob Drew, Paige Hewlett, BeBe Liu-Brennan, Robbi Morgan, Allerah Murdock, William Oakley, Pamelia Papacosta, Benjamin Park, Sara Petrovski, Raffaella Reid, Avaleigh Rock, Amelie Rose, Austin Taylor, Oliver Trus, and Zoe Zantey.

Russell has said that his own first choice for the film lead was Karla DeVito, who had come to fame in rock tours and on Broadway, where she had impressed the wife of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

There are currently four in Spanish, five German, three in Japanese, and two in Hebrew, with additional recordings in Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Portuguese, and Swedish.